@peonymoss
I love how the story meanders while never feeling like it's stagnating or going into irrelevant channels. Rather than rushing along through the plot, we get to experience life alongside Molly as she explores and develops so many relationships. Her comfortable companionship with her father. Her sort-of-daughter relationship with the Squire Hamley and his wife. Her childish infatuation with the idea of Osborne quickly pivoting toward a real connection with Roger. Her strangely strong, if spiky, relationship with Cynthia. Lady Harriet both respecting her and treating her as a pet. The respect she unexpectedly gets from Lord Hollingford. And we get to see so many other relationships among the other characters--the strong-and-strained connections between the Squire and his two sons, the difficult adjustment Molly and her father have to his new wife, Osborne's connection to his family, etc.
These characters are all flawed, some of them heavily so, but because we see why they're the way they are, we still care about them and want the best for them. (Except for Mr. Preston. He has no excuse.) We don't mind spending 800 pages with them, because the experience of spending time with these people is more important than the plot.
But the plot is still amazing. There are some sensational things here, but they feel grounded in reality. Surprising things happen, and it doesn't turn into melodrama--we usually see people reacting the way ordinary people would, based on their experiences and circumstances and the knowledge that they have. We don't have a plot built on the worst possible things happening, but upon the most likely possible things happening, and Gaskell rarely, if ever, relies upon the easy route to resolve her plot. (I especially love how she handled everything about Aimee's subplot--I was on edge for a good portion of the book, because Gaskell had set up a very easy way to get rid of all the problems she presented, and she didn't go through with it, and provided something so much better.)
This is already too long, so I'll stop there. But there's just so much to love about this book.
