Initially repulsed by the ugliness of her new surroundings in the industrial town of Milton, Margaret becomes aware of the poverty and suffering of the local mill workers and develops a passionate sense of social justice. This is intensified by her tempestuous relationship with the mill-owner and self-made man, John Thornton, as their fierce opposition over his treatment of his employees masks a deeper attraction.In North and South, Elizabeth Gaskell skillfully fuses individual feeling with social concern, and in Margaret Hale creates one of the most original heroines of Victorian literature.

    But her sudden popularity left her quite unspoiled. A singular modesty, a childlike simplicity, a deep and beauti ful religious faith, were the qualities that endeared her to her friends and that are still evidenced by what was written of her at her death, which occurred in Dorchester October 1, 1866. As her pastor, Rev. Nathaniel Hall, declared in his memorial discourse, She received her success with a simple gladness, less that she was famous than that she might be useful; less that she had gained the public's applause than that she had touched, to issues human and philanthropic, the public's heart, and caused her poor 'lamplighter' to be the means of illumining other and direr darkness than that of night.

    The stories, dating from the French and Indian War through the 1850s, recount desperate situations from the lives of westward-bound settlers, including encounters with the Native Americans they ultimately displaced. In keeping with its dramatic tone, this book was originally titled Daring and Heroic Deeds of American Women, Comprising Thrilling Examples of Courage, Fortitude, Devotedness, and Self-Sacrifice, Among the Pioneer Mothers of the Western County. Chapters include "The War-Woman Creek," "A Heroine without a Name," "The Captivity of Jane Brown and Her Family," "Wonderful Fortitude of Female Emigrants," and many other stirring tales. This new edition features five engravings from the original publication.