We ended the last portion of our read-a-long on something of a tense moment. As I read these chapters, I loved watching the relationships between all of the characters thicken, as well as the overall plot of the story. This chunk of the story also has some fantastic descriptive passages that show how great of a writer Gaskell actually is.

What I loved about this section was how much more of both Margaret and Mr. Thornton we got to see. I like that we learn about Mr. Thornton not only as a person but as a businessman. Meanwhile, Mrs. Thornton is quickly turning into a character I love to hate. The social commentary is definitely still there with the incorporation of the Higgins's family. I hope I'm wrong, but I have a feeling their story is going to turn out to be sad.

Another thing I loved about this section of North and South was learning more about Margaret’s brother Frederick and his backstory. I’ll be curious to see what role he plays in the rest of the novel. Up until this point I’d always felt there was a bit of an air of mystery surrounding his character. Speaking of mystery, I’m worried about Mrs. Hale and curious to see where her story goes.

This is definitely continuing to be a fantastic read for me. I can’t wait to see where the story goes next.