North and South, by Elizabeth Gaskell

This is supposedly a better work of Mrs. Gaskell's than "Ruth," and I think I agree, for the most part, but I liked it less. Perhaps just the mood I was in, but this seemed to drag much longer, and be much less interesting. (The same thing, you say? Not necessarily.) An in-depth look at a country girl transplanted in a factory town, North and South is at one love story and social commentary. I suppose I would recommend it to anyone interested in Victorian literature, but, frankly, its niches seem to be filled by other books, even books of the same era: if you want a hint of romance, read the Brontes. If you want focus on factory towns, read Dickens. If you want stable, long-suffering heroines (as a side note, I found Margaret rather irritating in her placid perfection), read George Eliot. Though I wouldn't say this about her other books, I found Mrs. Gaskell, for this book at least, quite superfluous.