December 2010

We are going to skip November, and meet at Leslie's in December for a Christmas gathering and discussion of North and South, which has nothing to do with the Civil War and which is incredibly long and difficult to find in edited form. The best news is that this will give us time to read the book and watch the movie.


Natalie's choice: North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell.    

Holly says: I find it interesting and appropriate the title of this book was changed from Margaret Hale to North and South.  There is such a distinction between the two worlds, North and South—Margaret seems to much the observer of those worlds to warrant the title.  My opinion, anyway.  I have to admit, however, I thought I was picking up a civil war novel, and was completely surprised to be reading about the north and south of England. See what happens when you don’t know your British novelists! [...and you didn't read Natalie's post ;-D]
I was completely taken in from the start of this tale, it includes so much of what I love to read about—women’s rights, religion, class conflict, and PASSION!

I often wonder about living during a time when supposition and assumption seems to form so many of life’s dealings... it makes me want to scream!

Sue says: I had limited reading time for a while and at 10 pages at a time it was difficult to get in the flow of the story.  But I read the last half in one sitting and really loved it.  The descriptions of the class strains and working conditions were very interesting, and the character of Margaret was a tough gal.  This was a great novel.