Having grown up in London and rural southern England, Margaret Hale moves with her father to the northern industrial city of Milton. She is shocked by the poverty she encounters and dismayed by the unsympathetic attitude of the textile-mill owner John Thornton, whose factory workers are engaged in an acrimonious strike. Against this backdrop of social unrest, the relationship between the two is tumultuous, and it takes further upheaval and tragedy for them to see each other in a different light. First serialized in Dickens's magazine Household Words in the same period as Hard Times, North and South shares its famous counterpart's concern with the inequality and hardship generated by the Industrial Revolution in northern England, while at the same time creating one of the nineteenth century's most memorable and engaging female protagonists in Margaret Hale.
Elizabeth Gaskell
Elizabeth Gaskell was a prominent Victorian novelist known for her insightful portrayals of social issues and complex characters. Some of her notable works include "Cranford," "North and South," and "Wives and Daughters." Gaskell's writing style is characterized by its realism and attention to detail, as well as its exploration of class and gender dynamics. She made significant contributions to the development of the Victorian novel, particularly in her exploration of social realism and the lives of working-class individuals. Gaskell's most famous work is "North and South," which is considered a classic of Victorian literature and continues to be widely studied and admired for its social commentary and compelling characters.