North and South is a famous novel by Elizabeth Gaskell. The story follows Margaret Hale, a middle-class woman from the south, who moves to the industrial north of Milton. Gaskell explores themes such as class differences and gender roles. At the center are the tensions between Margaret’s sympathy for the workers and her growing affection for the charismatic factory owner John Thornton. This extensive reprint also places the novel in the context of Victorian social and medical debates.