A Victorian feminist tames her man.
What happens after the titillating ending of the BBC miniseries, North and South, based on Elizabeth Gaskell’s novel?
About the Book
Gaskell’s novel has been described as a romance set against a backdrop of occasionally violent strikes as the working class fought for their rights against tyrannical masters. Margaret of the North is a Victorian feminist bildungsroman (coming-of-age novel) couched in romance. The romance is not only in the love between John and Margaret but also in the adventure and excitement that Margaret goes through as she discovers herself and fully realizes her womanhood. It is a journey that happens quietly and mostly internally.
Margaret moves from an idyllic Southern village to a harsh bustling Northern city. There, she confronts her place in a rapidly changing society and her growing awareness of her persona as a woman, one who wants a voice and makes a mark.
This sequel is a romance. But a romance situated in changing times, changing social and sexual roles, and even artistic upheavals—one that resurrects Gaskell’s feminist-leaning themes .
