The Essential Reads

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell chapter 18 "Likes and Dislikes", narrated by Isaac BirchallSubscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on Patreon and support me as an independent creator :D⁠https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreads⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/join⁠Summary:When Margaret returns home, she finds two letters on the table and starts to read one of them, from her aunt, when her father walks in and asks about the doctor’s visit. Margaret is avoidant, causing her father to worry a little and press her for more information. Margaret sees that her father is worried for his wife, and during that evening, he constantly brings the conversation around to his wife’s health. After supper, he paces back and forth worrying for his wife and then goes to see her. When she wakes up, he goes to read the letters to her, the other one is from Mrs. Thornton, asking them to a dinner. Though Mrs. Hale is too ill to attend, she insists on her husband and daughter going. The following day, Mr. Hale and Margaret discuss this dinner a little more together before going about their days.At the Thornton residence, Mr. Thornton asks his mother which guests are going to be attending the dinner. Mr. Thornton tells his mother that he is very worried for Mrs. Thornton after what Dr. Donaldson told him. Fanny tries to jest with her brother about the Hale family but only ends up vexing him. Mrs. Thornton gives her opinion on the family which vexes John too, but he doesn’t react to his mother’s comments. Fanny then says that Margaret is not accomplished, “she does not play.” After all this, John tells his mother that he wishes she would like Margaret… His mother asks if he is thinking about marrying her, “a girl without a penny,” to which he replies that she would never have him even if he did want her. Mrs. Thornton then says that she has too high an opinion of herself to accept her son. He closes the conversation by saying that he believes that Margaret could soon be in need of motherly care. The conversation then turns to the strikes. Mr. Thornton’s men have not yet struck and will work out their week; if they were to leave their posts beforehand, he would take them all to court for breech of contract. Mrs. Thornton suggests that he gets replacement workers from Ireland to spite his disrespectful workers. He says that the Americans are getting cheaper fabric into the market and thus need to pay everyone less to be able to compete, but the workers don’t know this. Mrs. Thornton apologises for choosing to host a dinner while all of this is going on, which her son agrees with, but it had to be done. After everyone else goes to bed, Mr. Thornton stays awake thinking and pacing.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 17 "What is a Strike?", narrated by Isaac BirchallSubscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on Patreon and support me as an independent creator :D⁠https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreads⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/join⁠Summary:Margaret is really not feeling like going out but eventually livens up a little in the hustle and bustle of the Milton streets. She decides to go and see Bessy Higgins. Nicholas is there when she goes in and offers her a chair, while she asks Betty how she is. Bessy doesn’t like the strike, and this is the 3rd one she has seen. Nicholas is adamant that this one will be the final one, the good one. Margaret asks them what a strike is. Margaret tells them that if people down south struck, then no seed would be sown, and no hay would be reaped. Nicholas doesn’t seem to be bothered by this but eventually says that he doesn’t know enough about the south but has heard that the men down south are all too soft to strike, compared to the Northen men. Bessy says that she wishes she lived down south, causing Margaret to tell her that there are problems down there too. Nicholas gets a little riled up about people not willing to fight for what they deserve. Nicholas eventually says that there are several masters in town that have told them that they are going to offer lower wages than they had over the last 2 years, so then workers are going to strike; why should they do the same works for less. He goes on to say that he is striking not only for himself, but for everyone else. He is taking up the cause for everyone who cannot work. Margaret asks him to ask the masters why they are offering less, believing that they will freely tell. Nicholas laughs this off, and says that the masters would never reveal why, as they believe that they have no need to tell the hands what is going on. He then mentions Mr Thornton’s name. Margaret ask to know what Thornton is like as a master. Nicholas describes the man as a bulldog; the moment he gets a hold of a notion he will not let go of it. Bessy wishes that there would be talk of other, happier things in her happier days, and she mentions that tobacco smoke chokes her. Nicholas puts his pipe out and then leaves the girls to talk alone. Bessy asks Margaret if she is a fool for letting her father go out like that, she knows that he is going to go and drink. There are days here where people just go through the motions, hoping for change, and people will do something different, like drink, or eat, just hoping for something different in their mouth or their minds. Bessy doesn’t blame people for doing these things but wishes that things weren’t like they were. There are many reasons for people to get mad during a strike and they will turn to worse actions. Bessy says that Margaret does not know anything about strikes, and this is just the beginning. Margaret tells Bessy to be careful; she has issues too. Margaret says that she has to go home to her sick mother and pretends to her father that everything is fine. Bessy then goes on a religious tangent about revelations, and Margaret begs her to focus on the clearer passages and not the prophecies. Margaret leaves to go home, thanking Bessy for talking to her about her grievances. 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 16 "The Shadow of Death", narrated by Isaac BirchallSubscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on Patreon and support me as an independent creator :D⁠https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreads⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/join⁠Summary:A doctor has finally come to see Mrs. Hale, but in spite of how close Margaret and her mother have become, Margaret is not permitted to be in the room with the doctor and her mother. Margaret goes into her mother’s room to wait for the doctor to finish. She hears all sorts of concerning sounds from her mother and then the sound of scraping chairs. The doctor closes the room behind Mrs. Hale and Margaret goes to ask him questions. He is very hesitant to respond at first, Mrs. Hale asked him not to tell her about state of her health, but Margaret is very persistent. He eventually submits, and tells Margaret calmly, but sadly, that Mrs. Hale is very ill and does not have terribly long left. Margaret is distraught and tries to calm herself enough to ask more questions in spite of her tears. He says that he will come back to check on her mother and lets Margaret know that she must look at him as a friend and not just a doctor, it is the only way to go forwards. Following the doctor’s departure, Margaret goes into her mother’s room and takes her mother’s hand, letting her know that the doctor told her the truth of her illness. Mrs. Hale is very upset with her but does not let go of Margaret’s hand. Margaret begs her mother to let her act as a nurse, saying that she will learn whatever she can from Dixon, but Mrs. Hale is very caution of this. They then talk of Helstone, and while Mrs. Hale admits that she never really liked the place, the thought of never seeing it again greatly upsets her, but the idea of never being able to see her son, Frederick, again force the tears out. Margaret calls to Dixon for help. After Mrs. Hale has been calmed, Dixon and Margaret talk about her mother’s sickness, and Dixon tells Margaret that she must not tell her father the real extent of Mrs. Hale’s sickness; Margaret never intended to do so, not right away, but this conversation managed to mend the relationship between Margaret and Dixon. Dixon tells Margaret to go on a walk to recover herself before Mr. Hale comes home.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 15 "Masters and Men", narrated by Isaac BirchallSubscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on Patreon and support me as an independent creator :D⁠https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreads⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/join⁠Summary:Mr Hale and Margaret go to repay a visit to Mrs. Thornton. Mr Hale finally starts to talk about his wife’s health which Margaret likes, having been worried about his nonchalance. He is worried about her and feels scared that their coming to Milton will be the death of her. Margaret tries to calm him a little, but they are nonetheless both worried. When they arrive in the Marlborough Street, they are shocked to not find a large stately house, considering the wealth of Mr. Thornton. Asking a passer by, they find out that Mr. Thornton resides in the house that connects to his factory. The walls are darkened by the smoke of the factory, but inside the house, everything is perfectly clean and white, spotless. The two talked quietly together before being joined by Mrs. Thornton. Margaret tried to explain to the woman that her mother was not well enough to come, but because she tried to explain it in a way that wouldn’t make her father more worried either, she give the impression to Mrs. Thornton that Mrs. Hale could have made the effort if she could be bothered to. They talk about Mr. Thornton, and his mother declares that she doesn’t see the point in her son taking up his studies again; he should focus on his business. A man should focus on maintaining his place amongst the ranks of the merchants, and her son is known all over Europe amongst the merchant class. Mr. Hale and Margaret had never heard of him before Mr. Bell told them of him. Mrs. Thornton picked up on this and asked them flat out if they knew about him. They end up saying that Mr. Bell told them of her son. Mrs. Thornton then brings up the topic of a strike that is going to be taking place in the city of Milton. Her son is going to be incredibly busy dealing with it. Later, Mr. Thornton goes to join the Hales at their place of residence to give them a doctor’s name and address. Margaret thanks him deeply. Mr. Hale brings up the strike. Mr. Thornton explains what is happening and goes on to explain that the workers do not know what is going on behind the scenes, the only thing that they care about is that their wages are not being increased, they have no idea that the business are struggling more than in previous years. He says also have no right to know what a businessman does with his money, and that they shouldn’t care about it either. Margaret test him on this but also claims that she knows so little about economics that she cannot properly push him on the subject. They go back and forth a little bit and then Margaret brings up someone abusing the masters and Mr. Thornton presser her asking who she heard saying such things. Margaret goes back and says that if workers are kept ignorant, then it is better for the Masters. Mr. Hale tries to get his daughter to be quiet, as he hears Mr. Thornton getting offended. Mr. Thornton then tries to explain his position further and goes to say that he wishes to work to benefit both his workers and himself, but he feels no need to explain his actions to them. Mr. Thornton then leaves saying goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Hale, and then to Margaret after privately apologising to her for his tone of voice.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 14 "The Meeting", narrated by Isaac BirchallSubscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on Patreon and support me as an independent creator :D⁠https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreads⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/join⁠Summary:Margaret and her mother are growing closer in her illness, and Margaret is finally feeling like she has the place she always wanted. One evening when Mr. Hale is out, her mother starts to talk of Margaret’s brother Fredrick. There was a terrible storm the previous night, and every time there is a storm, Mrs. Hale claims that she can only think of Fredrick on a ship somewhere in the sea. She says that she is very glad that he is now on shore again. Margaret asks where he is based now, and her mother responds that he is somewhere in Spain, but that he has taken the name of Dickenson, so that he cannot be recognised. Margaret asks properly, for the first time, what truly happened. Mrs. Hale sends Margaret to her cabinet to get some letters from Fredrick. Margaret starts to read the letters, but her mother takes over and tells her what happened. Fredrick was put onto a ship called the Orian where he worked under a man called Mr Ried, whom he did not like. Later he was put on another ship called the Russell, where said Mr. Ried was in command. Fredrick promised that he would try to get along with the captain, but it seems that Mr Ried is a very strict captain. One letter tells how Mr. Ried threatened to flog the last sailor to climb down from the rigging, and the men, terrified of the beating that would await them raced down as fast as they could. The highest man decided it would be quicker for him to jump and try to catch a rope on his way down, but he missed and hit the deck instead. Mrs. Hale says that they only received this news after the mutiny. That captain Ried was sent off to drift in a boat with a few men while the rest set off to be pirates. Mrs. Hale was certain that her Fredrick would be with Mr Ried and that his surname had just been misspelled in the newspaper. When Mr. Hale came back from collecting the paper that day he was so stunned that he could hardly speak, and when Mrs. Hale read that paper, the was so disgusted by what was written about her son that she ripped it up, even with her teeth. She is certain that he son was innocent in the affair, and even if he wasn’t, she is prouder of him for defending the innocents than letting people be bullied. Margaret then asks if it would be possible for her brother to come home one day to which Mrs. Hale tearfully responds that he would be hanged if he were to ever come back to England. On announcing this, Mrs. Hale turns away from her daughter, too hurt by the thought of her son’s punishment.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.