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A review by nila
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This was a challenging read, it contained more about trading politics and other business talk than I was expecting, but I still ended up enjoying it immensely.
A WARNING - if you don't like the miscommunication trope (I mean - who does?) this book is not for you. Because the romance in this book, which is the reason I wanted to read it, is plagued by that trope, almost until the very end. There were fewer interactions between the two main characters, and so at times I struggled to actually want to read the book. But when it was good, it was really good.
The book is, as expected, deeply coloured by when it was published - thoughts expressed about people from different classes and other ethnicities are full of xenophobia and makes the book, at times, very uncomfortable to read. There are also allusions to the cotton industry, union workers' rights etc.
A WARNING - if you don't like the miscommunication trope (I mean - who does?) this book is not for you. Because the romance in this book, which is the reason I wanted to read it, is plagued by that trope, almost until the very end. There were fewer interactions between the two main characters, and so at times I struggled to actually want to read the book. But when it was good, it was really good.
The book is, as expected, deeply coloured by when it was published - thoughts expressed about people from different classes and other ethnicities are full of xenophobia and makes the book, at times, very uncomfortable to read. There are also allusions to the cotton industry, union workers' rights etc.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Child death, Xenophobia, and Classism