Death, Devastation, Poverty + Industry: Inside Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell

What a novel. 

I adore Gaskell's writing. There is something comforting and honest about it.

I loved Wives and Daughters, and I was glued to North and South the first time I read it (it's on my reread list).

Mary Barton has been on my intended to read list for a few years (along with Ruth), and something this Autumn just told me to pick it up and I am so glad that I did.

As a proponent of deep, slow reading, I found myself pulled instantly into the novel. I felt myself standing shoulder to shoulder with the workers ho wanted to fight for a fair living wage.

I cried with the mothers who lost children because they couldn't afford to feed them, and it made me feel (like most classics do) that the issues THEN are still the same issues NOW. 

Universal themes present:

• work
• death and grief
• love
• duty
• responsibility
• family
• community

Running through a lot of the classics is a theme of the "ruined" or "potentially ruined" woman. It's infuriating. 

Seeing the intentions of some men to use and abuse these poor girls is sickening. The same still remains true today yet the stakes are often much lower in present society for the girl's ability to care for herself and her baby.

The dialect in the novel can be heavy at times, but once you enter into the world, it becomes easier. 

I love Elizabeth Gaskell and I am determined to read Ruth, but I need to lighten up some of my reading, so I will focus on finishing Proust and lots of cozy holiday reads ❤️