North and South

By: Elizabeth Gaskell

Narrated by: Charlton Griffin

Length: 20 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

This is the story of Margaret Hale, a young English woman who accompanies her family's move from rural southern England to the industrial north. It proves to be a difficult change, with all the attendant social conflicts and cultural misunderstandings consequent to such situations. It is a study in contrasts. Mrs. Gaskell created one of the Victorian era's greatest heroines in Margaret Hale, a young lady of passionate intensity. Always filled with a fiery sense of justice, she feels herself, nevertheless, spiritually isolated from society.

Margaret finds her new surroundings shocking. Though appalled by the dirt, noise and the gruffness of the mercantile city, she reserves her greatest contempt for the mill owners themselves. When charismatic mill owner John Thornton begins to take classics lessons from her father, Margaret's distaste for this vulgar "new class" of industrial magnates crystallizes.

Over time, Margaret's opinion of the mill workers begins to soften, though not toward the owners - which makes her strange attraction to John Thornton all the more remarkable. The wrenching series of labor problems and deaths that occur as the story progresses serves as a background to the inner struggles Margaret endures...the turmoil of private family life in contrast to the struggle against the overt poverty and deprivation she witnesses around her.

Listen to one of the greatest of all Victorian novels and let the artistry of Elizabeth Gaskell sweep you away to another time and place. Considered her finest work, North and South will keep you listening breathlessly to the very end.

Public Domain (P)2007 Audio Connoisseur

Lovely book, but choose a different reader!

Get a different reader! This is a lovely book, and Juliet Stevenson was perfection. My guess is that Prunella Scales would also be a better choice. I've listened to a few books that I quit because of the reader, but this was the first time (in 300 audio books) that I actually switched versions because the reader was so inappropriate to the material.

A really fine piece of literature

What made the experience of listening to North and South the most enjoyable?

The turn of the phrase and the use of description remind me in a way of listening to a very fine orchestra - It takes you away. If you are like me you will remember small descriptive fragments of the story long after you have listened to it. It was very long -18 hrs but it became my desert during my long commute home after the end of a day of caring for other people's sorrows and loss. I really did like the narrator, some would perhaps find the tone old fashioned but it seemed to me to fit the story

What did you like best about this story?

I liked best the way the writer told the story, so perceptive and subtle.

What about Charlton Griffin???s performance did you like?

I liked the performance, there was a good capability to change from character to character and I thought the tone of voice and the performance really matched the tone of the story and the time when it was written. It was soothing and entertaining to listen to.

Any additional comments?

I first found this author by looking up the author of the PBS film series Wives and Daughters. I was thrilled to find that she was such a prolific writer. I hope Audible will add to the the collection with some of her stories which are out of print.

An Awesome Classic

I loved the BBC dramatization and decided to give the audiobook a go. It's an amazing book. Much more than a love story, it gives a contrasting picture of two Victorian worlds: upper middle class London and the working class North. Gaskell creates complex, believable characters and raises questions about social inequity in the Industrial Revoluation. A wonderful listening experience.

Loved the story, could have had a better narrator

I loved the story, and thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish. However, I was a bit of a drawback listening to the falsetto male voice for the heroine.

Great story, narration unconvincing

What did you love best about North and South?

I expect that the industrial setting puts off many people who compare the book to Austen's books, but it is well-done and a welcome break from the Victorian fantasy land of great houses and women's frocks. A good halfway station between Austen and Dickens.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

The accents and women's voices are unconvincing, to the point where I got another version.

lovely story, sometimes painful narration.

Would you consider the audio edition of North and South to be better than the print version?

have not read print

How did the narrator detract from the book?

if you've ever minded a man performing women's voices, you will find this edition your best argument against the practice. His women's voices are painful to listen too, except perhaps the stern Thornton mother, which perhaps allowed me to enjoy her character more. With the others, I just steel myself to get through it to find out what happens next.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Not immediately. The beginning was a bit slow to pick up momentum. Laden with excessive detail as I am learning to expect in Victorian novels. An easy comparison would be Pride and Prejudice where the themes are small and compact in people's characters and immediate lives. But in North and South, the character development is slow and grows in large, dark and continuing themes, such as labor relations and charity, duty to others, both those in your power and you in theirs, family illness, eternal life. Now, I don't want to stop listening till the end.

First negative review of audio book ever

This reader might be fine for an American book, but unfortunately has worst "English" accent I've ever heard, with bizarre mispronunciations, eg "Fawncy" for "fancy", "unlooky," for "unlucky," "yong" for "young" and so many others that I had to give up listening to it. Not just being persnickety: this is truly awful.Has he never met an English person, or even watched any BritFlicks? A lesson to me to listen to a sample first next time!

Narration not to my liking

I started this book on a long drive and I tried I really tried. On/off quite a few times, but I just could not get past the narration. Margaret sounds like she's got a cold and I just could not go on. So I have bought this audible book but am never likely to enjoy it as others here who have persevered with the narrator. I just couldn't bear it even though I really wanted to. I look forward another version with another narrator.

boring classic

stopped listening after about a third of the book. the voice of the narrator is beautiful but the reading is pompous and overly stressed. there seems to be no storyline. listening didnt keep my mind from wandering.

This book is boring

I found this book extremely boring. The story was very difficult for me to get into.