@ahmedbutt I'm a steel maker, described as "not that odd" on Radio 4 for liking older novels with a big dollop of misery and moralising. I bet you are familiar with some of my favourites. "Old Wives Tale" and "Ruth" by Arnold Bennet, "Gone To Earth" by Mary Webb, but the best has to be "Ethan Frome" by Edith Wharton.
@ahmedbutt "Ruth" is by Elizabeth Gaskill. My mistake. I was thinking of "Pretty Lady" by AB.
@SteelFolk
Oh I'm sorry, I haven't read any of these. Adding them to my to-read list. Thanks for the recs.