Nowhere but North: A North and South Variation in Austen Variations

Aug 16, 2018 Sheila Majczan rated it it was amazing

I had tears in more than one place reading this tale. There is so much here to delight and even to emphasize what a good person needs to know and to practice. I loved the language and the phases of each life that intertwined to give us characters, not perfect, but ones able to ponder mistakes and misfortunes and to take lessons learns and apply such to their future. Oh, there was a part when ODC's separation pained me in reading of the place in the social structure in each person's family and or I had tears in more than one place reading this tale. There is so much here to delight and even to emphasize what a good person needs to know and to practice. I loved the language and the phases of each life that intertwined to give us characters, not perfect, but ones able to ponder mistakes and misfortunes and to take lessons learns and apply such to their future. Oh, there was a part when ODC's separation pained me in reading of the place in the social structure in each person's family and or their place perceived by employment or profession which then builds a wall. Life seems to be promising a happily ever after at the beginning of this tale but even after being joined together fate has some hard lessons to teach, reflective of lessons already taught while growing up or entering adulthood. Life is a refiner of character...again.

Mr. Hale has died, cousin Edith and Aunt Shaw are traveling abroad while it is believed Mr. Bell is in South America. Dixon and Margaret are left at loose ends, in deep mourning, when Mr. Thornton again offers marriage to Margaret. He does not repeat his sentiments and Margaret wonders, nay, hopes, that he still has that love he ardently professed so many months ago. She knows her heart has changed but in the days before the wedding and even during the first few days of marriage it is all awkwardness in a home where her mother-in-law has been first in John's life for so many years.

When John and Margaret reach an understanding I wondered at where life would now take them as they seemed to be at a point of happily joined...but life had much more shaping to present in this story. As flashbacks take us to the young days of both we realize how those years have shaped them. Yes, you know John will never speculate with his business dealing as canon has informed us and thus even with pressure from his brother-in-law & sister and offers of loans later from Mr. Bell, John is adamant about dealing with business his own way.

A tragedy strikes and John's and Margaret' union is thrown into a tailspin. Neither seems to know how to make the other aware of their feelings or of how they perceive the feelings of the other. Then the return of Edith and Aunt Shaw bring in other influences. They have never approved of the Hales moving to Milton and the marriage of Margaret to a man in trade is looked upon with disgust and reprimands as to how Margaret could have moved into their closed London house rather than marry for protection. Surely she knew they would not abandon her. These words are spoken in John's hearing, at dinner, and Margaret does nothing to defend him. He returns to Milton and leaves her to "happier circumstances".

Having suffered one heartbreaking blow upon their union, this second assault threatens to be the final brick in the wall between them. And fate is not yet finished. The mill is suffering, influenza has spread and there are no resources to help John through this period. No last minute loan from bank or friend drops into his lap. The flashbacks on his relationship with youths who are now part of the industry which is his world bring us to understand that it is more than just the refusal to speculate that make John take the stand that he does. Sadly, he watches his world crumble...alone...or so it seems.

This story is not just about John and Margaret. Of course, we read of their histories but we also read of John's mother, past and present, and her relationship with Margaret must touch your heart. John's sister, Fanny, also has a part in this story. Her husband secures most of her loyalty but she, in time, learns a lesson about family matters. Higgins is another man who has a part. And then there is Frederick. He, too, has a part in this story and it is not just letters from Spain.

I loved this story. If you love North and South or even if you are just looking for an excellent story to read, I urge you to open this book. ...more

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Aug 31, 2018 Don Jacobson rated it it was amazing

There are arcs and then there are ARCS. Ms Clarkston takes on the latter as she seeks to illustrate how scenes in her character's lives--and by inference, her readers'--repeat themselves; not in the sense of history repeating itself, but rather with the idea that (John Locke rises up!) experience shapes a person's response to events that transpire in their lives. Thus, the reader is presented with a scene involving either John or Margaret in a younger persons clothing and then follows with a tab ...more

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Nov 19, 2024 Nicole Barton Sasser marked it as n-and-s-tbr · review of another edition

Shelves: author-nicole-clarkston, free-download, bookfunnel

My Library Notes:

Nowhere But North
by Alix James
Kindle Edition, Second Edition, 492 pages
Published April 24, 2023 by Winsome Wit Publishing (first published August 27, 2018)
ASIN: B07G2ZT9JW
[ kindle doc - bookfunnel ]

Previously published as Nowhere but North by Nicole Clarkston

Can the pieces of a broken past be enough to build a solid future?

Haunted by sorrow and regret, Margaret Hale stands at the precipice of an uncertain destiny. Fiercely determined but not knowing how to find her way, she ...more

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