Book Review: “Mary Barton” by Elizabeth Gaskell

This is the first novel I have read by Elizabeth Gaskell. I chose this one because my grandparents on my father’s side worked in the mills of Halifax. In the novel, Jem Wilson for a while works in Halifax, but the majority of the novel is set in grimy 1840s Manchester. Times are bleak, the production of the mills has been reduced as demand has slumped. If a mill burns down, the mill owners or “masters” are fine, they have insurance but the workers find themselves out of work with no financial support. People are starving, the first part of the book is about the grinding poverty of the industrial poor. Mary Barton of the title is the daughter of a militant mill worker, John Barton, and her comely appearance attracts, two would be suitors Jem Wilson, a foundry mechanic and Harry Carson, the scion of a local mill owner.

Around the half way mark the book turns into more of a proto-thriller when there is a murder, which shocks the community and there is even a chase, where Mary, tries desperately to catch a boat in Liverpool before it sails out into the sea.

The characters are interesting and the stark contrasts between rich and poor are well marked. This is Elizabeth Gaskell’s first novel, before I was more aware of her as the biographer of Charlotte Bronte. As the daughter of a clergyman there is some moral preaching in the novel particularly on the subject of forgiveness, we also see on the cover an image of Mary praying, but this doesn’t detract from the favourable impression I had of the novel and I’d like to read more of her fiction in the future.

My rating 4 out of 5