Mary Barton is the first novel by English author Elizabeth Gaskell, published in 1848. The story is set in the English city of Manchester during the 1830s and 1840s and deals heavily with the difficulties faced by the Victorian lower class.
The novel begins in Manchester, where we are introduced to the Bartons and the Wilsons, two working class families. John Barton reveals himself to be a great questioner of the distribution of wealth and the relation between the rich and the poor. He also relates how his sister-in-law Esther has disappeared after she ran away from home.
Soon afterwards Mrs Barton dies, and John is left with his daughter Mary to cope in the harsh world aro...
Two boys from the Foundling Hospital are given the same name, with disastrous consequences in adulthood. Two associates, wishing to right the wrong, are commissioned to find a missing heir. Their quest takes them from fungous wine cellars in the City of London to the sunshine of the Mediterranean — across the Alps in winter. Danger and treachery would prevail were it not for the courage of the heroine and the faithful company servant.
The story contains crafted descriptions, well-drawn and diverse characters, eerie and exotic backgrounds, mystery, semi-concealed identities, brinkmanship with death, romance, the eventual triumph of Good over Evil, and many other elements expected ...
Een allegorisch verhaal als commentaar op de toestand van de Nederlandse samenleving anno 1841, in de ogen van E.J. Potgieter. Jan en Jannetje (die staan voor de oorspronkelijke Nederlandse bevolking vanaf ongeveer 1500) vieren Oudejaarsavond 1841 met hun kinderen, waaronder zoons Janmaat (zeevaart), Jan Contant en Jan Crediet (handel), Jan Compagnie (kolonien), en Jan Cordaat (leger). Het blijkt slecht te gaan met het gezin (dus met Nederland) in de 19e eeuw – en dat ligt aan de jongste zoon, Jan Salie (geest van lamlendigheid die volgens Potgieter heerst in de 19e eeuw). Wat moeten ze met Jan Salie beginnen? (Samenvatting door Anna Simon)
Read in Dutch.