The Essential Reads

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell chapter 34 "False and True" narrated by Isaac BirchallSubscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on KO-FI and support me as an independent creator :D⁠https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreads⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/join⁠Summary:Margaret is having a very hard time dealing with her mother’s passing. It weighs constantly on her mind and Frederick too, weighs heavy on her. Her father paces up and down the house constantly while waiting for word from Frederick saying he has safely left England. Mr Thornton comes to visit them a few days after the funeral. He rings Mr. Hales hand tenderly, and when he looks to Margaret, he sees a deep suffering on her face and sees that she isn’t actually holding up well. Margaret leaves the two men to talk while she goes on with her needlework. Mr. Thornton is able to keep Mr. hale engaged in conversation, and Margaret is very thankful for this. Dixon then comes into the room looking worried and asking for Margaret. In Margaret’s room, once the door is closed, Dixon tells her that a police inspector has come to see her and has been let into the her father’s study. The inspector hasn’t said anything and only wishes to talk to Margaret. In the study, the inspector greets Margaret, but is shocked by her haughtiness. The inspector tells her that the man Leonards passed away following a fall that he had at the Outward Station a few days before. The man was involved in a scuffle, following which Leonards fell. He tells her that someone claimed to have seen her at the station with that man that pushed Leonards. Margaret refutes this with a few curt words, not giving the inspector any emotion. Apparently a grocers assistant claimed that the woman with the man was miss Hale, but is not fully certain. After Leonards got up from his fall, he murmured something about making a telephone call and then wandered off. He fell down in the road and was then taken to the hospital unconscious; he never regained consciousness enough to be able to give a deposition to a magistrate. The inspector then asks Margaret again if she denies these claims, which she does, and though it sounds mechanical response which Margaret gave, but not knowing her enough, he does not question it further. Margaret, though not moving a muscle, is deeply hurt by her own lie. Gathering up his things, the Inspector says that if anything more comes from his questioning the other witnesses, then she may have to come to court, but again Margaret is unflinching. She leads the man to the door, and takes him out of the house, after shutting the door behind her, and going back into the study, locking this door too, she collapses on the floor. SEO stuff I don't want to do. Elizabeth Gaskell's classic, "North and South" sees Margaret Hale's live uprooted as her family moves to the north of England. Initially disgusted by the ugliness of the industrial town of Milton, Margaret develops a strong sense of social justice after seeing the poverty and suffering of local mill workers.

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell chapter 33 "Peace" narrated by Isaac BirchallSubscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on KO-FI and support me as an independent creator :D⁠https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreads⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/join⁠Summary:Drinks were prepared for Margaret on her return from the train station, and the house seems strangely quiet to Margaret after all the chaos of Frederick’s departure. Margaret determines that she is not going to tell her father about everything that happened, not wishing to increase his anxiety. Frederick will, hopefully be soon out of England. Margaret tries to engage her father in conversation about Mr. Bell’s arrival, and asks what should happen if he cannot come. He says that he should ask Mr. Thornton, to which Margaret objects, asking to be able to go instead, against the traditions of Southern women. Mr. Bell cannot come… Margaret spends the next day trying to convince her father not to invite Mr. Thornton to her mother’s funeral, to which he finally relents, after receiving a letter from Mrs. Thornton saying that they will send their carriage to the procession, heavily vexing Margaret; are the Hale’s not good enough to be graced with their actual presence. They receive a letter from Frederick in London, saying that Mr. Lennox is not in town, and that and that his clerk told him that he should be back in a few days, causing Frederick to have to stay a few more days in the city. Margaret determines not to tell her father the contents of this note, worrying about it being a suggestion of hers to see the lawyer. Thankfully, in her father’s grief, he forgot that they were supposed to receive a letter from his son. The undertaker comes to take the body of Mrs. Hale.At the Funeral, Mr. Hale is more or less numb, and Margaret must keep her composure for her father’s sake. Dixon points out to Margaret that Nicholas Higgins and his daughter to her. When all is ended, Mr. Hale has Margaret lead him away like a man blind. Dixon, in tears, didn’t realise that the crowd was leaving until she was stopped by Mr. Thornton, who asks after Mr. and Miss Hale. She says that Mr. Hale is terribly beaten down, but that Margaret is holding out pretty well, which causes him to feel very uneasy about Margaret, especially after what he saw at the Outward Station. SEO stuff I don't want to do. Elizabeth Gaskell's classic, "North and South" sees Margaret Hale's live uprooted as her family moves to the north of England. Initially disgusted by the ugliness of the industrial town of Milton, Margaret develops a strong sense of social justice after seeing the poverty and suffering of local mill workers.

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell chapter 32 "Mischances" narrated by Isaac BirchallSubscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on KO-FI and support me as an independent creator :D⁠https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreads⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/join⁠Summary:All the following day, the family stays together. Frederick, now leaving, steels his emotions for the final time, which causes Margaret to finally feel her emotions. Mr. Hale starts at every sound and only feels comfortable when Frederick is out of site. That evening, Mr. Hale asks Margaret to go to the quieter station with Frederick so that he has a better chance of getting away unseen. When they arrive at the outward station, they have a 20-minute wait before the train arrives. Frederick says that he is going to ask for his exculpation purely for her sake than anyone else’s, unable to imagine what his sister would do if their father were to go too. Margaret is very touched by this and tries to reassure him. They are holding each other in their arms while waiting, and Margaret goes to talk again when she is arrested by the sight of Mr. Thornton riding past on his horse. Frederick asks quietly who the man is, and when Margaret answers, he makes a quick statement about his scowl. Frederick goes to say that he wishes that they hadn’t sent the cab back as it is getting too dark. At the station again, Margaret goes to buy her brother’s ticket. They go to walk together on the platform together. While waiting, Margaret starts to think that it is a bad idea for Fred to go to London. Suddenly, Frederick is accosted by a man in a worker’s uniform, asking him if his name is Hale, and in a quick bustle the man falls onto the platform, causing Margaret to tell her brother to run to the oncoming train. Margaret runs to the ladies’ room after this and tries to calm herself down before going to buy her own ticket home. In the ticket office she hears news about Leonards, and it seems that it was indeed him who confronted her brother…SEO stuff I don't want to do. Elizabeth Gaskell's classic, "North and South" sees Margaret Hale's live uprooted as her family moves to the north of England. Initially disgusted by the ugliness of the industrial town of Milton, Margaret develops a strong sense of social justice after seeing the poverty and suffering of local mill workers.

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell chapter 31 "Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot" narrated by Isaac BirchallSubscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on KO-FI and support me as an independent creator :D⁠https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreads⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/join⁠Summary:The cold October morning has arrived in Milton, and the dusky streets are only visible when the sun can push through the smog. Margaret is doing her best to hold herself together while her father and brother grieve; even the funeral proceedings have fallen unto her. Dixon tries to rally her, by telling her that she is the only one in the house who can make decisions, which doesn’t help Margaret, but it is good to be needed. Mr. Hale is very despondent, while Frederick tries to force himself to be happy but can only burst into tears. Mr. Hale cannot help Margaret in organising the Funeral, and just agrees to everything Margaret says, until he finally mutters that Mr. Bell should be invited. Margaret writes to him, happy that her father had something to add. Dixon says that Frederick is speaking to his deceased mother, and suggests that he needs to be roused, so she suggested that it isn’t safe for him to be in town. She goes on to explain to Margaret that she ran into someone they knew, a man called Leonards in town. Dixon is very worried about this encounter and explains that he enquired after Frederick. Margaret agrees with Dixon that Frederick must go immediately so that he can avoid being caught. Her brother comes into the room, and Margaret talks quietly about what Dixon said. Frederick goes on to explain a bit more about the man Leonards’ character. Mr. Hale had been listening to their conversation and comes to speak to his children. He says that Frederick, despite how much both he and Margaret would like for him to stay, must go. Frederick says that if he could get evidence to support his case, he would love to be able to stay. Margaret then suggests that if he could get a night train to London, he could maybe talk with Mr. Henry Lennox, who would be supportive to the Hale family. The family agrees that Frederick will leave for London and then go home to Spain while he waits for his trial. Frederick then tells his family about the girl he is hoping to marry, bringing a ray of sunshine to their grey conversation.SEO stuff I don't want to do. Elizabeth Gaskell's classic, "North and South" sees Margaret Hale's live uprooted as her family moves to the north of England. Initially disgusted by the ugliness of the industrial town of Milton, Margaret develops a strong sense of social justice after seeing the poverty and suffering of local mill workers.

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell chapter 30 "Home At Last" narrated by Isaac BirchallSubscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on KO-FI and support me as an independent creator :D⁠https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreads⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/join⁠Summary:The following day Mrs. Thornton comes to see Mrs. Hale. The latter is much worse and seems very close to death. Mrs. Thornton, who has not seen her for weeks, is instantly softened. Mrs. Hale, a mother like herself, and a much younger woman than herself, laying in a bed from which she may never rise again. Mrs. Hale rouses herself enough to speak, and asks the other mother, to take care of Margaret as if she was her own child. Mrs. Thornton agrees and says that she will refrain from telling her if she is doing well but will put her on the right path if she strays. Mrs. Hale then falls asleep again. During this time, Dixon and Margaret are discussing how the house is supposed to be ran while Fredrick is there, and question when they will receive a letter from him.That evening, while her Margaret and Mr. Hale are sitting in the living room, lamenting over the advancement of Mrs. Hale’s sickness, the doorbell rings. Mr. Hale hardly even notices it, and Margaret goes to answer it. She opens the door and a tall dark figure is standing there. When he turns around, Frederick’s face greets Margaret full of joy to see her and worry for their mother. Margaret is overcome with emotion and ushers him into her father’s study, while she runs off to tell her father. Back in the study, Margaret leaves her brother and father to talk quietly while she prepares tea for them all. She takes it in, and Frederick immediately goes to help her, making Margaret feel like there is finally someone she can share her burden with. They soon tell Dixon that Frederick is there and she is suddenly filled with an energy that she hasn’t felt in a very long time.When Mrs. Hale finally awakens, mother and son are finally united, and they do not leave each other again. Frederick’s hand lays in his mother’s, and finally, after a few hours, Mrs. Hale breaths her last breath. After this, Frederick’s emotions give way and he wails like a child all through the night. Dixon and Margaret have to go and tell him in the night to be quiet, for fear that a neighbour should hear him. SEO stuff I don't want to do. Elizabeth Gaskell's classic, "North and South" sees Margaret Hale's live uprooted as her family moves to the north of England. Initially disgusted by the ugliness of the industrial town of Milton, Margaret develops a strong sense of social justice after seeing the poverty and suffering of local mill workers.