Sybil, or the Two Nations

“His portrait of life in a grim, northern manufacturing town is vivid and memorable . . . Without Disraeli, Charles Dickens might not have written Hard Times.” —The Guardian

Charles Egremont, the younger brother of an English earl, was brought up in the enjoyment of every comfort and luxury that refinement could devise and wealth furnish. And even though enjoyment, not ambition, seems the principle of his existence, he is blessed with a generous spirit and tender heart. But his quaint, rural village hides a terrible truth: a miserable population of workers, victims of penury and disease.

Yearning to learn more about their plight, Egremont poses as a reporter. He comes in contact with the beautiful and serene Sybil Gerard, the daughter of a factory worker. And as his brother tries to set up an arranged marriage for him, Egremont finds that his heart belongs to Sybil. Her caring spirit opens up horizons for him, allowing him to clearly see the harm and misery caused by a divided England.

A scathing portrait of the dichotomy of industrialized English society, Sybil, or the Two Nations “is both an upper-class romance and a political manifesto set against the backdrop of the Chartist movement” (The Victorian Web).