I know you were probably expecting the COVER REVEAL for Mr. Knightley in His Own Words, and that IS COMING SOON! I promise. I have it planned for next week, Aug. 28th, at Austen Variations (see it now!), so I’m really hoping my graphic designer and I will finish our work in time! Fingers crossed. In the meantime, catch up by reading previous posts and the book’s page.

I have something else for you today – a review of North and South – mostly the film adaptation but with some comments on Elizabeth Gaskell’s classic novel too. Have you read it?

I first read the novel back in 2007 during my desperate quest to find more books like Jane Austen wrote, and before I started writing my own. I honestly don’t remember much of my impressions of the book at the time. It wasn’t Jane Austen, but I liked N&S well enough to follow it with another Gaskell classic: Wives and Daughters. Then at some point, I discovered the 2004 mini-series, starring Richard Armitage and Daniela Denby-Ashe, which I immediately purchased for my permanent collection.

After re-watching it with my sister recently on one of our “movie days,” I decided that I should read the book again (which I did in audio, with the talented Juliet Stevenson as narrator). So both book and film adaptation are now fresh in my mind!

First, a few words about the book. Set in Victorian England, North and South tells the story of Margaret Hale, a refined clergyman’s daughter from the rural south, who is uprooted to the industrial north, where she meets the not-quite-a-gentleman Mr. Thornton, cotton mill owner. There’s a definite Pride and Prejudice vibe in that the two principals come from different worlds and don’t get along at all in the beginning. The Thorntons think Margaret gives herself undeserved airs of superiority. Meanwhile, Margaret is put off by the northerners’ rough ways, saving her greatest contempt for Mr. Thornton. As you might expect, though, they gradually learn to better understand each other over the course of the book.

While not at all similar in style to Jane Austen’s, Elizabeth Gaskell’s prose is quite lovely to read/listen to, and I thoroughly enjoyed the book on this second visit. It’s quite long, however (around 500pgs) – a plus in some minds but not necessarily in mine. In my opinion, it could be substantially abridged (and no doubt has been by somebody) without losing the life and nuance of the story.

As longwinded as Gaskell seems at times, however, she certainly didn’t waste any extra words on the last chapter. (Warning. There is technically a spoiler ahead. Although, come on; you know the guy and the girl are going to get together in the end, right?). As I saw the “minutes remaining” dwindle down on my audiobook, I actually wondered if there was time enough left to get to the happy ending – Margaret reaching her good understanding with Mr. Thornton at last! We did get there, and it was deliciously sweet, but then it was over all too soon.

The only other caution is to be prepared for a high body count. I’m not naming names, but a lot of people die in this book (primarily by natural causes, not violence). So don’t get too attached to the secondary characters!

Now, on to the film adaptation. I love that the filmmakers used the mini-series (4 hours) format to tell this complex story, rather than trying to do it justice in under 2 hours! I also love that the adaptation remains very true to the original novel in essentials. And my re-read reminded me how much of the movie’s dialogue came straight from Elizabeth Gaskell. Good on them for not feeling the need to “improve” on what was pretty great to begin with. The cast is top notch too, with Sinead Cusack, Brendan Coyle, and Anna Maxwell Martin playing pivotal roles (added to the leads, Armitage and Denby-Ashe).

With the medium of film, we naturally lose the internal dialogue of the characters (Note: the book is written in the omniscient voice, and we hear the thoughts and feelings of both primary characters as well as occasionally a secondary). But we also gain something with film: all the wonderful visuals contrasting the verdure Margaret has come from with the smoky gray of where she now finds herself. Filming took place in Edinburgh, Selkirk, Keighley, and even inside a fully operational vintage cotton mill museum in Burnley.

The film adaptation does stray from the book in a few places. Margaret venturing into the mill was a nice addition. Along with her, we get a good look at the strange and foreign place where Mr. Thornton reigns as “master.” I’m not quite sure fabricating a trip for Margaret to the Great Exhibition in London was necessary. It’s not in the book, but it does no harm and is an interesting historical touch. And I won’t even quibble with the choice to set the final scene in the railway station instead of the privacy of a drawing room. Admittedly, it’s not period correct at all (having them kissing in public), but it certainly adds some very satisfying visuals necessarily lacking in the corresponding scene of the book, which is so abbreviated. In fact, I always back it up to watch the scene multiple times before finally allowing the film to end.

There’s only one scene in the whole film to which I take exception – great exception! That is the scene where Margaret first encounters Mr. Thornton, which in the adaptation occurs at his mill. Thornton catches a worker smoking on the job (a serious offense and a genuine danger in such a combustible environment), and he proceeds to administer discipline with his fists and his feet. Let me emphasize, THIS NEVER HAPPENS IN THE BOOK! I think it was the filmmakers shortcut to explain why Margaret despises Mr. Thornton from the outset (rather than doing the hard work of showing that her prejudice is based on something more subtle: cultural differences). It works; she despises him all right! But how could she ever love and trust him later? Cultural differences can be overcome with mutual understanding; a propensity to violence cannot.

So although I love this mini-series and have watched it at least a dozen times, I always have to give this disclaimer whenever I recommend it. “It’s great, except for this one scene…” Darn! If only they had consulted me first, I could have spared the filmmakers committing this serious error. Then I could have given North and South a full 5-star recommendation instead of 4 and a half!

Have you seen it? Read the book? What is your assessment of each?

“South or north, I know a black cloud when I see it; and you must not set forward while it is so threatening…”

Jane Austen, Mansfield Park, chapter 22

Interested in MORE MOVIE REVIEWS? Visit my Movie Reviews page for a complete list with links!