I'm not usually a big reader of classics so, even though I loved the series, I expected to struggle with this but oh boi I could not have been more wrong. This might genuinely be my new favourite book...of all time. 

Firstly, Margaret frigidy frackin' Hale. Wow, amazing, incredible, I love her so much. I would say she needs protecting at all costs but by the end of the book that gal can protect herself. Damn.

Praise number two: the vibes. Helstone, beautiful. Manchester  Milton, the atmosphere of the Northern industrial town, the factories, the poverty. Mmmm

Next up, socialism. Erm 1850s? Incredible. So good, the strikes, the contrast of the North and the South, the contrast of classes. Perfect. And once again, Margaret I'dgivehermykidneys Hale.

The character development, mainly enjoying watching Margaret slowly turning up the sass levels, but Thornton too, fabulous. 

Honestly I just felt giddy the whole time reading this, every day I picked this up: instant good day. I have no criticisms, this book is perfect.

This is what I imagine what a Victorian novel would be like.

I have watched the adapted BBC 2004 miniseries prior to reading the book, and I think it did me a lot of good, or else I wouldn't have such patience cracking down a 700 pages book. To put it poorly, this novel is sort of what I imagine Pride and Prejudice would be like, if it was set in the changing time of the Industrial Revolution. The world was filled with smoke and dirt, a whole lot dimmer, and death creeping in every corner. Similar premise to Austen's P&P, our heroine Margaret was the 'Prejudice' to Mr. Thornton's 'Pride', only in Gaskell's story, their opposing opinions were rooted in differences of class and in the culture. Both Margaret and Mr. Thornton were only a small fraction of the rapidly changes of time. I love what Gaskell did with her social commentary of the time, with Margaret moving from the leisure and comforting South to the cold and fast-moving North, her entire life was challenged and altered, same as her points of view.

I love Margaret as a protagonist. She was soft and kind yet strong-minded, while she began as a sheltered and prejudiced young lady living her privileged life in London, her world would soon never be peaceful again. Family troubles worried her to no end, deaths came one by one and not to mention a brother on the run with mutiny charges. At times I was so awe with her strength and resilience, because I would be in such a bad place if I'm in her shoes, this poor girl suffered so much with so many lost. With bleak changes both inside and outside of her home, Margaret was forced to grow up and be her own mistress, but she never lost hope and always strived to provide comfort to those who were in need. She was a bit haughty at first, upset by Milton's poverty and coldness, but quickly she realized her conceit and unfair judgement, and came to love Milton for what it was.

I also really love Mr. Thornton. He was a self-made man, a cotton-mill owner, which made Margaret turned her nose up at first. However, he proudly stood his ground, because he worked hard to earn his wealth and took care of his family, so his encounters with Margaret were clash of different ideas. Since I'm already using Austen as a comparison, I would like to mention that in this novel, we did get a lot more thoughts from the Mr. Thornton's point of view than Mr.Darcy. He was hopelessly in love with Margaret and it was clearly shown. Even though I must confess, as a reader in 2021, I kind of don't like Mrs. Thornton. Her attachment to her son was understandable, but sometimes she was so hostile and harsh to Margaret that I had to roll my eyes. Though Mr. Bell in the latter half behaved in a similar way as Margaret's protecter (side-note, love him, such a funny guy), thus eased off my dislike a bit, I just want her to be treated with kindness and love because she deserved all the love :'(

I enjoyed this story very much, the reason I deducted 0.5 in the rating was only because it was kind of depressing (in a typical Victorian classic literature way), so I wouldn't want to revisit it easily. Nevertheless, I'm glad that I picked it up, and I will continue with Gaskell's works whenever I'm able.

Margaret got on my nerves so much, but aside from that, it's a nice period "rom-com". Please read this if you like Pride and Prejudice and you're also a communist.

I can say that I enjoyed the reading experience, although it took me a couple of chapters to get really into the story. I often heard the book described as "Pride and Prejudice plus socialism" and, honestly, it's not such a far-off description. 

I really liked the characters' depiction and their growth over the course of the story, I appreciated how the author portrayed even the ones that I didn't find particulary pleasant. There were a lot of tragedies and misfortunes that kept occuring (maybe too many, give us a break Elizabeth Gaskell please) and that really took me by surprise and moved me.
I'm not immune to a good romantic plot but I can say that I really appreciated that there was more to the novel. I really enjoyed the description and the reflections on the social reality of the time, the strike and the conditions of workers. 

Still, there were some aspects that stopped me from giving full marks. There were maybe a bit too many mentions and reflections on religion that bored me a little and in part flew over my head, but that is more of a personal preference as someone who is not much of a religious person. 
I can also say that the pacing felt a bit off. At times the story dragged on a bit and moved quite slowly, then, 
instead, the ending felt rushed, the long-awaited resolution came very quickly and the novel ended rather abruptly.

I'm not enjoying it. Maybe I'll reread at some point...but not now.