South Riding (novel)

"South Riding" is a novel by Winifred Holtby, published posthumously in 1936.

The book is set in the fictional South Riding of Yorkshire. The leading characters are: Sarah Burton, an idealistic young headmistress; Robert Carne of Maythorpe Hall, tormented by his disastrous marriage; Jo Astell, a socialist fighting poverty; and Mrs Beddows, the first woman Alderman of the district.

The book won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for 1936.

The novel was adapted for the cinema in 1937 and for television by Yorkshire Television in 1974, starring Hermione Baddeley as Mrs Beddows, Dorothy Tutin as Sarah Burton, Nigel Davenport as Robert Carne and Judi Bowker as Midge Carne. [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0159211/ "South Riding" (1974) ] ]

"South Riding" is the favourite novel of author Jilly Cooper, whose mother attended the same school, as Holtby.

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