Elizabeth Gaskell's first novel depicts nothing less than the great clashes between capital and labour, which arose from rapid industrialisation and problems of trade in the mid-nineteenth century. But these clashes are dramatized through personal struggles. John Barton has to reconcile his personal conscience with his socialist duty, risking his life and liberty in the process. His daughter Mary is caught between two lovers, from opposing classes - worker and manufacturer. And at the heart of the narrative lies a murder ...
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Elizabeth Gaskell's first novel depicts nothing less than the great clashes between capital and labour, which arose from rapid industrialisation and problems of trade in the mid-nineteenth century. But these clashes are dramatized through personal struggles. John Barton has to reconcile his personal conscience with his socialist duty, risking his life and liberty in the process. His daughter Mary is caught between two lovers, from opposing classes - worker and manufacturer. And at the heart of the narrative lies a murder which implicates them all. Mary Barton was published in 1848, at a time of great social ferment in Europe, and it reflects its revolutionary moment through an English lens. Elizabeth Gaskell wrote her first novel about the world in which she lived - Manchester at the height of the industrial revolution. As the wife of a Unitarian minister she was solidly middle-class; but she also had close contact with the working classes around her, sympathised with them, and represented their extreme distresses in her fiction. She is radical in taking on their dialect, imagining the realities of their lives, and placing a working woman at the centre of her fiction. If to our eyes her vision remains limited, it was an honest vision, for which she was much criticised in her own time, by her own class.
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Add this copy of Mary Barton (Everyman) to cart. $4.20, good condition, Sold by Wyemart Limited rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from HEREFORD, HEREFORDSHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1996 by Phoenix.
Add this copy of Mary Barton to cart. $9.27, fair condition, Sold by Anybook rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Lincoln, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1897 by Bliss Sands & Co.
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Seller's Description:
This is an ex-library book and may have the usual library/used-book markings inside. This book has hardback covers. In fair condition, suitable as a study copy. No dust jacket. Re-bound by library. 8vo, red cloth binding, gilt lettering on backstrip, binding loose, some foxing but pages otherwise clear. Please note the Image in this listing is a stock photo and may not match the covers of the actual item, 500grams, ISBN:
Add this copy of Mary Barton: a Tale of Manchester Life to cart. $9.36, good condition, Sold by Anybook rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Lincoln, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1996 by Penguin.
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This is an ex-library book and may have the usual library/used-book markings inside. This book has soft covers. In good all round condition. Please note the Image in this listing is a stock photo and may not match the covers of the actual item, 350grams, ISBN: 9780140434644.
Add this copy of Mary Barton to cart. $9.45, fair condition, Sold by Anybook rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Lincoln, UNITED KINGDOM, published by Collins' Clear-Type Press.
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Seller's Description:
This is an ex-library book and may have the usual library/used-book markings inside. This book has hardback covers. In fair condition, suitable as a study copy. No dust jacket. Undated Please note the Image in this listing is a stock photo and may not match the covers of the actual item, 350grams, ISBN:
Add this copy of Mary Barton: a Tale of Manchester Life (Penguin Popular to cart. $13.67, good condition, Sold by Anybook rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Lincoln, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1994 by Penguin Books.
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Seller's Description:
This is an ex-library book and may have the usual library/used-book markings inside. This book has soft covers. Clean from markings. In good all round condition. Please note the Image in this listing is a stock photo and may not match the covers of the actual item, 300grams, ISBN: 9780140621020.
Milton Under Wychwood,
OXFORDSHIRE,
UNITED KINGDOM
$24.00
Add this copy of Mary Barton to cart. $24.00, very good condition, Sold by Greensleeves Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Milton Under Wychwood, OXFORDSHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1971 by Dutton Books.
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Very Good. 0460005987. Dent, Everyman's Library no 598, 1971 reprint, bright clean copy, no markings, with dustjacket, Professional booksellers since 1981.
Add this copy of Mary Barton (Oxford World's Classics) to cart. $1.75, very good condition, Sold by Reuseabook rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Gloucester, GLOS, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1998 by Oxford Paperbacks.
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Dispatched, from the UK, within 48 hours of ordering. Though second-hand, the book is still in very good shape. Minimal signs of usage may include very minor creasing on the cover or on the spine. Grubby book may have mild dirt or some staining, mostly on the edges of pages.
Add this copy of Mary Barton (Penguin Popular Classics) to cart. $2.23, good condition, Sold by Reuseabook rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Gloucester, GLOS, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1994 by Penguin Books Ltd.
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Dispatched, from the UK, within 48 hours of ordering. This book is in good condition but will show signs of previous ownership. Please expect some creasing to the spine and/or minor damage to the cover. Aged book. Tanned pages and age spots, however, this will not interfere with reading. Damaged book. Slightly damaged in some way typically, a grazed corner or torn cover.
Add this copy of Mary Barton (Oxford Worlds Classics) to cart. $2.57, very good condition, Sold by Reuseabook rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Gloucester, GLOS, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2006 by Oxford University Press.
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Seller's Description:
Dispatched, from the UK, within 48 hours of ordering. Though second-hand, the book is still in very good shape. Minimal signs of usage may include very minor creasing on the cover or on the spine. Aged book. Tanned pages and age spots, however, this will not interfere with reading. Grubby book may have mild dirt or some staining, mostly on the edges of pages.
Add this copy of Mary Barton (Oxford Worlds Classics) to cart. $2.57, good condition, Sold by Reuseabook rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Gloucester, GLOS, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2006 by Oxford University Press.
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Seller's Description:
Dispatched, from the UK, within 48 hours of ordering. This book is in good condition but will show signs of previous ownership. Please expect some creasing to the spine and/or minor damage to the cover. Aged book. Tanned pages and age spots, however, this will not interfere with reading.
If you like period pieces about England, you will love this author. She writes much like Bronte, Dickens etc. and was one if not the first to be published in England in the early 18 hundreds quite an accomlishment for a woman in those days.
a1b2c3
Jan 28, 2010
Mary Barton
This is an old-fashioned book written about the appalling conditions workers in the Lancashire cotton mills faced. There were no unions to protect the working men and women; being laid off meant scrounging for everything and living in sub-standard dwellings. I enjoyed the style of the book and learned a lot about the history of the cotton mills as well.
