I've liked other Gaskell novels, and this one is promising. Mostly interesting characters.
Father (Richard) is a vicar who is forced by his conscience to give up his living and his wonderful little vicarage in the south of England. He is a dissenter--basically believes that the Church of England is too involved in the world (at least that's what I think it means). I believe this is part of the "disestablishment" movement which wanted the church and stage separated. He also seems -- in some things -- inert. He doesn't tell his wife any of his doubts, and she learns that they are leaving their home only two weeks before the move--and then from the daughter, Margaret. Her husband can't bear to tell her, so he doesn't.
Margaret. Nineteen. Has spent 10 years in London with an aunt learning to be a lady so is not close to her mother, though the book pretends that she is close somehow with the father. Hard to see how. She is haughty, aristocratic, but with a good heart. She'd be pride and prejudice in the Austen novel, the prejudice being against tradespeople.
Mother: Maria. Not too interesting.
The family moves to the north, to Milton, a mill/factory town. Smoky, dirty, filled with manufacturers and tradesman. Margaret is repelled, has no interest in seeing the mills, looks down on tradesmen, etc. Strong contrast between North and South of England, with the south being "Virginia" and the north more "Pittsburgh."
Dad has taken a job as a tutor, is more open-minded, and is particularly fond of Thornton, a young man with drive who wants to fill in his practical education with classical learning so takes classes from Dad. Thornton and Margaret don't connect . . . but they will. Margaret is also being pursued by Lennox, sort of. He's an aristocrat, more suited in some ways, but he lacks the basic honesty and drive of Thornton. He's going to lose.
Thornton's mother looks down on Margaret and all the fancy aristocrats of south England. Good, minor character.
Margaret befriends Bessie and her family. Bessie is dying of lung ailment from cotton factory. This subplot feels very Dickensian--Margaret will get her heart here, I think.
Margaret's brother Frederic is a lost soul--a sailor involved in a mutiny. His disaster partly explains father's depression.
So, bold strokes all the way around, but really well-written and engaging.
Father (Richard) is a vicar who is forced by his conscience to give up his living and his wonderful little vicarage in the south of England. He is a dissenter--basically believes that the Church of England is too involved in the world (at least that's what I think it means). I believe this is part of the "disestablishment" movement which wanted the church and stage separated. He also seems -- in some things -- inert. He doesn't tell his wife any of his doubts, and she learns that they are leaving their home only two weeks before the move--and then from the daughter, Margaret. Her husband can't bear to tell her, so he doesn't.
Margaret. Nineteen. Has spent 10 years in London with an aunt learning to be a lady so is not close to her mother, though the book pretends that she is close somehow with the father. Hard to see how. She is haughty, aristocratic, but with a good heart. She'd be pride and prejudice in the Austen novel, the prejudice being against tradespeople.
Mother: Maria. Not too interesting.
The family moves to the north, to Milton, a mill/factory town. Smoky, dirty, filled with manufacturers and tradesman. Margaret is repelled, has no interest in seeing the mills, looks down on tradesmen, etc. Strong contrast between North and South of England, with the south being "Virginia" and the north more "Pittsburgh."
Dad has taken a job as a tutor, is more open-minded, and is particularly fond of Thornton, a young man with drive who wants to fill in his practical education with classical learning so takes classes from Dad. Thornton and Margaret don't connect . . . but they will. Margaret is also being pursued by Lennox, sort of. He's an aristocrat, more suited in some ways, but he lacks the basic honesty and drive of Thornton. He's going to lose.
Thornton's mother looks down on Margaret and all the fancy aristocrats of south England. Good, minor character.
Margaret befriends Bessie and her family. Bessie is dying of lung ailment from cotton factory. This subplot feels very Dickensian--Margaret will get her heart here, I think.
Margaret's brother Frederic is a lost soul--a sailor involved in a mutiny. His disaster partly explains father's depression.
So, bold strokes all the way around, but really well-written and engaging.
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