For anyone fascinated by social history, Gaskell's ghastly realist portrayal of Manchester life in the "Hungry Forties" of the 19th century will be a major attraction of this novel.
Ostensibly a love story woven around the eponymous Mary's choice between a rich lover and a working man, it really revolves around the charismatic figure of Mary's father John, a radical trade unionist who is exceptionally vividly drawn. But for this reviewer the greatest fascination lies in the language itself, a muscular affair of Saxon vintage; thus a pretty girl is a "farrantly lass", being very hungry is "clemmed" and if you've behaved peevishly towards somebody, you could say "I was very frabbit with him". I know the feeling exactly.
