North and South (AmazonClassics Edition)

By: Elizabeth Gaskell

Narrated by: Anne Flosnik

Length: 18 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

When a crisis of faith prompts his departure from the Church of England, Margaret Hale’s father moves his family north to bleak, industrial Milton. At first, Margaret is put off by the town’s grit and poverty - a stark contrast to her rural southern hometown. But when she is awakened to the suffering of Milton’s hardworking citizens, she makes it her mission to improve their lives. However, Margaret soon finds herself at odds with the man she is falling in love with - the handsome, bullheaded industrialist John Thornton.

Skillfully told, North and South is not only an illuminating novel of its era but an enchanting love story that is sure to linger in the hearts of readers long after the last page.

AmazonClassics brings you timeless works from the masters of storytelling. Ideal for anyone who wants to read a great work for the first time or rediscover an old favorite, these new editions open the door to literature’s most unforgettable characters and beloved worlds.

Revised edition: Previously published as North and South, this edition of North and South (AmazonClassics Edition) includes editorial revisions.

Public Domain (P)2017 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved

Well narrated

Great read! Recommend to anyone who enjoys history of England and the nineteenth century when it occurs.🙂

Comfortable friend

I really enjoyed this book but I thought it was a little long. The characters were good and it was interesting to read about early labor relations.

Well Done!!

My fiancé decided to go through this book together and after having seen the miniseries first I was blown away by the depth of the book. Also the performance by Anne Flosnik was great as well.

narrator

I've always enjoyed the story but it was difficult to find a audio book with a good narrator. Anne Flosnik reads at a good and understandable pace, She reads with enough inflection to make the story pleasant to listen to as well as changes in voice to reflect which characters are speaking.

Love this classic

I first loved this story some years ago through the movie but I had not read the book. It has long been on my TBR list and I recently decided that I would listen to the audio-book while walking each day. It is over 18 hours long so I knew it would last a long time. Perfect. Except for one thing. I have a hard time reading in bits and pieces. Once I start enjoying a book I want to keep reading even through the night. I ended up finishing the audio-book over the course of 3 days. The book that should have taken me a couple weeks took me 3 days to finish because I couldn't bare not to continue listening. It is so beautifully done. The movie follows the book pretty well though not exactly, so it was easy to visualize each scene. I was rather glad I'd seen the movie first just for that reason. I think the movie and the book enhance each other. That isn't often the case.

Thornton is dark and brooding. Margaret is young and a bit naive in the beginning. Both grow over the course of the book to better understand the people around them. Each character ends up far more lovable than they had been in the beginning. Each had their share of loss and sorrow and it was beautiful that they could bring joy to each other. Not quite sure how I would feel about marrying into Thornton's family since his mother is not terribly pleasant to anyone except her children and his sister is rather selfish and unpleasant. At least she gets married so she isn't in the same household.

The characters in this book are all flawed. We see their strengths and their weaknesses and love them for it. No one is written as perfect or even ideal. They are all real.

Gaskell wrote this story to show both sides of a labor dispute. It is hard to know which to side with as both sides seem to be right. And as the mill fails, both sides are hurt. But I love that at least some of the characters learn to see it from the opponents point of view.

The narrator did a wonderful job and was easy to listen to. Thoroughly enjoyed the audio.

Sex: no
Language: no
Violence: a bit

Wonderful story, terrible narrator

I received this book as the free Audible Narration that came with the kindle edition, but I couldn’t finish this book because of the narrator. I found myself hating the story and not wanting to listen to it. I finally realized it was the narrator who made me dislike all the characters and who didn’t add any depth or emotion to the story. I ended up returning it and purchasing the edition narrated by Juliet Stevenson. So much better!