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By the mid-nineteenth century, the transition of textile production in England from a cottage craft to mechanized factories was complete. Still, the effects of the industrial revolution remain distant from the idyllic rural parish in the New Forest where Margaret Hale grows up. But with her father's crisis of conscience in ministry, the country lanes of Hampshire give way to the crowded urban streets of the industrial North of England. Mr. Hale's new role as a private tutor brings Margaret into contact not only with her father's favorite student - one of the "masters" of a factory - but also leads to her meeting, and caring for, the poor families of factory workers.