The Fine Art of Yearning

Did you ever watch one of those old movies from the forties like Now Voyager or even a movie like Gone With the Wind or Wuthering Heights where you could almost feel the emotion coming off the screen? Do you know how long its been since I've seen something like that? Well, last night I watched all 4 hours of the BBC adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South.

North and South is like the John Jakes novel of the same name, about the differences between different regions, in this case the North and South of England. Margaret Hale and her family move from the South of England to a small industrial city in the North because her father has refused to sign an oath to the Church which means he can't continue to be a clergyman. He now has questions and doubts about the Bible. Margaret, a sensitive, well-meaning, but has a problem sticking her nose where it's not wanted, comes into conflict with John Thornton (played by the oh so delicious Richard Armitage pictured above) who is one of the mill owners in town. There is an instant attraction and almost instant dislike.

Sound familiar? Well Margaret does have traces of Elizabeth Bennett, and Thornton is alot like Mr. Darcy. The difference being, Margaret is actually of a higher class than Thornton who has pulled his family up from povery to own a successful mill already one after his father's death. There's lots of misunderstandings that go on, and secrets. Margaret is injured defending Thornton against the striking workers. He proposes to her, but she refuses because she thinks he's only doing it out of obligation, despite the fact that he tells her he's in love with her.

The black moment is when Thornton sees Margaret late at night at the train station with a young man who she is affectionate with, not knowing that he's her brother who is wanted for participating in a mutiny at sea. A man dies and Margaret denies being at the train station, even though there are witnesses who place her there. Thornton in his role as magistrate makes sure there is no inquest, despite thinking that Margaret was with a lover.

All of course ends well after 4 torturous hours, during which I constantly yelled at the screen whenever I thought the characters were being idiots, particularly when Margaret was hiding the secret about her brother. The truth finally comes out and Thornton rushes off to Margaret, who has just inherited the controlling interest in his mill from her godfather. They meet up again at the train station, and they finally admit (without actually saying it), their feelings for each other.

Sigh, just thinking about it, makes me teary, it was so beautiful. Anyone who thinks they want to write a historical romance written in the Victorian era should watch this miniseries to see how they kept up the tension for 4 hours.

I now have a new Brit heartthrob in Mr. Armitage who is 6 foot 2 of manliness. Move aside Colin Firth!

Thanks for reading!

EKM