North and South

The novel is set in the fictional town of Milton-Northern, in the industrial-era North of England. The heroine, Margaret Hale, is a new arrival in the town. She remembers her former home in the South as a rural paradise, and is critical of industrialism. Her opinions are challenged through her relationships with mill-owner John Thornton and the working class Higgins family. North and South was adapted for television by the BBC in 1975 and again in 2004. This edition is annotated and includes a biography about the life and times of Gaskell as well as a plot summary of the book.