Read This!: Mary Barton

By Elizabeth Gaskell

This was the last book I had to read from Borders spree #1. I have since had two more Borders spree and I promise I won’t name every Borders spree book going forward (Although I do have to say me and Mr. got 6 books and 2 cds for $30 this week. Savings of $79. You can’t beat that). I bought these books when? In February? I can’t remember. But either way, they have lasted a decent amount of time. So it’s sad to be at the end of the road.

Moving on… I bought this book because I have been wanting to read either Cranford or Wives and Daughters for a while (both by Elizabeth Gaskell) after seeing the Cranford shows on PBS Masterpiece Theater. I love Masterpiece Theater and period dramas. (Anyone watch Downton Abbey? I just finished it. I might write a blog about it. We’ll see.) So when I saw this sitting on the shelf, calling my name, I grabbed it.

Mary Barton takes place in the industrial town on Manchester, England around 1830-1840. The central character is the beautiful Mary Barton, a dressmaker’s apprentice. Mary has two men who love her, one rich and one of her own class. Someone is murdered. Someone is to blame. Someone stands accused with Mary striving to show that he is innocent.

I thought this book had a good story and would recommend generally. However, it was written in the style of Middlemarch which if you can remember was my first Don’t Read This! on this blog. I could have lived without all of the allusions and overall wordiness. It wasn’t as heavy handed as Middlemarch so I looked past it. My second complaint was this book had a TON of social commentary. I read for fun not as a way to gain insight into the cruel injustices of the world. That is why I watch the news. While I understand this book was a product of its time, blah blah blah blah blah, I could have lived without the lecture.

I have also noticed with the completion of this book that I read way too many books set in England. Of the 28 novels I finished this year, 20 were set there. (I do read other books that haven’t got a review here like The Science of Baking, Canon Rebel for Dummies, etc. but I am not counting those.) For you math geeks like me, that is 71% with rounding. I have no idea why I am drawn to these. But, I decided to change it up and read a book set in China Snow Flower and the Secret Fan next. So stay tuned for that review because I just finished it yesterday and moved on to The Tudors… Which I guess is another book set in England... Damn.