Classic Fridays

Most people who know me know I love classic literature--that I am a certified Jane Austen fan or JaneJunkie as I like to call them. So, I thought it might be fun to start posting on classic literature on Fridays. I won't promise to do it every Friday but most Fridays at any rate.



I try to read several classic novels every year. Most of the time I'm reading a...that's right a Jane Austen novel. At the moment though I'm reading North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell. Many Americans think of the North and South from our Civil War but Gaskell's North and South takes place in England. It is about the a Northern manufacturer, John Thornton and a middle class Southern woman, Margaret Hale. The North was very much turning to manufacturing at this time and the South is where you had more of the landed gentry and agriculture. These two just clash when they meet with their differences of opinion. It's a very romantic book. The author really gets into the head of the John Thornton character more than was usual in those days. But it is also a social commentary of workers and owners (or masters as they call them), unions and rights, and the plight of the poor . This is the second time I am reading this book. It's a good one not to be missed. I'll talk about it more in the future.


Until next Friday, keep reading those classics,
Cindy