I Heart Netflix - North & South

I heard about this mini series from my friend Bridget.  Will I ever find something first?  Probably not, but I'm extremely grateful for her sharing!  I'm going to have to go pick the book up now.  Adapted from the book North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell, the story follows Margaret Hale, the daughter of a South of England clergyman who feeling he can no longer affirm from the pulpit with 100% certainty, leaves the church and takes his family to the North of England to teach philosophy as a private tutor.  There his family faces the harsh realities of mill work, poverty , strikes, "a faster pace of life, and dirt.  Early on Margaret meets John Thorthon, a mill owner who has been hardened by clawing his way to the top, a father who committed suicide, and a mother who is all sharp edges.  I started the series yesterday while my kids were watching Word World.  The first episode started off a little slow and I found myself constantly comparing it's similarities to Pride and Prejudice.  In my mind I started penning a blog about how ridiculous these story lines are: rich, cruel, emotionally unavailable man meets outspoken, educated, beautiful woman.  Insults and misunderstandings ensue.  Man falls in love with beautiful woman and despite the fact she is always has biting criticism for him proposes, woman hates man but  after her refusal realizes that hate is actually love.  Finally misunderstandings are resolved and couple lives happily ever after.  The idea that two people can have that kind of love story and live happily ever after is so ridiculous and quite frankly probably more than a little damaging to young girl notions of romance and love.  I had it all planned out and planned on heavily blamming disney for the fact that I love story lines like these, and then last night Dr. J conked out early and I had tons of extra time.  So I watched the second episode and balled.  Then watched the third episode, drying the whole time for it to end so I could start the last.  Finally I watched the fourth, and people it did not disappoint.  I was in tears again.  All of the characters in this series are so real, the situations heartbreaking, the main characters grow outside of their interactions with each other, the love is tense, misunderstood, and delicious!  My favorite part about Victorian romance is the actual romance.  Every look carries meaning, every conversation laced, every touch means so much.  Victorian England, a place where hands touching meant something.  It made me think about the first time Dr. J and I held hands, sitting on the couch watching a movie.  I want to say my legs were up over his lap and he had his hand on my foot.  He mentioned that my feet were cold.  It was winter in an old apartment and pretty much my whole body was freezing.  "My hands are cold too," I said.  "What do you want me to do, hold them or something?" he replied.  And so I said, "Well I wouldn't want you to do anything you didn't want to do."  He paused for two seconds and then he laced his fingers through mine.  Do you remember the magic, the possibility, the romance of the first time fingers touch?  I think I fell in love with my husband in that moment.  North & South has a magic like that.  I'm so glad I watched it, implausible love story and all :)

While we are on the topic of why BBC rocks I also watched the first three episodes of Sherlock, same Sherlock (quirky, brilliant, emotionally reserved), same Dr. Watson (trusty side kick), new time period.  I love mystery, the BBC, and Sherlock so this was an obvious must see for me!