What is the author's style in North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell?

North and South is a social novel. Like many social novels, it looks at working class conditions in the wake of the industrial revolution. Its one difference is rather than detailing a rise from poverty to great riches, such as in Oliver Twist, it examines the cultural differences between the south and the industrial north. The goal of the main protagonist Margaret is to learn and cope with the harsh realities of living in Milton, and by doing so proving the only way to move forward as a society is to accept the opinions and differences of others.