Last night, my family watched the last part of Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South. My dad requested that we order it through Netflix, having gotten hooked on Cranford and Return to Cranford a month before. I find it hilarious that he will suddenly watch these period pieces with me, after having turned up his nose at Jane Austen adaptations for years. I guess it is the raw quality of the characters, the entanglements that do not only involve those of love. I was reminded why I love those stories so much, their complexity in covering so many issues and revolving around such dynamic characters. I thoroughly enjoy the series mentioned and recently had the pleasure of viewing Wives and Daughters as well.
I read North and South
first, several years ago while in Germany. I bring a book when travelling for
long waits in the airport and quiet moments before bed. This was the first time
that I had a hard time putting my reading down, even with a foreign country to
entertain. The story is such a page-turner! Every chapter left you dying to
read on. From Margaret and John’s misinformed judgments to the upheaval between
mill masters and union workers, I found I was at the mercy of the page. Of
course, I saw the mini-series then and sought out Gaskell’s other works. I read
Wives and Daughters, only to be left
railing at the pages when I discovered the author had died before completing
the last chapter. Thankfully, the TV adaptation does not inflict the same fate.
I saw Cranford before reading it and
was surprised by how short the written work was. Knowing that the TV series was
drawn from many of Gaskell’s other short writings, I cannot wait to find a
complete, single-volume collection of her works so I may read the whole story.
I found Mary Barton at one of the
library book sales. Like North and South,
it is another page-turner with many levels of plot and commentary. I haven’t
found a screen version yet, but I have a lot of faith in the future of BBC
drama! I’ve read that her other novels take on a darker tone, in a more
depressing strain like Tess De’ubervilles;
I am still curious to read them.
I don’t know why it took me so long to discover Gaskell,
but I am glad I did. Her works are truly engaging, with romance, fair social
commentary, and moral reflection blended together in a fascinating point of
time. So if you ever need a good book to read, grab a Gaskell novel; just
remember that the last chapter may be missing!
