Alexandra’s Reviews > North and South > Status Update

"But, east or west wind, I suppose this man comes" (75).

"...and time to people of limited income was money" (97).

"There were the yellow, sea-stained letters, with the peculiar fragrance which ocean letters have" (106).

"Even in this smoky place, enough to blind one's eyes, the owls can see that" (130).

Just some lovely sentences (out of many that I can't fit into this update) that have stood out to me <3

Yeah, I'm running out of patience with Mr. Hale with every turn of the page 🫠

I'm just laughing at how without meaning to—if one wanted to, you really could find so much of what has so many romance readers in a chokehold nowadys in this book. You got a male protagonist that's "tall & broad" (totally headcanoning a minimum of 6'3 here sorry not sorry), a slow burn lite E2L tention simmering, and now apparently an age gap trope thrown in between Margaret & Mr. Thornton. Hilarious, really

"The stroll down to the beach to breathe the sea-air... the great long misty sea-line touching the tender-coloured sky; the white sail of a distant boat turning silver in some pale sunbeam:it seemed as if she could dream her life away in such luxury of pensiveness, in which she made her present all in all, from not daring to think of the past, or wishing to contemplate the future"(59-60). Gorgeous details to drown in

Just to get it out of the way because the sentiment's been building up—I AM NOT A BIG FAN OF MR. HALE!!!

Okay. Frustrations aside, I am absolutely in love with Gaskell's writing. I'm constantly catching myself spellbound by her sentences and the way she describes her characters and their thoughts and actions. Also kinda proud that I've retained enough BritLit knowledge from past classes so I don't feel too lost lol