Customer Reviews
superb moving book - By: jesus' girl, 07 Jun 2008 
i have read this a couple of times now & it's beautiful. Combines the nasty realities of life with touching sentiment & beautifully crafted characters. Story follows a familiar theme with the lovely kind poor girl & rich cad....i don't want to spoil it...but it follows her through, the christian motif through it v strong & poignant with a heart breaking ending. Excellent
Predictable and sobering. (Contains spoiler) - By: Puskas, 13 Aug 2006 
You could see most of it coming a mile off. The peerless young Ruth was bound to meet her Nemesis in the shape of Mr. Bellingham, & he was bound to abandon her, penniless & pregnant, only to turn up years later in a different guise. The only thing I hadn't anticipated was the tear-jerking end. Although predictable, it made me think. How sorry it made me feel for poor Victorian unfortunates like Ruth, lured unwittingly into a life of sin that she could not have anticipated, & upbraided by society for being an unmarried mother, while her vile seducer becomes a pillar of society. Those modern folk who glibly give birth out of wedlock when marriage these days is so easy should remember how terrible life was when people DIDN'T have a choice to become 'respectable'.
An Underrated Classic - By: Mr Duncan Stringer, 31 Aug 2005 I came to this novel having just read North & South. As with North & South it takes time for Elizabeth Gaskell to set the scene & develop the central characters. But it is worth sticking with. The last 100 pages will take you on an emotional roller coaster. The central character's inherent goodness & selflessness only serves to highlight the hypocracy of those who claim to be the moral guardians of society. The central character feels so real & you cannot fail to be deeply affected by reading this novel.
Much more than a tragic story of a deceived girl - By: Olga (o_levina@hotmail.com), 04 Oct 2001 It's a shame that my review is the first one. Ruth is a classic, a must-read. Mrs. Gaskell deals in her novel with very serious problem of unmarried motherhood & double standards of judging men & women behavior. Why a wealthy young man who seduced & deserted a poor motherless girl is not to be blamed & not to pay for his guilt? And why a girl who has been too young, too innocent & too ignorant in sexual affairs is to suffer & to be an outcast in society? The heroine leads a virtuous life & does a lot of good after her so-callled falll. Nevertheless the end of the book is tragic... Some critics find inconsistencies & exaggerations in the story. May be they are right. The author couldn't always choose the best way of presenting the heroine & circumstances. (Well, Hardy's more famous story of Tess of the DÚrbervilles is not also without faults.) Just imagine difficulties of writing of such book in Victorian society. Innocent as it is, Ruth was a scandal & was considered to be an improper reading for young people. Nowadays I would recommend the novel to any reader. It is interesting, intriguing, full of poetical nature descriptions & typical rural characters, the problem is sharp & up-to-day. Modern girls are neither naive nor ignorant. However... are they reallly wise in love affaires? Aren't they in danger of becoming voluntary victims of charming but spoiled young men? Read the book & judge for yourself.
