North And South by Elizabeth Gaskell

If I saved one blow, one cruel, angry action that might otherwise have been committed, I did a woman's work.

Margaret Hale

Elizabeth Cleghorn Stevenson was born in September of 1810 in Chelsea, London, the daughter of a Scottish Unitarian minister and the youngest of eight children.

At 11 years old Elizabeth was sent for a typical “young ladies” education in the arts, classics and decorum and encouraged by her aunts and by her father to read, study and to develop in her writing. At 22 years old, she married a Unitarian minister, William Gaskell, in Knutsford and they went to settle in Manchester where he served as the minister Cross Street Unitarian Chapel.  

The tragic loss of children, places lived; neighbors and friends who were loved and experienced… all became fuel for Elizabeth’s imagination as the years passed.  She began with a diary, wrote poems with her husband under the title -  Sketches Among The Poor - which were published in a magazine and there followed other small written works which developed her style.

It was after the Gaskells traveled to the continent that influences produced new ideas and her first work of fiction was published, Libbie Marsh’s Three Eras under the name “Cotton Mather Mills”.  

Elizabeth Gaskell wrote her major literary works in the second half of the century from a villa at 84 Plymouth Grove in Manchester, England.  Her social circle grew to include such writers as Charles Dickens, Charlotte Brontë, John Ruskin and the American writer Harriet Beecher Stowe. 

North and South, Wives and Daughters and Cranford are the most well-known and beloved of the works by Elizabeth Gaskell. Her novels were a window into the life of Victorian society and offered a view into varied social classes. 

A good example is the “social novel”, North and South, which follows protagonist Margaret Hale and the effect of the Industrial Revolution on mill workers and mill owners in the fictional town of Milton in the North of England.

In Milton ... I shall find a busy life, if not a happy one.

Mr. Hale

Margaret’s world is drastically altered from rural southern England to the harsh environments of industrial Milton.  Set near the end of the Industrial Revolution it presents a contrast of the values of rural southern England and the industrial north. 

Historically England’s social structure had been dominated by the landed aristocracy but the Industrial Revolution brought new prominence to wealthy industrialists. There was also the rising opportunities for improved living conditions by new employments possibilities for the working class — but it also came with long working hours, poor working conditions and insufficient wages.

Fancy living in the middle of factories, and factory people! 

Mrs. Hale

Strong, proud and spirited, Margaret Hale is a heroine worth getting to know. She is “not beautiful at all” but is characterized as having a dignity that was striking. The book would have been entitled, Margaret Hale except for the insistence by Charles Dickens that North and South was the better title. Her relationship with the serious and ambitious John Thornton is a compelling one with each challenging and affecting the other for good.

Be always the same John Thornton ... endeavouring to do right, and making great blunders; and then trying to be brave in setting to afresh.

John Thornton

North and South was originally published in the magazine, Household Words in serial form between the years 1854 to 1855 and was subsequently released in book form in 1855. Gaskell does a skillful job in this work of weaving together historical influences, emotional subplots and strong character growth.

There is much to discuss in the lengthy but enjoyable North and South.  Start reading now!  We will meet to discuss this much-loved work of Elizabeth Gaskell on October 19, 2024 over an early Autumn Book Breakfast. 

Don't mock my own deep feeling of unworthiness. 

John Thornton

The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton

 

If you love disappearing into a great story - you will truly love each & every book written by Australian writer, Kate Morton.

Author of seven novels - all of which have been New York Times bestsellers - Kate’s books have been #1 bestsellers around the world and have been published in 42 countries and in 34 languages.  She is known as one of Australia’s biggest publishing exports.

What has made her such a beloved writer amongst her fans?  Her depth of storyline transcends countries and languages.  She has a gift for transporting us into another time and another life, often weaving seamlessly between characters and time periods. She takes us on a journey that lends itself to colorful mysteries and satisfying surprises, and is a master at creating a pleasing atmospheric experience.

Born in a small town in South Australia, Kate’s family moved several times until they settled on Tamborine Mountain, which became a place that allowed Kate Morton’s imagination to flourish. She credits her journey as a writer to the love that she had as a child for the joys of reading and the happiness that she experienced losing herself in the stories that she read.

Published in July of 2013, The Secret Keeper is my favorite Kate Morton novel, with The Forgotten Garden a close second. The book begins with 16-year-old Laurel Nicolson hidden in a treehouse reading.  She witnesses a murder that changes her life and challenges the core of who she is and how she views her beloved mother.  As an adult, she begins a search for the truth and what she discovers will only be found as she delves into the past.

When asked to describe The Secret Keeper in one sentence, Kate Morton said:

“Shifting between the 1930s, the 1960s and present, The Secret Keeper is a spellbinding story of mysteries and secrets, theatre and thievery, murder and enduring love.”

The Jane Austen Tea Society’s Summer Book choice is a wonderful read  - The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton with a Book Breakfast & Discussion to take place on Saturday the 6th of July at 10am.

Kate Morton Novels include:

The House at Riverton / The Shifting Fog (2006) 

The Forgotten Garden (2008) 

The Distant Hours (2010) 

The Secret Keeper (2012) 

The Lake House (2015) 

The Clockmaker's Daughter (2018) 

Homecoming (2023)

Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens

“It was evident from the general tone of the whole party, that they had come to regard insolvency as the normal state of mankind, and the payment of debts as a disease that occasionally broke out.”

Arthur Clennam - Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens was an incredible creative force during his lifetime.  He wrote 15 novels, 5 novellas and hundreds of short stories and non-fictional articles. He gave lectures, was a prolific letter writer and edited a weekly journal for almost 20 years.  Because of personal experiences in his early life, Dickens was also a dedicated campaigner for children’s rights, education, and social reforms — including his stance as an outspoken proponent for copyright law and the protection of intellectual property.  

But above all Charles Dickens was most celebrated and beloved for his pioneering of the narrative serial novel. Not only did he capture the imagination of millions during his writing career, but he also had an intense gift for a deep portrayal of a time period and a way of life in the world in which he lived.

I love to read Charles Dickens.  He’s not exactly an easy read - his books are usually very lengthy works and there is a different rhythm to reading them…  You don’t finish a Dickens novel in a night or even a few nights and you need a fully engaged mind.  They are made to settle into - to invest in with your time and attention — but they are so worth it with their colorful characters and lasting storylines. 

Charles Dickens often drew from his own life experiences to weave his deeply memorable storylines. Two novels that are great examples of this are the beloved David Copperfield and the quirky, atmospheric Bleak House. Our current read, Little Dorrit is no exception in its depiction of poverty, social injustice and the idiosyncrasies of the Victorian British legal system - all of which were close to Dickens’ heart.

Home had never been a word of such sweetness to me as after I was ensnared into the Marshalsea prison.

Little Dorrit - Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens

Born Charles John Huffam Dickens at No. 1 Mile End Terrace, Landport, Portsmouth, England in February of 1812, Dickens was the 2nd of 8 children born to John and Elizabeth Barrow Dickens.  John Dickens was ultimately incapable of supporting his large family,  which forced Charles to begin work at 12 years old at Warren’s Blacking Factory after his father’s poor head for finances led to his imprisonment for debt in the Marshalsea Prison. These early formative years became a taboo topic for discussion with Charles Dickens but found wonderfully creative expression in each of his literary works and most particularly in Little Dorrit.

A torn jacket is soon mended, but hard words bruise the heart's core.

Little Dorrit - Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens

The Marshalsea Prison was located in the London borough of Southwark on the south bank of the River Thames near London Bridge.  The prison housed primarily people convicted of some form of subversion; pirates, sailors who had mutinied and also debtors unable to pay their debts.

It was possible during the Victorian period in England for people to be jailed for nonpayment of debts and it could be for a long and indefinite period of time, depending on whether they were able to raise enough money to pay off their debt.  It was not unusual for family members - whether wives or children - to stay in the prison with the person responsible for the debt, which was most likely the “breadwinner” husband or father. 

These family members - often children - endeavored to find employment and any contributing money or earned income would not only pay off the outstanding debt but also provide for necessary food.  Prisoners who could pay would have the advantage of a bar, restaurant, shop and could sometimes be able leave the prison during the day.

If your debt and lack of income was severe enough, you could be crowded into a small room with many other prisoners and the result often was disease or starvation for many imprisoned people. A British Parliamentary Committee in 1729 found that during a period of three months, 300 prisoners had died of starvation and a smaller number from hot weather during the summer months.

The Marshalsea prison operated from approximately 1329 until 1842 when most of it was demolished.  There is still a length of wall remaining with a small plaque commemorating the prison and the work of Charles Dickens.

The prison darkness had a lasting hold upon them both, and was the pervading influence in their new lives.

Narrator - Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens

Our current read - Little Dorrit - is Charles Dickens’ 11th novel, written just after Bleak House and originally published by London’s Bradbury & Evans as a monthly serial from 1855 through 1857 in 19 consecutive installments. It also released as a book in 1857 and received immediate critical acclaim. Little Dorrit’s themes were recognizable to readers of the day with social and economic issues that were familiar but countless readers down through the years have continued to appreciate their hallmarks of love and redemption.  Little Dorrit is truly one of Dickens’ at his best.

Our main character in this quarter’s read is Amy Dorrit or “Little Dorrit”, daughter of William Dorrit, inmate of Marshalsea prison. Little Dorrit  is born in and spends her growing up years in the prison, venturing out with her siblings to earn meagre wages during the day. Working as a seamstress for the severe invalid, Mrs. Clennam, Amy falls under the notice of the son, Arthur Clennam and a rich storyline ensues…

Life is made of ever so many partings welded together.

Little Dorrit - Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens

We will all be able to share our thoughts and ideas as we meet for a Spring Book Breakfast at the end of April to discuss Charles Dickens’ work, Little Dorrit. There is plenty of time to read this one but you may want to get started soon - it is worth the effort!

I Capture The Castle by Dodie Smith

“I have found that sitting in a place where you have never sat before can be inspiring. I wrote my very best poem while sitting on the hen-house.”

Dodie Smith was born in 1896 in Lancashire, England.  She wrote 9 novels, 11 plays, some autobiographical works and two screenplays.  She may not be the most familiar name in your experience of British authors, but, she was, in fact one of the most successful and well-known playwrights of her generation. 

Growing up in a family of people who were great lovers of theatre, Dodie studied at the Academy of Dramatic Art with acting as a possible career but went on to concentrate on what became a very successful writing career. While her plays may not have necessarily remained contemporary favorites, two of her novels have: I Capture the Castle (1948) and The Hundred and One Dalmatians (1956).

“Cruel blows of fate call for extreme kindness in the family circle.”

I Capture the Castle was Dodie Smith’s first novel.  She wrote it in California in the 1940s where she and her husband, Alec  Beesley had moved after his stance as a conscientious objector in Britain during WWII.  She was homesick for England and wrote largely to remember a happier time and place. The first British edition published in 1948 by the Heinemann publishing house in London.

“Noble deeds and hot baths are the best cures for depression.”

The novel became an immediate hit and is still extremely popular - being included at  #82 in the BBC survey, The Big Read in 2003.

I Capture The Castle follows the poor, highly eccentric but genteel Mortmain family and takes place in the areas of Suffolk and in London during 1930s England.  The novel spans April to October in a single year with seventeen year old Cassandra Mortmain as first-person narrator.  It’s essentially a coming-of-age story for Cassandra and follows her inner transformation from girlhood to becoming a young woman.

The characters in this novel are a colorful and memorable collection and make this an enjoyable read for any age. There is a timelessness to how Dodie Smith has drawn each one that somehow make them resemble someone you know or would like to know.

 “I write this sitting in the kitchen sink.”

We will all be able to share our thoughts and ideas on this work as we meet for a Winter Book Breakfast at 10am on Saturday, January 27th, 2024 to discuss I Capture The Castle by Dodie Smith.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

I started from my sleep with horror; a cold dew covered my forehead, my teeth chattered, and every limb became convulsed: when, by the dim and yellow light of the moon, as it forced its way through the window shutters, I beheld the wretch -- the miserable monster whom I had created. He held up the curtain of the bed; and his eyes, if eyes they may be called, were fixed on me. His jaws opened, and he muttered some inarticulate sounds, while a grin wrinkled his cheeks. He might have spoken, but I did not hear; one hand was stretched out, seemingly to detain me, but I escaped, and rushed down stairs. I took refuge in the courtyard belonging to the house which I inhabited; where I remained during the rest of the night, walking up and down in the greatest agitation, listening attentively, catching and fearing each sound as if it were to announce the approach of the demoniacal corpse to which I had so miserably given life.

Victor Frankenstein

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

lt was the summer of 1816. 

Because of a widespread environmental impact from the eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia the previous year, the summer was cold, dark and foggy across most of Europe.  It was a frightening time of political unrest and widespread sickness and famine after crops failed — the perfect setting for the birth of a monster.

Mary Shelley was staying at the Villa Diodati in Switzerland that summer with her partner, Percy Shelley, her stepsister, Claire Clairmont, Lord Byron and Byron’s doctor, John William Polidori. It was an unconventional, literary and passionate grouping of people in an unsettling yet beautiful surrounding.

The story is told that Lord Byron - because of their mutual love of the macabre - proposed a challenge that they each present an original idea for a ghost story.  It took Mary several days but after a particularly vivid nightmare, she began working on her book -  Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus.

It was the secrets of heaven and earth that I desired to learn; and whether it was the outward substance of things or the inner spirit of nature and the mysterious soul of man that occupied me, still my inquiries were directed to the metaphysical, or in it highest sense, the physical secrets of the world.

Victor Frankenstein

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

She was 19 years old, most likely intimidated by the literary success of Shelley and Byron and deeply affected by one of the hot topics of the day — whether it was possible to re-animate a body after its death by being “galvanized” with electricity.

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was the daughter of a political anarchist and philosopher William Godwin and a philosopher, writer and women’s rights advocate Mary Wollstonecraft.  Her mother died less than two weeks after her birth and so Mary was primarily raised by her father.  She was informally educated and encouraged to ascribe to her father’s views but felt that she became less of a focus to him after his second marriage.

In 1814 at 17 years old, Mary eloped with poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley, who was then still married to his first wife, Harriet Westbrook.  Together with Mary’s step-sister, Claire Clairmont, the three left England for France and other travels in Europe. 

Despite William Godwin’s radical views on morals and marriage, he deeply disapproved of the relationship between Mary and Percy Shelley.  They were ostracized  by family and their life was complicated with creditors and the death of their first child.

How mutable are our feelings, and how strange is that clinging love we have of life even in the excess of misery!

Narrator

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

When Mary, Percy, along with their second child, a new infant son and Clair Clairmont arrived at Lake Geneva in May of 1816 to spend the summer with Lord Byron and John William Polidori, they must have hoped for some refuge and relief but found that the unusual weather and darkness kept them all on edge.

Mary Shelley and her short time with her beloved Percy Shelley was flawed and ultimately without a moral compass -  but as an author, she created a unique and memorable work of fiction that has stood the test of time for its creative and groundbreaking quality.  Published January 1, 1818 as an anonymous work with a preface by Percy Bysshe Shelley — it received widely varying reviews but still claimed immediate popular success. The years have seen it developed into plays, films and television with a wide variety of treatments.  

The original work, however is remarkable in its own right and is definitely worth a read!

Cursed, cursed creator! Why did I live? Why, in that instant, did I not extinguish the spark of existence which you had so wantonly bestowed?

The Creature

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Is Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus a gothic novel or is it one of the first works of science fiction? The answer is a highly-contested one, but in many ways — it is decided by each of its many readers.

We will all be able to share our thoughts and ideas on this work as we meet for a Autumn Book Breakfast Buffet on Saturday, November 4th, 2023 to discuss Mary Shelley’s work, Frankenstein. There is plenty of time to read this one but you may want to get started soon - it is worth the effort!