- Published: 24 October 2012
- ISBN: 9780141974675
- Imprint: Penguin eBooks
- Format: EBook
- Pages: 512
Mary Barton
A Tale of Manchester Life
The new paperback series: Penguin English Library
With an essay by Stephen Gill.
"Don't think to come over me with th' old tale, that the rich know nothing of the trials of the poor; I say, if they don't know, they ought to know. We're their slaves as long as we can work; we pile up their fortunes with the sweat of our brows, and yet we are to live as separate as if we were in two worlds ... with a great gulf betwixt us"
Mary Barton is beautiful but has been born poor. Her father fights for the rights of his fellow workers, but Mary wants to make a better life for them both. She rashly decides to reject her lover Jem, a struggling engineer, in the hope of marrying the rich mill-owner's son Henry Carson and securing a safe future. But when Henry is shot down in the street and Jem becomes the main suspect, Mary finds herself hopelessly torn between them. She also discovers an unpleasant truth - one that could bring tragedy upon everyone, and threatens to destroy her.
- Published: 24 October 2012
- ISBN: 9780141974675
- Imprint: Penguin eBooks
- Format: EBook
- Pages: 512