"Another Pride & Prejudice"

I finished reading North & South by Elizabeth Gaskell about a week ago, and I liked it so much that I just had to write a little about it on my blog. (Elizabeth Gaskell is also the author of Cranford and Wives & Daughters that have received much acclaim in recent years.) If you are one of those people that felt sad that there was "no more" at the end of Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice, then this is a book you probably will enjoy. It is set in a fictional town & county to loosely disguise the fact that it was written about Manchester, and full of social commentary about the fabric mills and Industrial Revolution in England. It reads a lot like an English version of a Louisa May Alcott book, (they were contemporaries across the pond with a tad of Dickensian influence (another contemporary). And despite ourselves, we grow to understand and like Mr. Thornton as his relationship with Margaret grows and changes. I was very impressed with the intelligence and knowledge of Elizabeth Gaskell while reading this book; in fact I've never seen a work of fiction quite like it. There are about 200 footnotes included, cross-referencing her text with works of fiction by many other authors, illusions to classical works, and Biblical references. What an author!