Review of 'North and South' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
Firstly, despite the overwhelmingly popular review on here, this is not Pride and Prejudice for socialists. There is not an ounce of socialism in this book - the general message is that the masters of industry know best and are hard done by, but that they should still be nice to their workers. It’s not terribly inspiring.
Generally, I found myself more disengaged and bored than anything. For all the deaths in the story, they’re peculiarly lacking in emotional depth so it’s hard to care. The romance, such as it is, is hard to relate to and the resolution feels obvious. None of the peripheral characters feel real, just literary devices.