North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell chapter 9 "Dressing for Tea", 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:The next day Mr Hale is hesitating to tell his family something. Eventually, much to Mrs. Hale’s dislike, he says that he has invited Mr. Thornton to tea. Mrs. Hale is very confused, firstly she does not know what to serve him and supply him with for entertainment, but secondly, she has no second maid to help prepare everything. Margaret says that she will help and tries to reassure her mother that Mr. Thornton’s entertainment will be talking to her father. She is looking forward to properly meeting Mr. Thornton, though she wishes that she could have had more time to prepare for the evening instead of it being thrust upon herself. She is extremely fatigued after helping Dixon prepare everything and Mrs. Hale is stunned that her life has come to this…her daughter doing housework. She scorns Mr Thornton’s name. Margaret tries to correct her mother’s behaviour, but Mrs. Hale remains still unconvinced. At the other side of town, in Mr Thornton’s house, a perfectly dressed older woman is repairing a tablecloth. Hearing a footstep in the corridor she calls out “John” surprised to hear her son’s footstep. Seeing him, she asks what he is doing, and was he not supposed to be having tea. He replies positively to this and says that he has come only to change his clothes. This perplexes his mother, as in her day, people went for tea after work, they didn’t come and change before meeting people, and in any case, what does he want in having tea with “an old parson.” He corrects his mother that Mr. is a gentleman and his wife and daughter are ladies. Mrs Thornton asks why he never mentioned his wife and daughter before, and her son replies that he has never met the mother and has only met the daughter once and thus felt it wasn’t relevant. His mother makes a remark about staying safe from the claws of a southern girl who would only want his money. He says to his mother that he is not easily caught. Again Mrs. Thornton says something about southern girls wanting rich husbands, causing her son to tell her about how he was treated by Margaret when they first met. Leaving, he defends again Mr. Hale, and says that if she is awake, he will tell her about Mrs. Hale after tea.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 8 "Home Sickness", 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:The change is wallpaper is not enough to convince the family that Milton is their new home. It would need much more for that. Dixon and Margaret are unpacking boxes as fast as possible to get Mrs. Hale settled as fast as possible. There is a deep fog that settles in the morning, and Mrs. Hale is not convinced that she will be able to make a home of this place. Mr Hale is not convinced either and he laments that he should have tried to live in some country place in Wales. Margaret, when alone, is in a state of despair whenever she thinks about having to stay in Milton for the foreseeable future. Margaret thinks about Helston when she sits down on a packing box and tries to distract herself by reading a letter she received from Edith. She and captain Lennox have settled in Corfu, where they are to be stationed for at least a year. Edith describes the place well and tells all about their easy life there. She reminds Margaret too about the night when she met captain Lennox, a date she remembers well. Margaret thinks then about if anyone from the London set will remember her…The family needs to find another maid to help them, but each girl that comes for an interview is rejected by Dixon. Mr. Hale spends much time with his new pupils and it is noted that many people in the area are undereducated because their parents send them to work in factories at a very young age. Mr. Thornton is the eldest of Mr. Hale’s students, but the majority of them are older. Mrs. Hale does not care much for her husband spending so much time in contact with his students. Margaret spends much time out in the town trying to look for a girl to help them at home too and comes across many of the people of Milton while they go to and come from the factories. In the street she is accosted by the women because she is nicely dressed and they want to know where she got her clothes from, and she is accosted by the men because she is pretty, and they call out to her in the street… In the Spring, Margaret goes to a field with her father to collect flowers and one of these such men came too with his daughter. Margaret gives a flower to the sickly girl, and her father is grateful for it. Margaret converses with the man while they walk back into town and tries to befriend him and his family. It is eventually agreed that Margaret will visit them. 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 7 "New Scenes and Faces", 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: The family has gone to Heston where they plan to settle themselves while they find a house in Milton. It is a very purpose-built town, and Margaret notes that people don’t seem to hang around their shopfronts when business is calm, they make work for themselves. They find themselves a hotel to stay in, the first clean one they find. Margaret does not want to think about the future while listening to the lapping waves on the shore, but she must think about it. A few days later Margaret and her father set out to Milton to look at some homes and to provide Mr. Hale to meet Mr. Thornton for the first time. As they approach Milton, they see the blue hazy smoke rise from the city, and they taste the change in the air. The city is made of many brick houses, and the town is heaving with people and trucks making deliveries to the factories. The people are well dressed, but their clothes are baggy. They check themselves into a hotel, and after deciding to see the houses first and then get lunch, Margaret and her father set off. They see several houses and are not fully satisfied with any of them, but with a budget of 30 pounds a year, they cannot ask for much. Margaret manages to come up with a plan for one of the homes however and convinces her father to take it. He drops Margaret off at the hotel to order lunch and heads back to the house to take it, and to try and convince the landlord to change the wallpaper. At the Hotel, Margaret is greeted by a footman who tells her that Mr. Thornton has come to visit her father. She enters the room and greets him with civility. Mr. Thornton is taken aback, not only was he expecting to see Mr. Hale, but he also believed that his daughter must have been a much younger girl. Mr Thornton is frustrated that he has to wait for Mr. Hale to come on a market day, but he is suddenly made calm by Margaret’s presence, which he doesn’t understand. The two converse briefly while the man is stunned by Margaret’s beauty, and he gives short curt answers to her. When Mr. Hale comes home, the two gentleman converse with each other and Margaret goes to the window. When the men have finished talking, Mr. Hale informs Margaret that he couldn’t convince the landlord to change the wallpaper for her. When the family eventually moves into the home however, they find that the landlord has changed the wallpaper. It seems that what he was unwilling to do for an unknown Mr. Hale, he was more than ready to do for Mr. Thornton.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 6 "Farewell", 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:The Hale family are preparing for their final departure from Helstone. Mrs. Hale and Dixon are slow in their preparations as they keep finding old relics from Margaret and her brother’s childhood. Mr. Hale is in his study, and Margaret is directing the removers where to put each box as they are carried to the train station. Margaret, though keeping a brave face, is full of sorrow. She goes for one last time into the garden and there is a dull mist floating in the air. She walks for the first time in the area where Henry Lennox made his proposal and feels very strange, so much had changed since then. She suddenly feels very alone and afraid, and runs back to the house, banging on the door to be let back inside. Charlotte opens the door for her, and Margaret tells her to write once they are settled in Milton. When Mr. Hale comes back inside he is very depressed. He has seen the last of his parishioners, and when Margaret finds out that one of the younger children was waiting for her to come to visit too, she finally bursts into tears. The following day, a chaise comes to collect the Hale family and take them to the train station. As they leave Margaret goes to take one last look at the house, but decides to let her father take it instead, feeling that he deserves it more. They make it to London in the evening, where they are to stay in a hotel for the night before heading North. They are blown away at London life; the town is bustling well after sundown. Mrs. Hale believes that they passed Mr. Lennox, and Margaret goes to look out of the carriage and wishes to have seen him, but not he, them. In the evening, Mr Hale leaves his family to go and see his bookseller, and he leaves his wife and daughter at the hotel where they can only think about going to see their friends. They know however that they cannot go, and they would not be permitted to be sad with them.
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 5 "Decisions", 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 listens to her mother’s plans during the rest of the evening and her thoughts linger on the townspeople who would always be expecting her to come and visit to help them. She tells her mother that they must indeed help the people of Helstone with great enthusiasm, which concerns her mother slightly, so she sends her daughter to bed early. The following day, Mr. Hale comes downstairs and announces that he is going to be out for the day, until around 7pm, letting Margaret know that she has until then to let her mother know the terrible news. Margaret wishes to get the thing over with and asks her mother to join her in the garden. They walk slowly and soon Margaret spews forth the news. Mrs. Hale is at first confused and then shocked and saddened. She goes on to ask why her husband felt like he could not tell her this news himself and is jealous that he told his daughter first. Her sorrows only calm a little when Margaret talks of how much Mr. Hale must have suffered under this tremendous weight. Margaret spend the rest of the day trying to comfort her mother. At around 7, Mr. Hales comes home, Margaret does not go to meet him at the door. When he comes in, he is grey and pale and looks afraid. His wife goes to him and throws herself on his breast where the two cry together. Margaret goes to her room to cry alone. In her room a servant enters and tries to arrange the room, but she is concerned for Margaret and goes to fetch Dixon. Dixon comes and tries to comfort her mistress but end up talking about how awful a man Mr Hale must be to have organised all this without telling any of them. Margaret defends her father and puts their servant back in her place for taking too much liberty. She send Dixon away and bolts the door behind her. Two weeks to organise a removal is almost far too short a time to get it all done, let alone enough time to find a house in Milton. Margaret sets to trying to find a place for her mother to go while she and her father find a house. She finds a place 30 miles away from the industrial town and proposes this to her father, where the agree on it. After suggesting it to her mother, Mrs. Hale’s only regret is that her husband cannot join her there too.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 4 "Doubts and Difficulties", narrated by Isaac Birchall

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⁠https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreads⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/join⁠Summary:Mr Lennox is gone and the house is being closed for the evening. While waiting for her parents to come down, Margaret reflects over the affair in the garden. Dinner is quiet and Margaret finds it odd that no one asks about Mr. Lennox. After supper, her father goes over the mantlepiece in thought, and her mother goes to check on the servants. Mr. Hale then calls his daughter over to him, asking her to come into his study with him. In the study he takes a while to start talking, but suddenly, in a burst, he confesses to Margaret that he is leaving Helstone. She is stunned but asks for more clarity. Mr Hale has become disenchanted with the church, and while still devoted to god, he can no longer serve as a minister. Margaret tries to stay calm though his speech, but she cannot help but feel deeply upset by this news. He goes on to say that he has already told the bishop that he shall be leaving his post and that the on the following Sunday, he will give his farewell sermon. He then asks Margaret if she will be able to be the one to tell her mother of this terrible news and while she hates to have to do this terrible job, she agrees when she sees how much stress this act will but her father through. Margaret knows her mother will be very shocked by this news and asks her father where they are going to. He says Milton Northern, a manufacturing town in Darkshire, where he believes that he can make money. He has apparently taken a job as a tutor to an up-and-coming man. Margaret is confused as to what a common man could want to do with a tutor but as her father explains more, she understands a little more. Her mother calls for her and with one last, deep hug, Margaret leaves her father in his study and goes to her mother.

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 3 "The More Haste The Worse Speed", 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 Henry Lennox has come to visit, and he is greeted happily by Margaret. He lets her know that her cousin and his brother have now started their proper honeymoon and have gone to Plymouth to catch their boat. Margaret goes to fetch her mother and while she is gone, the man looks around himself and is disappointed to find out in what sort of place Margaret lives. It is not at all how he pictured it. Mrs Hale is not happy about the visit from Mr Lennox, as both she and her husband are not feeling too well, and they are only to have a cold lunch so that the servants can get their work done. Margaret tells her that Mr. Hale likes Mr Lennox, and not to worry about the food, and when pressed by her mother as to what he is to do until lunch, her daughter says that she shall take him into the forest to draw. Mr Lennox and Margaret set out into the forest and find some lovely cottages to draw. Margaret goes off and talks to the old man who lives in one of the cottages and Mr. Lennox draws Margaret and the old man into his sketch. After a couple of hours, they are finished and back up their drawing materials and head back home for dinner. The dinner is fine and conversation is easy. The family then goes into the garden to eat fresh pears for dessert. In the Garden, Henry and Margaret go on a small walk around their grounds. During this walk, Mr Lennox professes his love to Margaret. This declaration greatly shocks her, and she lets him know that she has only ever thought of him as a friend. Mr Lennox is both shocked and heavily disappointed by her response. They go back together to join the family again and Margaret is very upset with her visitor. She wishes that he could never had said anything at all, wishes that things were like they were before. Following this, the mood has changed and Mr. Hale is less impressed with Mr. Lennox, though he has no idea why the man have changed in so short a time. They are very glad when he takes his leave of them to catch the 5o’clock train. 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 2 "Roses and Thorns", 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:Margret is traveling home with her father after Edith’s wedding. Her mother did not join them as she they could not afford the dresses that she would have worn, and though her sister would have supplied her with numerous gowns, she was too proud to accept them. Mr Hale was the perfect model of a parish priest. Margret is very hopeful of the future. Her father is sleeping in the carriage and is described as a very handsome man. She also thinks about her brother, and laments over his choice of joining the navy instead of the clergy. She wants to comfort her mother and father and ready’s her face to support him when he awakens. Margret is very happy to be back in the countryside; she hated being forced to take a carriage while in town and wants to be able to be with the country folk. Her mother is unhappy with her family’s situation and wishes that the bishop gave more attention, and a bigger parish to her husband. Mr Hale shrinks more and more as Mrs. Hale tells him to ask again and again for a bigger parish. Mrs. Hale doesn’t really like living in the country, and as the season changes and becomes colder, Margret finds it harder to put up with her mother’s complaints. She regrets that all of their neighbours are regular folk, and that everyone worth interacting with lives on the other side of the parish. Margret fights back at her mother for this thought as these people are only worth being with because they have money from a trade, they don’t have any status. Margret says that she would prefer to interact with their immediate neighbours. Margret’s mother is not a bookish person, and because of this, Mr Hale has retreated most nights into his study to read. Margret is a reader, and loved to go through her father’s library, but spends her nights telling her mother about London life, which Mrs. Hale listens to attentively. Margret wishes to ask about her brother but can never bring it up to her mother or father. His room is always kept in perfect order by the maid, but he is never spoken about. Mr. Hale goes out every day to check the post for news of Frederik, and he shoos away from his parishioners because of the lack of news. On one bright sunny day, the housekeeper announces the arrival on HenrySEO 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 1 "A Haste to the Wedding", 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:North and South opens with Margret and her cousin Edith in one of the back drawing rooms. Mrs. Shaw is talking with her friends about wedding dresses and wedding ceremonies and Edith fell asleep instead of joining in the conversation. Once Edith marries, Margret will return home from her life in London and be back in the countryside again. A large family dinner was organised to say farewell to Edith before her marriage in a few days’ time. Mrs. Shaw regrets her marriage because of a very large age difference between her and her late husband and has determined on her daughter marrying for love.Edith is called for, but as she is asleep, Margret goes in her stead. She is asked by her aunt to go and fetch some Indian Shawls from upstairs to show to her friends. She goes upstairs and reminisces about her first time coming to the nursery at the age of 10 when she was moved to her aunt’s home. When she comes down, she is asked to model the shawls for Mrs. Shaw’s friends, and they all fawn over the fabrics until the gentlemen enter. Mr Henry Lennox, the brother of Edith’s fiancé is talked to by Mrs. Shaw. He soon finds a place to sit with Margret and proceeds to ask her how she is feeling about moving back to the country and asks many questions about what it is like there. Margret however refuses to elaborate on anything and leaves Henry Lennox jesting at her for her closedness. It is clear that he is very keen on her. Edith awakens during this time and goes to play some piano while waiting for her betrothed to arrive. The man soon arrives, and in several days, he and Edith are married, and away they go on their honeymoon. 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.

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen chapter 50, 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:After a strong resistance from Mrs. Ferrars, Edward was finally admitted to see her and became once again her son. After this he felt able to reveal his engagement, and though Mrs. Ferrars tried again to convince him to marry Miss Morton, but on seeing that he did not waver, she allowed him to marry Miss Dashwood. She eventually bestowed on him just enough money to allow him and Elanor to live on too. Though they would have liked to have waited until the house was finished before marrying, Edward and Elanor marry in the early autumn. They are then visited by everyone they know, including Mrs. Ferrars and the other Dashwoods. All that remains is for Marianne to eventually Marry Colonel Brandon. Eventually too, Mrs Ferrars forgives Robert. As he was never forbidden from marrying Lucy, he never really did anything wrong, and thanks to buckets of flattery from Lucy, she too becomes a welcome member of the family, and even a favourite.Elanor is always seeing her family at her cottage at Delaford. Mrs Dashwood is very keen on seeing her daughter married to Colonel Brandon. They feel they he truly loves her, and eventually his attachment to her becomes known by Marianne. She slowly falls for the Colonel, and through her connection he becomes incredibly happy. It is said that Marianne becomes just as attached to the Colonel as he is attached to her. Willoughby is made forever miserable by this marriage, and though he is able to enjoy himself at times, he can only think of Marianne with regrets. The Dashwood girls, and the two men who secured them live very, very happily at Delaford together.SEO stuff I don't want to do. Jane Austin's timeless classic Sense and Sensibility follows the story of two girls, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, and their endeavors in love, marriage, and societal expectations. Love is not easy however, and Elinor finds her sense tested by her charming brother-in-law, while Marianne's sensibility brings her nothing but heartbreak.