GREAT READS

North and South

directed by Brian Percival ; produced by Kate Bartlett ; story adapted by Sandy Welch.

Do not confuse this with the campy American Civil War series North and South. This is the award winning BBC production of British author Elizabeth Gaskell’s 1855 novel North and South.  Set in England in the mid 1800’s, it is the tale of Margaret Hale (Daniela Denby-Ashe), a young woman moved by her vicar father from the bucolic south of England to the industrial north.  At first shocked and repulsed by the chaotic, dirty factory town of Milton and by John Thornton (Richard Armitage), the hard and driven mill owner, she slowly becomes friends with a factory worker and her union organizer father. As John and Margaret view things from opposite sides and with many misunderstandings, a deep and moving love story develops. Beautifully filmed and superbly acted, with an exceptional musical score by Martin Phipps, this film created a sensation in Britain when it aired in 2004…and, it has the most romantic last 10 minutes on film.  P.S. The Elkton Reference Staff is in love with Richard Armitage as the brooding John Thornton….move over Mr. Darcy!

Recommended by Mary Ellen Raun