North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell

This is one of Gaskell's earlier social problem novels. It is set in Manchester though the name is not used. Margaret Hale, the pretty cultivated daughter of a vicar, finds that her father has begun to have doubts about his religious beliefs, and feels he cannot go on as a Church of England priest. (Mrs Gaskell's father, a Unitarian minister resigned from his position because of religious doubts). He has to give up his living and find another job. Mrs Hale is a nervous sensitive woman who is upset by this development. Margaret is also distressed at her father giving up his work and even more so to learn that the family are going to have to move from their pretty parish in Southern England, to move up North and live in an industrial city. When she sees Milton Northern she is depressed at how ugly it is, and worries that it will be difficult to live there. Mr Hale finds that some manufacturers who have worked their way up from poverty to wealth, are keen to get some of the education they missed out on as boys. THe finds a pupil, John Thornton, who has a mill and who wants to study the classics.