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Title: "A Story of Manchester Life"
Review: Although this is not Gaskell's best novel, it is still well done and contains quite a bit of drama and romance. Much of the book concentrates on life in a manufacturing town, however, the love story has a prominent place. The characters in this book are lovable and fallable, as usual in Gaskell's work, and overall very realistic. This novel is set up much like "North and South" yet not as well put together, and with quite different characters. There is the struggle between masters and men and a love affair unrequitted on the female end with family and friends dropping like flies on account of mental or physical anxiety. I would recommend this book to anyone that likes Gaskell, Dickens, and the time period of early industrialization in England.As to the edition, Everyman's Library always makes a nice hard copy. It includes a biography and timeline of work as well as the author's preface and an introduction by Jenny Uglow.
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