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A review by laurenjpegler
Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell
4.0
I felt myself steadily declining into a reading slump and, despite it taking me longer than usual to read a book of this length, I think Mary Barton stopped me from sinking into that hole. It's a tale of Manchester life set in the 1840s, discussing in detail the relationship between factory workers and their employers. Running alongside this is the story of Mary herself, a factory worker's daughter, who's life becomes complicated very quickly.
In short, I think this was a wonderful novel. It discussed the socio-economic situation of the 1840s in industrial towns like Manchester in a sensitive and enlightening way. Gaskell didn't shy away from being direct in her assertions when it came to how factory workers were treated, and the lengths they would go to to make a change. I think, out of all the Victorian writers I've read, Gaskell is the best at criticising the knock on effects of the industrial revolution, paying particular attention to those whose lives were affected negatively by it.
As someone from Lancashire (I know Manchester is no longer a part of my little county but it was once!), I loved how Gaskell paid attention to the Lancashire dialect. A huge part of this novel was the dialect of my county, and it was interesting to see some of the slang I still use today. I thought this added something to the novel.
The only thing I didn't appreciate about this story was that I've kind of seen it all already. This story reminded me a lot of North and South, but Gaskell changed it up a bit. Instead of this happening to a man, she changed it to a woman. Instead of this happening like this, it was changed to this. And so on. I don't mind this, but I thought it was a little lazy and repetitive.
Despite this, still a fantastic read.
In short, I think this was a wonderful novel. It discussed the socio-economic situation of the 1840s in industrial towns like Manchester in a sensitive and enlightening way. Gaskell didn't shy away from being direct in her assertions when it came to how factory workers were treated, and the lengths they would go to to make a change. I think, out of all the Victorian writers I've read, Gaskell is the best at criticising the knock on effects of the industrial revolution, paying particular attention to those whose lives were affected negatively by it.
As someone from Lancashire (I know Manchester is no longer a part of my little county but it was once!), I loved how Gaskell paid attention to the Lancashire dialect. A huge part of this novel was the dialect of my county, and it was interesting to see some of the slang I still use today. I thought this added something to the novel.
The only thing I didn't appreciate about this story was that I've kind of seen it all already. This story reminded me a lot of North and South, but Gaskell changed it up a bit. Instead of this happening to a man, she changed it to a woman. Instead of this happening like this, it was changed to this. And so on. I don't mind this, but I thought it was a little lazy and repetitive.
Despite this, still a fantastic read.