I fell in love with North and South when I watched the BBC mini-series, like many of you, I suspect. I then read Elizabeth’s Gaskell’s wonderful book, partly because I wanted to see her original interpretation of her characters, and partly because I wanted MORE. I love period romance but the authors absolutely slay me by closing the curtain over the conversations and interactions I most want to see. In the case of North and South, at the end I thought, “Well, of course they love one another but how on earth is Margaret Hale going to adjust to living in that house with his mother? And what about John Thornton? He is driven by his work. Will he really make room for a wife in his day-to-day life?”
I’ll admit I was unhealthily obsessed by the future of these fictional characters. Because I’m an author, I started concocting scenes in my head, and, as my ideas blossomed like the roses in Helstone, I realized I had to go there, so to speak, and exorcise this sequel so I could get on with what I really should be writing.
I decided to base my sequel on Elizabeth Gaskell’s telling, not the TV mini-series. While the filmed version was refreshingly true to Mrs. Gaskell’s story, it still had a few changes that are worth mentioning here inasmuch as they affect the choices I’ve made.
First of all, Margaret and John’s final meeting occurs in London, not on a railway platform. The meeting was preplanned so that the two of them and Henry Lennox could discuss the reletting of the mill buildings. Margaret and John see one another socially the evening before but hardly speak.
Second, John Thornton is never violent in the book. He is portrayed as a strict master but he never beats up a worker.
Third, Mr. Bell dies in the book, at which point Margaret inherits. I can see why the screenwriters did not kill him off since Margaret is already sort of a black widow with both of her parents and Bessy Higgins dropping dead. Prior to Mr. Bell’s death, Margaret asked him to tell John about her brother, Frederick, but he dies before he can.
Fourth, Boucher is not the person who throws a stone during the riot. A unnamed boy throws a wooden shoe that hits Margaret on the head.
As I thought about how to share this story with you, and considered the idea of posting it in segments, I found a certain linearity in the plan, since North and South was originally published as a serial in a magazine edited by Charles Dickens. I also decided to give it away for free because the wonderful characters and settings are not my creation. I hope you enjoy the future I’ve imagined for Margaret Hale in Becoming Mrs. Thornton.
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Click here to read Chapter 1 of Becoming Mrs. Thornton.
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