Customer Reviews
A beautiful romance - By: susie, 24 Oct 2008 
I have not seen the TV adaptation of North & South & only picked up the book because it was a present. I'm so glad I did. I was spellbound within a few pages.
Elizabeth Gaskell, who I would also compare favourably with Jane Austen, is a brilliant writer. Her use of words conjure vivid images in the reader's mind.
Her characters seem real - they have their foibles as well as their strong points - & you can feel their despair & joy throughout the book. But the main reason why I enjoyed the novel so much is because it is a beautiful, old fashioned romance. The depth of feeling between Mr Thornton (the brash Northern factory owner) & Miss Hale (who has moved to the north after her father decided he could no longer be a clergyman) is incredibly strong & the reader is willing them to get together. As with Austen's books, social convention & a series of misunderstandings make it seem as though their romance is doomed to fail. (I will not spoil the book by telling you the outcome).
It is now my mission to read more Gaskell. Give her a try.
very good,tho not as good as i thought it would be - By: jesus' girl, 02 Aug 2008 
I like this book but have to say i thought it would be alot better...it is the tale of the contrast between the country & the city & two characters caught up in that...and it is very good, but quite stretched for such a big book & i just found it a bit of a tug sometimes to get through...and the "I don't love you"..oh hang on..."i love you lots now" thing was a bit vexing
Very good but there are better books in my opinion..but i would recommend it, just not as highly as others
Too long, boring - By: Moony, 02 Feb 2008 
This is the first Elizabeth Gaskell book I've ever read & unfortunately not very impressed. The overalll subject seems to be the love story in our heroine's life, however, book tries to give so many other mesages that it is not fun or focused anymore. There are social issues, emerging new worker-master dynamics in the victorian time, continues questioning of death & beyond... Within alll this it is impossible to get a true taste of a social, phylosophical or romance novel.
Although I like the period books very much, I could barely finish this one.
The perfect love story - By: Greta Villani, 30 Jul 2007 North & South is my favourite book & I think that it's not known enough. Many people had compared Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen with the Gaskell's book, but, in truth, they are very different.
I prefer N&S to P&P because the love between Margaret & Mr Thornton has more passion than the love between Elizabeth & Darcy.
Austen is a genius & I love her novels but she gave us only borders & shadings, Gaskell gave us a picture completed.
I'm very attracted by the idea that a man of power, self-control, strong, firm, could falll so desperately in love with a woman & could become fragile like a child, "she thought she had seen the gleam of unshed tears in his eyes", said Margaret after Mr Thornton's proposal & her vehement refusal.
There are social themes, but I found them interesting too & not boring.
I don't like to calll it a social novel, for me it's, first of alll, a Romance with a social commentary in the background.
North & South deserves more readers from my point of view & I highly recommended it!
Passion and strife in Victorian times - By: Evenstar, 01 Apr 2007 I loved the BBC adaptation but waited a while before reading the book so it would be fresh. And having just finished this book, what a great story! Political strife, supressed passion, women's rights, class conflict. The fact that Margaret Hale is a strong woman with her own mind (albeit misguided at times) made this story much more believable & enjoyable for me. Despite some bits that might be a little drier to read, I couldn't put it down once I got past the first few chapters. Bear with it! I think it helped having a picture of Richard Armitage in my head as Mr Thornton, as you don't reallly get an idea of how he looks from the story. However, I'm now watching the BBC adaptation again & have noticed that some reallly key parts of the story are changed from the book & remove some of the more subtle parts of the story. Plus they seem to make Mr Thornton a much less likeable character than in the book. So I thoroughly recommend this book. A much more exciting & believable story than many of the other Victorian novels I've read - or never managed to finish reading!
