North and South
When Margaret Hale leaves the soft green south of England for the smoke and clamor of the northern mill town of Milton, she meets a world she is not prepared to like. Elizabeth Gaskell sets her heroine against the cotton master John Thornton and watches the two clash over the rights of workers, the duties of owners, and the strikes that turn the streets tense. What begins in mutual pride slowly becomes something harder to name. Serialized in Dickens’s magazine and published as a book in 1855, the novel weighs the human cost of the Industrial Revolution while telling a love story that earns its ending. This free PDF and EPUB edition contains the complete work.
About the Author
Elizabeth Gaskell (1810-1865) was an English novelist whose work ranged from the industrial social novel to tender provincial comedy. Admired by Dickens, she wrote Cranford, North and South, and the first major biography of Charlotte Brontë.
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Listen to North and South Audiobook Free
Listen to North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell free online. The full audiobook (18 hr 32 min, 52 chapters, read by volunteer narrators) streams free on this page.
North and South (1854) is a public domain work.
| # | Chapter | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 'HASTE TO THE WEDDING' | 27:28 | |
| 2 | ROSES AND THORNS | 17:27 | |
| 3 | 'THE MORE HASTE THE WORSE SPEED' | 29:18 | |
| 4 | DOUBTS AND DIFFICULTIES | 31:11 | |
| 5 | DECISION | 26:28 | |
| 6 | FAREWELL | 13:55 | |
| 7 | NEW SCENES AND FACES | 17:21 | |
| 8 | HOME SICKNESS | 26:10 | |
| 9 | DRESSING FOR TEA | 10:43 | |
| 10 | WROUGHT IRON AND GOLD | 22:31 | |
| 11 | FIRST IMPRESSIONS | 17:24 | |
| 12 | MORNING CALLS | 12:22 | |
| 13 | A SOFT BREEZE IN A SULTRY PLACE | 15:02 | |
| 14 | THE MUTINY | 13:04 | |
| 15 | MASTERS AND MEN | 32:35 | |
| 16 | THE SHADOW OF DEATH | 22:40 | |
| 17 | WHAT IS A STRIKE? | 22:45 | |
| 18 | LIKES AND DISLIKES | 17:42 | |
| 19 | ANGEL VISITS | 27:21 | |
| 20 | MEN AND GENTLEMEN | 20:36 | |
| 21 | THE DARK NIGHT | 18:37 | |
| 22 | A BLOW AND ITS CONSEQUENCES | 33:30 | |
| 23 | MISTAKES | 17:44 | |
| 24 | MISTAKES CLEARED UP | 14:33 | |
| 25 | FREDERICK | 26:32 | |
| 26 | MOTHER AND SON | 11:51 | |
| 27 | FRUIT-PIECE | 14:00 | |
| 28 | COMFORT IN SORROW | 43:07 | |
| 29 | A RAY OF SUNSHINE | 13:57 | |
| 30 | HOME AT LAST | 28:49 | |
| 31 | 'SHOULD AULD ACQUAINTANCE BE FORGOT?' | 30:22 | |
| 32 | MISCHANCES | 10:53 | |
| 33 | PEACE | 16:39 | |
| 34 | FALSE AND TRUE | 15:46 | |
| 35 | EXPIATION | 34:17 | |
| 36 | UNION NOT ALWAYS STRENGTH | 24:26 | |
| 37 | LOOKING SOUTH | 21:24 | |
| 38 | PROMISES FULFILLED | 28:28 | |
| 39 | MAKING FRIENDS | 18:48 | |
| 40 | OUT OF TUNE | 31:02 | |
| 41 | THE JOURNEY'S END | 26:53 | |
| 42 | ALONE! ALONE! | 23:35 | |
| 43 | MARGARET'S FLITTIN' | 21:55 | |
| 44 | EASE NOT PEACE | 23:53 | |
| 45 | NOT ALL A DREAM | 6:27 | |
| 46 | ONCE AND NOW | 38:14 | |
| 47 | SOMETHING WANTING | 11:21 | |
| 48 | 'NE'ER TO BE FOUND AGAIN' | 13:05 | |
| 49 | BREATHING TRANQUILLITY | 13:38 | |
| 50 | CHANGES AT MILTON | 22:20 | |
| 51 | MEETING AGAIN | 20:41 | |
| 52 | 'PACK CLOUDS AWAY' | 10:46 |
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