North And South

 North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell

When Margaret Hale's father gives up his post as Vicar in a quiet English village, she and her parents move to a factory town where he hopes to find work as a tutor. His first student is John Thornton, the owner of a local mill where there is unrest among workers dissatisfied with inadequate pay and poor living conditions.

Note - if you haven't read North and South yet, it would be best to stop here as the ending will be mentioned.

Margaret, taking the side of the workers, at first finds Mr. Thornton arrogant and unlikeable,  She befriends the family of a disgruntled mill worker whose daughter's health is failing, but then becomes an unexpected advocate for Mr. Thornton when a strike mob threatens him. 

The more she gets to know Mr. Thornton the more her feelings toward him soften, but a series of devasting losses in Margaret's life seem to put more distance between them. We don't find out if they'll get together until the final pages of the book but there's so much else going on that you almost don't mind the wait. Almost.

I did wish there were a few more chapters. By the end of the book their circumstances have been reversed, Margaret having come into money and property and John having lost everything, and it would be nice to read more about their life together, how they handled those changes, etc.

I listened to an audio version of this book narrated beautifully by Juliet Stevenson, who gave each character a distinct, authentic voice and brought this book to vibrant life. Her reading - performing, really - made these people so real that I missed them terribly after I finished. A week later, I still miss them, their world, and her perfectly modulated voice and lovely English accent. I'd listen to her read anything. 

I loved North and South and highly recommend it, in print or this audio version. Then watch the mini-series with Richard Armitage as John Thornton. They are all wonderful.