YMMV / Mary Barton

• Hilarious in Hindsight: In one chapter an (unseen) character named Molly Gibson is mentioned. Provides probably-unintentional Book Ends for Elizabeth Gaskell's novels: the heroine of her last book shares a name with a minor character from her first one.
• The Woobie:
  • Jane Wilson. She loses her twin sons, her husband dies unexpectedly, she has to nurse her blind and deaf sister-in-law after a stroke, and her son is falsely accused of murder.
  • Esther. She runs away with a lover who later abandons her and her daughter Annie. She's forced into prostitution to support Annie, who dies anyway. She becomes an alcoholic. When she finally comes home she finds her sister is dead and her niece is being courted by Henry Carson, who plans to seduce then abandon her. Esther tries to warn Mary's father, who refuses to listen and accuses her of murdering Mary Sr. In the end she's reunited with Mary Jr., and then she dies.

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