Right.

There is only so much I can read of this on one day without causing myself an injury from all the eye-rolling at the characters. 

I'm not a fan.

But I will probably finish the book ... unless I decide to just switch to the tv adaptation because reading this overdramatised twaddle just makes me picture the characters as really, really bad amateur actors...which is a shame because Gaskell obviously tried to make a few valid points with respect to the social issues of her time. Sadly, they are lost on me because the packaging these issues come in makes me cringe rather than contemplate.

'Dixon thought!' said Margaret, her lip curling. 'Dixon could not give me credit for enough true love—for as much as herself! She thought, I suppose, that I was one of those poor sickly women who like to lie on rose leaves, and be fanned all day; Don't let Dixon's fancies come any more between you and me, mamma. Don't, please!' implored she.

   'Don't be angry with Dixon,' said Mrs. Hale, anxiously. Margaret recovered herself.

'No! I won't. I will try and be humble, and learn her ways, if you will only let me do all I can for you. Let me be in the first place, mother—I am greedy of that. I used to fancy you would forget me while I was away at aunt Shaw's, and cry myself to sleep at nights with that notion in my head.'

   'And I used to think, how will Margaret bear our makeshift poverty after the thorough comfort and luxury in Harley Street, till I have many a time been more ashamed of your seeing our contrivances at Helstone than of any stranger finding them out.'

   'Oh, mamma! and I did so enjoy them. They were so much more amusing than all the jog-trot Harley Street ways. The wardrobe shelf with handles, that served as a supper-tray on grand occasions! And the old tea-chests stuffed and covered for ottomans! I think what you call the makeshift contrivances at dear Helstone were a charming part of the life there.'

I know, this is meant to be really evocative and sad, but...

Ok, I know this book is pretty much universally loved, but ... erm ... I'm really not feeling the love... yet.

I hope there will be a point that turns the book for me, but right now I'm thinking that a revisit to Pride and Prejudice or any other Austen would make for a more rewarding read.

So, any of you who have read this, did you love the book from the start or did it take you a while? 

How to tag this.

Know this though: if you expect a romance... well, there is romance, but it's not really the meat of the story. More like a sprinkled seasoning to give the excuse, and a happy ending I guess.

What this is about is industrialization, the theme for most characters was the failure point of their principles or what they considered their cornerstones, and the running one on interactions was misunderstandings arising from lack of enough knowledge to "wear another's shoes" (and no, I do not mean empathy), and it was masterfully done (if long-winded). So masterfully actually, that I had a raging fit and had to stop reading at one point (workers vs owners/strikes), because it is still such an on point analysis today.

The vehicle for all that is us following Margaret Hale through a three-year-long trauma conga line, through which she carries herself with so much poise and holding herself to such impossible standards that I could not help but want to shake her.

I'm a bit addled still by how packed this was, and I confess I'm downright intimidated by the prospect of her other books. I think I'll leave Wives and Daughters for another year's reading project.

So many misunderstandings! And they keep getting worse