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 inspiration being the East Riding rather than the modern South Yorkshire; Holtby's mother, Alice, was the first alderwoman on the East Riding County Council. The leading characters are Sarah Burton, an idealistic young headmistress; Robert Carne of Maythorpe Hall, tormented by his disastrous marriage; Joe 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 rights to the book were given to Somerville College, Oxford by Holtby on her death, which used royalties from South Riding and Pavements at Anderby to fund a scholarship.