North and South

I liked this book very much. The writing in these older books is so rich. I also really appreciate the people who donate their time to read these books. HOWEVER, the many, many different readers and many many different accents, volume, abilities really inhibited my enjoyment of this story. Some of the reader's were wonderful. Some of them spoke so fast, I missed out on those chapters. The disparity of accents was also jarring. One chapter from a German reader and then a Southern reader from Alabama. Consistency in narration really helps in audio books. Again-thx to those who generously give their time. But I would think the uneven quality in the readers should be monitored.

The book content was excellent. A little off putting that each chapter is narrated by a different person. Some of the readers were excellent but others had difficult accents and poor sound quality. Overall I’d recommend it.

I really enjoyed the story. If you like Pride and Prejudice, this will be enjoyable. But Gaskell is no Austin. Now to the most important part, the narration was frustrating. Each chapter is done by a different person and not every chapter has great sound quality. As if that isn't bad enough, some of the narrators have accents so thick that they might as have been speaking Russian.

This is a love story from an earlier time in England, The characters are a little too good to be true., which is often the case with novels of the period. Nonetheless, North and South is a good read and informs the reader of social upheaval and conflict in England at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. This American reader was pleased to discover that most of the narrators were narrated by women from the UK or Europe.