#49. Set In A City Beginning With The Letter ‘M’ – Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell (Audible)

My immediate thought was reading a book set in cities like Moscow, Munich, Mexico, Madrid…and then I thought, why not pick somewhere a little less exotic, a bit closer to home perhaps, and so I headed a few miles up the road to Manchester, to the industrial north and to the great novelist, Elizabeth Gaskell. I loved her novel North and South, would I also enjoy this story about Mary Barton: A Tale of Manchester Life? 

“Explore the poignant and powerful world of 'Mary Barton: A Tale of Manchester Life' by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell. Set against the backdrop of the bustling city of Manchester during the industrial revolution, this novel takes you on a compelling journey through the lives of the working class in the 19th century. Gaskell's writing is a vivid window into the struggles and triumphs of the ordinary people during a time of social and economic upheaval.

Mary Barton, the central character, is a young woman who embodies the hopes and aspirations of the working class, while also grappling with the harsh realities of urban life. Gaskell's narrative paints a vivid picture of the disparities between the privileged and the downtrodden, highlighting the themes of social justice, labor movements, and the complexities of human relationships.

 

This audiobook is a captivating exploration of love, class divisions, and the resilience of the human spirit. It offers a riveting glimpse into the challenges faced by the working class and the enduring pursuit of a better life.”

 

This is the first novel that Elizabeth Gaskell wrote, and for a first novel, it paints a powerful picture of what Manchester life was like in the 1800’s, and whilst it is a work of fiction, the origin of the tale is rooted in the murder of a mill owner in 1831.

This is definitely a book of two halves, and I don’t mean like Gaskell’s brilliant novel North and South which I remember reading years ago and thinking it was a wonderfully written tale, a real page turner.

Both novels tell the plight of the working classes and they both stress the importance that people of all classes need to work together to ensure decent working and living conditions can be had by all. But if I’m being honest, North and South is a more refined novel…at times I found Mary Barton to be a bit clunky and boring. It wasn’t until the second half of the book that I started to enjoy the story; the first half of the book made me feel quite despondent.

Many Victorian novels feature secondary characters who live squalid lives and fight hard for survival; but they are certainly not the hero’s. This book is rather unusual because it features Mary Barton, a working class woman with very little money. Mary Barton gives a voice to the poorest souls of Manchester and makes them the central characters of this book. This makes the book fairly depressing, because these characters, of whom there are many, lead an incredibly hard life.

History usually features people of a certain standing, so it is refreshing to read a different perspective, but I can’t say it is particularly entertaining. The lives the working class led were hard, unimaginably so, yet people rallied around each other. These were people full of pride, they may not have had much, but the simple act of inviting someone round for a cup of tea and the sense of community were things that could not be ignored. Despite all the trials and tribulations of merely existing, these were simple folk who were interested in each other, the bonds of friendship and the will to get up each day and keep going. This is probably what makes the book a little dull and hard to get into, but at the same time, it allows the reader to mourn the simple life. It might have been tough, but if we reflect on modern living, many of us don’t even know the names of our neighbours, let alone invite them in for a brew!

The book is set between the years of 1837 and 1842, and features two working class families, the Wilsons and the Bartons. Mary Barton lives a hard life; as a young girl her aunt Esther, disappears and after we witness her mother die in childbirth, we watch her father John Barton throw himself into the complexities of the trade union movement. He is more interested in the uneven distribution of wealth between the rich and poor than the needs of his daughter. As Mary reaches the age of 16, John decides it is time for Mary to start work, however, Mary has other ideas. The only work readily available to a girl like her was that of a servant or factory worker, and that was not part of Mary’s life plan…no, she was going to marry a rich man and all her problems would be solved.

John Barton doesn’t want his daughter to work in the factories either, although his approach to the situation is more practical than Mary’s! He allows Mary to become a seamstress under the apprenticeship of a Miss Simmonds. Mary meets and becomes friends with Margaret Jennings who is going blind due to constantly sewing in poor light levels. During this period, Mary attracts the advances of Harry Carson, the son of a wealthy mill-owner, could he be the rich man of Mary’s dreams who would give her the life she dreamed of?

Things have not been going too well for the Wilsons. Carson’s mill has been burnt down which has left George Wilson unemployed and reliant on Jem’s wages. The twin boys suddenly take ill with a fever and die, and Jem Wilson, who has known Mary for many years as a family friend, confesses he is infatuated with her. He asks Mary to marry him, but she still dreams of a secure and comfortable life for herself and so she refuses his proposal. After all, she has Harry Carson waiting in the wings…what could possibly go wrong?

Meanwhile, Mary’s father is fighting for the working man, and joins a delegation heading to London to speak to Parliament. He returns defeated, Parliament has refused to see the delegation, and now he cannot find any work. John and Mary are forced to sell their belongings, but John is still fighting for the working man who he believes is in a worse position than him and his daughter.

During John’s departure, Mary learns that George Wilson has died suddenly and visits his widow. Having come to the realisation that she loves Jem and doesn’t want to marry Carson, she seeks to avoid him until such time that she can convince Jem that he is really the love of her life. Aunt Ester reappears; she had ended up as a street worker, and so warns John Barton that he needs to be careful that things don’t get so bad that Mary becomes like her. He ignores her, too preoccupied with his fight for justice for the working man; and so Ester implores Jem to keep an eye on Mary instead.

Jem Wilson confronts Harry Carson as to whether his intentions towards Mary are honourable, but he then becomes the prime suspect in the later murder of Carson, as a policeman had witnessed a fight between the two of them some days earlier. Aunt Ester, visits Mary to inform her that Jem wasn’t the killer and that she must travel to Liverpool to help save him from the hangman’s noose. As she does so, Mary suddenly realises who Carson’s murderer really is and she has a race against the clock to prove Jem’s innocence…

Despite the age of this book, the themes are sadly themes which still surround us. As humans we never seem to learn; certainly those in power often turn a blind eye to the suffering of others, especially if it means they can reap financial rewards. It is hard to imagine that issues that befell those in the 1840’s are still recurrent in the 2020’s. People then and now are suffering due to food poverty, no money for a roof over their heads, walking the streets, lacking warm clothing, and if they do have somewhere to live, there are still unscrupulous landlords charging people a fortune to live in properties that are filled with mould and poorly maintained appliances.

Amidst the suffering of her characters, Gaskell paints a story of the importance of love and loyalty. There is no doubt that Mary Barton is a complex character. Whilst Mary started the novel as a young, vain beauty, she eventually realises the error of her ways and becomes a strong, independent woman.

There were many times when reading this book I wanted to shake Mary for her stupidity and shallow character, but Elizabeth Gaskell somehow managed to turn Mary into a heroine that you wanted to root for, and that for me was the making of this book. It might not be as good as North and South, but it’s certainly worth making the effort to read Mary Barton: A Tale of Manchester Life.

Genre: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Classics, Romance, Crime

Release Date: 1^st August 2010

Publisher: Audible Studios

Listening Time: 16h 17m

 

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