I love Whatever Wednesday. Such a fun day, where I talk about anything I want. Today, the subject will be the North and South. Now I know what you are thinking. No, this is not the North and South of America and the Civil War. This is a beautiful, little nugget of gold, about North and South England. Just like Wuthering Heights’ Heathcliff and Katherine, and Pride and Prejudices Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy, it too has a wonderful love/hate love story. The characters are John and Margaret. Set mostly in North England during the cotton age, this story highlights the lives of two people who couldn’t be more different; like two magnets of the same pole trying to come together. But in the end, that magnet flips, and the two become attracted.
The book was written by Elizabeth Gaskell, back in the early 1800’s. She was an English novelist and short story writer during the Victorian era, and died in November of 1865. That era had such wonderful writers.
Her novel, North and South, was adapted by the BBC into a four-part miniseries. The BBC knows how to do it right. North and South is right up there with some of my favorite BBC shows: The Musketeers, Downton Abby, Mr. Selfridge, The Paradise, Call the Midwife. I added links to where you can watch these shows on SimplyJune.org. The main character of John is played by Richard Armitage (Hobbit) and Margaret is played by Daniela Denby-Ashe. It’s so good and the music is beautiful. You can find it on Netflix right now or on Daily Motion. I will post the links below.
Here is the plot of the story: When her father leaves the Church in a crisis of conscience, Margaret Hale is uprooted from her comfortable home in Hampshire to move with her family to the north of England. Initially repulsed by the ugliness of her new surroundings in the industrial town of Milton, Margaret becomes aware of the poverty and suffering of the local mill workers and develops a passionate sense of social justice. This is intensified by her tempestuous relationship with the mill-owner and self-made man, John Thornton, as their fierce opposition over his treatment of his employees masks a deeper attraction. In North and South, Elizabeth Gaskell skillfully fuses individual feeling with social concern, and in Margaret Hale creates one of the most original heroines of Victorian literature.
Squeee!!! It sounds so good, doesn’t it? And it’s only $.99 on Kindle. Yay!
See you tomorrow for Thriller Thusrday.
Daily Motion–Part 1 http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xsp7c0_north-and-south-bbc-part1-2004-greek-subs_shortfilms
Part 2 http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xspgm5_north-and-south-bbc-part2-2004-greek-subs_shortfilms
Part 3 http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xspj8d_north-and-south-bbc-part3-2004-greek-subs_shortfilms
Part 4 http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xsppig_north-and-south-bbc-part4-2004-greek-subs_shortfilms
The soundtrack for North and South: https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=NeH8st9ZBCE&list=PLlRfiKC_vYaCstwn_ZWvn3BwPpBZLgsYZ
You have to listen to the soundtrack. So beautiful!
Karen Gammons 