Product Description

'It's the masters as has wrought this woe; it's the masters as should pay for it.' Set in Manchester in the 1840s - a period of industrial unrest and extreme deprivation - Mary Barton depicts the effects of economic and physical hardship upon the city's working-class community. Paralleling the novel's treatment of the relationship between masters and men, the suffering of the poor, and the workmen's angry response, is the story of Mary herself: a factory-worker's daughter who attracts the attentions of the mill-owner's son, she becomes caught up in the violence of class conflict when a brutal murder forces her to confront her true feelings and allegiances. Mary Barton was praised by contemporary critics for its vivid realism, its convincing characters and its deep sympathy with the poor, and it still has the power to engage and move readers today. This edition reproduces the last edition of the novel supervised by Elizabeth Gaskell and includes her husband's two lectures on the Lancashire dialect.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #35471 in Books
• Published on: 2008-12-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 480 pages

Review
This is Elizabeth Gaskell at her best, and Shirley Foster's edition is both sagacious and formally accurate. The appendices are invaluable and the explanatory notes are relevant without being obtrusive. A must for readers of Mary Barton. (Dr. Antonio Ballesteros-González, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha )

Customer Reviews

mary barton by elizabeth gaskell
having been to see the play Mary Barton i felt able to tackle this book, its pretty heavy going as the speech is written in old manchester dialect even though i'm from manchester it slows you down a bit but its well worth it as it takes you back to a time when the poor were really poor and gives you an insight into times gone by before benifits and the nhs and makes you realise how lucky we are, saying this language is interesting , not sure if i would have still enjoyed it if i'd read it without having knowledge of the story before hand, but if you are used to reading this type of litrature i'm sure you will be fine, the story centres around a young woman and her life in desprate times and follows her and her family and friends, the detailed discription in this book takes you back to this era and you can easily see in your mind the hardships endured by the poor living amongst the rich mill owners in this big city, i wouldn't say its a quick easy read but i definatly enjoyed it and its given me the confidence to read more of the same types of books

Wow! What else can I say?
I approached my first Gaskell novel with a touch of apprehension and I have to admit I didn't enjoy the first few pages, but after a while I was hooked.
Even if the plot is improbable at times, the story is entertaining and the gallery of characters presented is memorable. The description of an industrial city in the 19th century is deeply moving. All in all, a great achievement. A must read.

superb, heart breaking and thought provoking
Mary Barton is one of those books that sometimes makes for uncomfortable reading, because it is so sad and the era so bleak...however...it is also heart warming, full of characters that you truly get to know and love and necessary as an evocative history of that period. I would totally recommend it, however , not as a holiday book - it's heavy and needs to be viewed as such or it'll really get to you! superb