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Mary Barton: A Tale of Manchester Life
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332 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1848
About the author
Elizabeth Gaskell
1,356 books3,949 followersElizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell, née Stevenson (29 September 1810 – 12 November 1865), often referred to simply as Mrs. Gaskell, was an English novelist and short story writer during the Victorian era. Her novels offer a detailed portrait of the lives of many strata of society, including the very poor, and as such are of interest to social historians as well as lovers of literature.
AKA:
Елізабет Гаскелл (Ukrainian)
AKA:
Елізабет Гаскелл (Ukrainian)
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
December 26, 2025
Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell, author of North and South http://realini.blogspot.com/2019/11/n...
9 out of 10
Elizabeth Gaskell was a fabulous writer, along Mary Barton and North and South, she has another two books, Cranston and Ruth, on the list of 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read http://poemeglume.blogspot.com/2023/0... that I look forward to reading
These works are also available on https://librivox.org/ with two versions, some of them, one read by one person, and another with a collective of volunteers – you could also participate, if you want – the story is compelling and gripping, with a background of ‘working class struggle’, which is what Marxist theory had history described as, a long conflict between the rich and the poor, with the latter winning in the end.
We have had that ‘stupendous victory’ in our parts, that is Eastern Europe if you care, and we had a long way to go to end it – at the end of these lines, there will be a link and self-aggrandizing over the (small) role I have played in the toppling of Ceausescu, with Newsweek quoting me on the clash – and the legacy is still present
Mary Barton is almost a role model, perhaps the perfect example of a courageous, resilient, generous, intrepid, intelligent, loyal young woman, who belongs to the poorer classes, in fact, her father, John Barton, is a sort of early agitator, workers’ rights campaigner, who would go to extremes to make the rich pay
Spoiler alert, disclaimer and warning: this note is not worth your time, unless you have too much to spare, and are amused by preposterous, surrealist scribbling, the father might put the fate, happiness of his daughter in grave peril, with his hatred of the wealthy and decision to take revenge upon one of them
It is true that in the middle of the nineteenth century (and in many places on earth now) many workers were suffering, toiling in misery (the novel was published in 1848 and the narrative tales place between 1839 and 1842) which Mary wants to escape and thus, she makes a mistake, thinking Harry Carson, the son of a rich mill owner, might the ‘Chosen’ – it is bizarre, but I remember idiotic Trump claiming he is the chosen, and evangelicals agreeing, voting for the diabolical moron in droves, millions actually
Harry Carson though wants ‘just a little bit of fun’, for Mary is very beautiful, only he is not the serious, devoted type, however much he insists he wants to marry her, when it looks as if without marital vows, this ‘trophy’ would elude him, this enough to make the woman realize her error and see the truth
She is in fact in love with Jem Wilson – however much I am inclined to pause and think of Thomas Mann http://realini.blogspot.com/2023/06/l... who has a short story which has had a great impact on yours truly, about love, friendship and what they imply, where to find them
This character is appalled at the frequency with which he hears around ‘this love is so munificent, grandiose that there are no words to describe it’, when the truth is that love means so much, you only find it in literature, the arts, in real life, when those feelings are tested, they are found wanting, love is just a sexual desire
Now, Mary Barton is in the realm of fiction, so maybe what she feels is the ‘real thing’, it is just that, if she really loved Jem, how could she be confused, is it not the case described by Marcel Proust http://realini.blogspot.com/2013/10/a... who writes about ‘how we want what we do not have’
That notwithstanding, things get out of hand, when (another spoiler alert, just in case there is anyone left here) Harry Carson is found murdered, and the investigation leads to…Jem Wilson, as the principal suspect first, and then almost everybody is sure that he has done it, it is his gun and he had quarreled with the victim
Jem had met Mary’s aunt, who, because of the squalor, the destitution in which most people lived has had to become a prostitute, and the woman told him about the closeness between Mary and Harry, cautioning Jem over the peril that the young woman might fall by the wayside, pushed by the rich fellow
When Jem Wilson confronts Harry Carson, challenging him to explain, say what his intentions are, Carson is aggravated, rude and seems to confirm the suspicions – what am I saying, he had never had noble purposes, not virtuous enough for Mary anyway, she has been aghast at what the rich boy had in mind, which at that time was the ruining of a woman, casual sex resulted in penury and disaster for women
This clash is seen by an agent, corroborated with the gun found near the crime scene, is enough as circumstantial evidence for the times to put the suspect behind bars, and have him hanged, unless there is some Reversal of Fortune http://realini.blogspot.com/2017/04/r...
Mary Barton gets from her aunt the evidence that proves to her it was John, her father, that killed Carston, but she needs to prove an alibi, travelling all the way to Liverpool, to get a witness that will testify the suspect could not have done the killing; it is on the edge, thrilling, and overall, an excellent narrative
Now for a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/u... – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se
As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...
Some favorite quotes from To The Heritage and other works
‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’
‚parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’
“From Monty Python - The Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special...Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”
9 out of 10
Elizabeth Gaskell was a fabulous writer, along Mary Barton and North and South, she has another two books, Cranston and Ruth, on the list of 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read http://poemeglume.blogspot.com/2023/0... that I look forward to reading
These works are also available on https://librivox.org/ with two versions, some of them, one read by one person, and another with a collective of volunteers – you could also participate, if you want – the story is compelling and gripping, with a background of ‘working class struggle’, which is what Marxist theory had history described as, a long conflict between the rich and the poor, with the latter winning in the end.
We have had that ‘stupendous victory’ in our parts, that is Eastern Europe if you care, and we had a long way to go to end it – at the end of these lines, there will be a link and self-aggrandizing over the (small) role I have played in the toppling of Ceausescu, with Newsweek quoting me on the clash – and the legacy is still present
Mary Barton is almost a role model, perhaps the perfect example of a courageous, resilient, generous, intrepid, intelligent, loyal young woman, who belongs to the poorer classes, in fact, her father, John Barton, is a sort of early agitator, workers’ rights campaigner, who would go to extremes to make the rich pay
Spoiler alert, disclaimer and warning: this note is not worth your time, unless you have too much to spare, and are amused by preposterous, surrealist scribbling, the father might put the fate, happiness of his daughter in grave peril, with his hatred of the wealthy and decision to take revenge upon one of them
It is true that in the middle of the nineteenth century (and in many places on earth now) many workers were suffering, toiling in misery (the novel was published in 1848 and the narrative tales place between 1839 and 1842) which Mary wants to escape and thus, she makes a mistake, thinking Harry Carson, the son of a rich mill owner, might the ‘Chosen’ – it is bizarre, but I remember idiotic Trump claiming he is the chosen, and evangelicals agreeing, voting for the diabolical moron in droves, millions actually
Harry Carson though wants ‘just a little bit of fun’, for Mary is very beautiful, only he is not the serious, devoted type, however much he insists he wants to marry her, when it looks as if without marital vows, this ‘trophy’ would elude him, this enough to make the woman realize her error and see the truth
She is in fact in love with Jem Wilson – however much I am inclined to pause and think of Thomas Mann http://realini.blogspot.com/2023/06/l... who has a short story which has had a great impact on yours truly, about love, friendship and what they imply, where to find them
This character is appalled at the frequency with which he hears around ‘this love is so munificent, grandiose that there are no words to describe it’, when the truth is that love means so much, you only find it in literature, the arts, in real life, when those feelings are tested, they are found wanting, love is just a sexual desire
Now, Mary Barton is in the realm of fiction, so maybe what she feels is the ‘real thing’, it is just that, if she really loved Jem, how could she be confused, is it not the case described by Marcel Proust http://realini.blogspot.com/2013/10/a... who writes about ‘how we want what we do not have’
That notwithstanding, things get out of hand, when (another spoiler alert, just in case there is anyone left here) Harry Carson is found murdered, and the investigation leads to…Jem Wilson, as the principal suspect first, and then almost everybody is sure that he has done it, it is his gun and he had quarreled with the victim
Jem had met Mary’s aunt, who, because of the squalor, the destitution in which most people lived has had to become a prostitute, and the woman told him about the closeness between Mary and Harry, cautioning Jem over the peril that the young woman might fall by the wayside, pushed by the rich fellow
When Jem Wilson confronts Harry Carson, challenging him to explain, say what his intentions are, Carson is aggravated, rude and seems to confirm the suspicions – what am I saying, he had never had noble purposes, not virtuous enough for Mary anyway, she has been aghast at what the rich boy had in mind, which at that time was the ruining of a woman, casual sex resulted in penury and disaster for women
This clash is seen by an agent, corroborated with the gun found near the crime scene, is enough as circumstantial evidence for the times to put the suspect behind bars, and have him hanged, unless there is some Reversal of Fortune http://realini.blogspot.com/2017/04/r...
Mary Barton gets from her aunt the evidence that proves to her it was John, her father, that killed Carston, but she needs to prove an alibi, travelling all the way to Liverpool, to get a witness that will testify the suspect could not have done the killing; it is on the edge, thrilling, and overall, an excellent narrative
Now for a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/u... – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se
As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...
Some favorite quotes from To The Heritage and other works
‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’
‚parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’
“From Monty Python - The Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special...Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”
November 2, 2008
I loved the book, its moral tone, and message as well as its style. I'd recomend it to anyone. A mix of Dickens and Jane Austen?
June 23, 2026
I enjoyed it. I learned about the Industrial Revolution and the tension between the workers of the mills and the masters.
June 22, 2026
"John Barton was not far wrong in his idea that the Messrs. Carson would not be over much grieved for the consequences of the fire in their mill. They were well insured… It was a pleasant thing to be able to lounge over breakfast with a review or newspaper in hand .. There is another side to the picture. There were homes over which Carsons' fire threw a deep, terrible gloom… the homes of those to whom leisure was a curse. There, the family music was hungry wails, when week after week passed by, and there was no work to be had, and consequently no wages to pay for the bread the children cried aloud for…" - Elizabeth Gaskell, Mary Barton
If you are new to Elizabeth Gaskell, many will recommend North and South (1855). But though I was excited by the Pride and Prejudice premise of North and South, I came away somewhat disappointed. To make a long story short, there is only one Mr. Darcy and John Thornton, the Manchester mill owner, is no substitute.
And so instead of North and South, I would recommend readers begin with Elizabeth Gaskell's first novel, Mary Barton (1848). It's one of the best classics I've read, and I've read my share of classics. And in addition to the wonderful writing, Mary Barton taught me a lot about the Industrial Revolution taking place in Manchester during the 1840s. The anger and mistrust between mill owners (Masters) and their workers was a powder keg.
As for the novel, Mary Barton is the beautiful daughter of John Barton, who works in a cotton mill factory owned by the Carson family. Mary works in a dress shop. John and Mary get by, but when there is a fire at the mill and it shuts down, John is out of work and his trade union activities make it impossible for him to get work elsewhere. Mary is a good daughter working long hours at the dress shop, but her unemployed father is getting angrier and more depressed.
Meanwhile, Mary has caught the eye of the mill owner's son, Henry Carson. She has dreams of becoming Henry's wife. Henry is a spoiled young man used to getting what he wants. Henry has no intention of marrying Mary. He wants her as his mistress. Jem Wilson, who worked with Mary's father in the mills, is also smitten with Mary, and his love is genuine. And then Henry Carson is murdered. And so Mary Barton is not only a romance novel. It's a mystery.
Elizabeth Gaskell was the wife of a prominent Unitarian minister in Manchester, and when Mary Barton was published it caused an uproar. But Gaskell was no firebrand. What I have noticed in her novels North and South, My Lady Ludlow, and Mary Barton is that Gaskell's hope was to lessen the divide between the upper and lower classes, the rich and the poor. It was Elizabeth Gaskell's hope, I think, that both sides would let down their guard a bit and listen to each other.
Religion and faith also play an important part in Mary Barton, as they did in Gaskell's life. It's not fire and brimstone, but rather the religion of God's love, forgiveness, and redemption. It's one of those novels where everyone gets a decent ending and it's not sappy or far-fetched. One of the best books I will read this year.
If you are new to Elizabeth Gaskell, many will recommend North and South (1855). But though I was excited by the Pride and Prejudice premise of North and South, I came away somewhat disappointed. To make a long story short, there is only one Mr. Darcy and John Thornton, the Manchester mill owner, is no substitute.
And so instead of North and South, I would recommend readers begin with Elizabeth Gaskell's first novel, Mary Barton (1848). It's one of the best classics I've read, and I've read my share of classics. And in addition to the wonderful writing, Mary Barton taught me a lot about the Industrial Revolution taking place in Manchester during the 1840s. The anger and mistrust between mill owners (Masters) and their workers was a powder keg.
As for the novel, Mary Barton is the beautiful daughter of John Barton, who works in a cotton mill factory owned by the Carson family. Mary works in a dress shop. John and Mary get by, but when there is a fire at the mill and it shuts down, John is out of work and his trade union activities make it impossible for him to get work elsewhere. Mary is a good daughter working long hours at the dress shop, but her unemployed father is getting angrier and more depressed.
Meanwhile, Mary has caught the eye of the mill owner's son, Henry Carson. She has dreams of becoming Henry's wife. Henry is a spoiled young man used to getting what he wants. Henry has no intention of marrying Mary. He wants her as his mistress. Jem Wilson, who worked with Mary's father in the mills, is also smitten with Mary, and his love is genuine. And then Henry Carson is murdered. And so Mary Barton is not only a romance novel. It's a mystery.
Elizabeth Gaskell was the wife of a prominent Unitarian minister in Manchester, and when Mary Barton was published it caused an uproar. But Gaskell was no firebrand. What I have noticed in her novels North and South, My Lady Ludlow, and Mary Barton is that Gaskell's hope was to lessen the divide between the upper and lower classes, the rich and the poor. It was Elizabeth Gaskell's hope, I think, that both sides would let down their guard a bit and listen to each other.
Religion and faith also play an important part in Mary Barton, as they did in Gaskell's life. It's not fire and brimstone, but rather the religion of God's love, forgiveness, and redemption. It's one of those novels where everyone gets a decent ending and it's not sappy or far-fetched. One of the best books I will read this year.
July 28, 2019
Me:
I literally had no idea about the plot going into this so had no idea where it was headed and why I should care at all about the titular character, so obviously CLUELESS (I was reminded a good deal of Austen's Marianne Dashwood, only with less of the sparkle of Austen's worlds). A good chunk of the beginning left me wanting to DNF - but I'm committed to devouring Gaskell's works because she offers a unique voice from the time period - and then it quite literally escalated so quickly I almost wondered if it was the same story anymore.
I still can't say I was very invested in any of the characters, or what might come of them, but it still got better by the end. The very, very end though...was a little strange and unexpected though.
I literally had no idea about the plot going into this so had no idea where it was headed and why I should care at all about the titular character, so obviously CLUELESS (I was reminded a good deal of Austen's Marianne Dashwood, only with less of the sparkle of Austen's worlds). A good chunk of the beginning left me wanting to DNF - but I'm committed to devouring Gaskell's works because she offers a unique voice from the time period - and then it quite literally escalated so quickly I almost wondered if it was the same story anymore.
I still can't say I was very invested in any of the characters, or what might come of them, but it still got better by the end. The very, very end though...was a little strange and unexpected though.
June 30, 2025
This classic book was a bit of a letdown, especially since I was a huge fan of Elizabeth Gaskell’s ‘Wives and Daughters’. In this story, Mary loses her mom at a young age and is raised by her dad. Tragically, her mom passes away just a short time after her sister goes missing. As Mary grows up, she secretly begins seeing Harry, a wealthy businessman, but she soon realizes that she’s in love with someone else and breaks it off. However, her life takes a dramatic turn when her bitter aunt shows up, using her own life experiences to stir up trouble with Mary’s dad and Jem. Her childhood friend Jem gets into a public fight with Harry, who ends up getting murdered. As a result, Jem is blamed for the crime. Determined to clear his name, Mary sets out to prove Jem’s innocence without revealing the true culprit. Unfortunately, none of the characters were particularly well-developed or particularly likable, which made it tough to get fully invested in the story.
April 20, 2025
Juliet Stevenson is a fabulous narrator! I loved this, though it was rough going at first and there were some really scary bits before it all came out well in the end. Elizabeth Gaskell is wonderful. Really shone a light on the inequities of life. So true today as then.
June 30, 2019
Good view of the working, impoverished class in Manchester. A couple times Glaskell got too "preachy" about the conditions at that time.
January 11, 2025
This book has a slower start, but turns quite exciting. I appreciate Gaskell's social commentary.
Read
January 27, 2025A complex tale of murder and devotion
September 13, 2026
Audible 3.5 🌟
April 24, 2019
Fiction
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews