I am 100% certain that I have read this before, but oddly enough it isn't on my list! This is a classic, and I need to look up the miniseries (for surely, there MUST be a BBC miniseries!).

I was struck by certain similarities between the characters of Mrs. Hyacinth Gibson (neé Kirkpatrick, neé Clare) and Mrs. Hyacinth Bucket ("pronounced Boo-KAY!"). Both were shallow, self-absorbed women, obsessed with appearances and social status. It must be something in the name. I will say, that I never disliked Mrs. Bucket the way I loathe Mrs. Gibson.

The ending was...enough. I was so sad to know that Mrs. Gaskell had died before she was able to complete this novel, but the afterword helped. All in all, a classic that got me invested. I even cried at one scene!