Show Notes
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell chapter 27 "Fruit-Piece", narrated by Isaac BirchallSubscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on Patreon and support me as an independent creator :Dhttps://ko-fi.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/joinSummary:The following day, Mr Thornton goes about all of his business deals with great skill and vivacity. Many of the other magistrates and mill owners make statements about “not being able to do it without him.” His mother is very proud to hear how highly these men praise him. He saw with the police and arranged the next steps. In the street he bumps into Dr. Donaldson while absorbed in his own thoughts. They exchange a little about business, which brings the Doctor to thank him for bringing him the Hale family’s business. He goes on to say that Mrs. Hale only has a few weeks left to live. This, in spite of what happened the previous day, causes him to ask the Doctor what he can do for Mrs. Hale. The Doctor says that there isn’t much to do for her, but he heard her say that she wants fruit. They say goodbye to each other and Mr. Thornton goes straight to the nearest fruit shop in Milton and gets a full basket of fruit. He carries the basket himself instead getting it delivered, which causes many people to stare after him, the Milton manufacturer, working as a porter. He goes to the Hale residence and carries the full basket to where Mrs. Hale is laying. He tries to only look at the sick woman and her husband, but he feels Margaret’s presence every second. The family are incredibly grateful for his actions, but before they can get some plates to share the fruit with him too, he excuses himself and leaves the family. The fruit is delicious and Mrs. Hale scolds her daughter for her attitude towards Mr. Thornton, unable to understand how she can dislike someone as kind as he. Mr. Hale likens the fruit to the ones they ate at Helston and Margaret feels nostalgic for her old life. Margaret goes up to her room perplexed and full of strange emotions where she finds Dixon rummaging through her drawers. Dixon doesn’t respond to Margaret asking her what she is doing and just continues to search through the drawers. When she finally finds what she is looking for and hides it from her mistress, Margaret gets fed up. Dixon gives in and tells her that she was only trying to protect her, but that Bessy Higgins died that morning. Apparently, her sister is downstairs and asking if it would be possible, per Bessy’s last request, to have something of Margaret’s to be buried in. The girl is asking too if Margaret would like to see Bessy before the funeral, which Dixon refused. They go to the kitchen to see Mary, where the sister breaks down in tears, slowly revealing what happened that morning. After her conversation with Mary, Margaret agrees to go and see Bessy after dinner time. SEO stuff I don't want to do. Elizabeth Gaskell's classic, "North and South" sees Margaret Hale's live uprooted as her family moves to the north of England. Initially disgusted by the ugliness of the industrial town of Milton, Margaret develops a strong sense of social justice after seeing the poverty and suffering of local mill workers.
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A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens Book 2 chapter 1 "Five Years Later" narrated by Isaac Birchall Subscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on KO-FI and support me as an independent creator :Dhttps://ko-fi.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/joinPodcast Link: https://open.spotify.com/show/13b1qP3WhCWxam9yc49vIF?si=4e279ef4f5f143a0Summary: 1780. Tellson’s Bank in London prides itself on being “very small, very dark, very ugly, very incommodious.” The partners believe that if it were more welcoming then it would lose its status as a respectable business. It’s located at Temple Bar, where the heads of executed criminals were displayed until very recently. Jerry Cruncher, the bank’s runner awakens in his apartment, in a dodgy part of London. He begins his day by yelling at his wife, the conversation culminating with him throwing a muddy boot at her. Around 9, he and his son camp outside the bank to await instructions. The door opens and a man calls for a Porter, at which Jerry heads off to do the job, leaving his son alone. SEO stuff I don't want to do. Charles Dickens' novel A Tale of Two Cities is one of the most sold books on the planet with over 200 million copies having been sold world wide. It is the most famous of Dickens' works and set in the bloody and violent French revolution. It blends the great history of the French revolution with the tale of a family. Raising enduring themes of imprisonment, injustice, social anarchy, resurrection, and the renunciation that fosters renewal, there is a reason that this novel has stood the test of time and has been enjoyed by readers all across the globe in many different languages.
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens Book 1 chapter 6 "The Shoemaker" narrated by Isaac BirchallSubscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on KO-FI and support me as an independent creator :Dhttps://ko-fi.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/joinPodcast Link: https://open.spotify.com/show/13b1qP3WhCWxam9yc49vIF?si=4e279ef4f5f143a0Summary:Manette talks with a very distant and quiet voice, as if it hasn’t been used for many years. He says that he is making a ladies’ shoe in the modern fashion after a template he had held. When asked his name he responds, “One Hundred and Five, North Tower.” Lucie makes her way over to him and noticing her hair, Manette opens up a knotted rag that wears around his neck and takes out some strands of hair.At first, he believes Lucie to his wife but claims that would be impossible as she is too young. Lucie then implores her father to weep for her if her voice or her hair recalls a loved one to him. She hints to him that a home far away awaits him, and that his “agony is over.” Manette collapses after this emotional event, and Lucie urges Lorry to take them back to England as fast as possible. At first, he is hesitant, but he soon agrees and heads off to arrange the affairs with Mr. Defarge. Later, they usher Mr. Manette down the stairs and into a coach and they sent off for England. SEO stuff I don't want to do. Charles Dickens' novel A Tale of Two Cities is one of the most sold books on the planet with over 200 million copies having been sold world wide. It is the most famous of Dickens' works and set in the bloody and violent French revolution. It blends the great history of the French revolution with the tale of a family. Raising enduring themes of imprisonment, injustice, social anarchy, resurrection, and the renunciation that fosters renewal, there is a reason that this novel has stood the test of time and has been enjoyed by readers all across the globe in many different languages.
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens Book 1 chapter 5 "The Wine-shop" narrated by Isaac BirchallSubscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on KO-FI and support me as an independent creator :Dhttps://ko-fi.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/joinPodcast Link: https://open.spotify.com/show/13b1qP3WhCWxam9yc49vIF?si=4e279ef4f5f143a0Summary:The setting moves to Paris. In a street, a wine cask falls to the street and breaks, flooding it with wine, and wish people who rush to drink as much as they can. Women take off their scarves and dip it in the wine, men cup their hands to drink, and even children get their fill. The wine shop is owned by Monsieur Defarge, a man of around 30. His wife, Mrs. Defarge sits behind the counter and watches everything that goes on around her. She signals to her husband to announce the presence of an older man and a young lady. Defarge looks over the strangers (Lorry and Lucie) and pretends not to notice them as he goes to speak to some familiar faces. They all refer to each other as Jaques as a way to identify each other as revolutionaries. Defarge soon sends the men out and then Lorry goes to see the wine shop owner. They converse for a few seconds and then Defarge guides Lorry and Lucie into the main building and up the stairs. They come to a dirty landing where the three men from before are gathered, Defarge tells them to go away and is accosted by Lorry for letting the man get looked at like an animal in a zoo. Defarge responds that he trusts the men and the look of what’s behind the door will do them well. Defarge then opens the door to reveal a white-haired man making shoes in a very dark room.SEO stuff I don't want to do. Charles Dickens' novel A Tale of Two Cities is one of the most sold books on the planet with over 200 million copies having been sold world wide. It is the most famous of Dickens' works and set in the bloody and violent French revolution. It blends the great history of the French revolution with the tale of a family. Raising enduring themes of imprisonment, injustice, social anarchy, resurrection, and the renunciation that fosters renewal, there is a reason that this novel has stood the test of time and has been enjoyed by readers all across the globe in many different languages.
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens Book 1 chapter 4 "The Preparation" narrated by Isaac BirchallSubscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on KO-FI and support me as an independent creator :Dhttps://ko-fi.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/joinPodcast Link: https://open.spotify.com/show/13b1qP3WhCWxam9yc49vIF?si=4e279ef4f5f143a0Summary:The next morning, Lorry arrives in Dover and gets out of the mail coach at the Royal George Hotel. After changing out of his travel clothes he transforms himself into his usual sixty-year-old businessman self. That afternoon, a waiter announces the arrival of Lucie Manette and says that the girl is ready to meet Mr. Lorry. Lorry meets the girl in her room and she says that she had word from the bank that some intelligence had been made respecting the small estate of her father – long presumed dead. After restating his duties as a businessman, Lorry tells miss Manette that the real reason she has been summoned to Paris is because her father has been found alive and has been taken to an old servant. Lucie is to go and restore her father to his health, and Mr. Lorry is to go and identify the man. Lucie then goes into shock, and he servant, Miss Pross rushes in to save her charge.SEO stuff I don't want to do. Charles Dickens' novel A Tale of Two Cities is one of the most sold books on the planet with over 200 million copies having been sold world wide. It is the most famous of Dickens' works and set in the bloody and violent French revolution. It blends the great history of the French revolution with the tale of a family. Raising enduring themes of imprisonment, injustice, social anarchy, resurrection, and the renunciation that fosters renewal, there is a reason that this novel has stood the test of time and has been enjoyed by readers all across the globe in many different languages.
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens Book 1 chapter 3 "The Night Shadows" narrated by Isaac BirchallSubscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on KO-FI and support me as an independent creator :Dhttps://ko-fi.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/joinPodcast Link: https://open.spotify.com/show/13b1qP3WhCWxam9yc49vIF?si=4e279ef4f5f143a0Summary:The narrator thinks about the secrets and mysteries that each human is to the every other. Lorry, as he rides in the mail coach with the two strangers, dozes in and out of sleep. His dreams are of the inner workings of Tellson’s Bank. But the shadows passing through the coach play tricks on him, and he dreams that he is digging someone out of a grave. He converses with this spectre and learns that the man has been buried alive for nearly 18 years. Lorry tells the spectre that he has been recalled to life and asks it if it wishes to live. He also asks “shall I show her to you? Will you come and see her?” The ghost has different answers to these questions all night, sometimes claiming that he would die if he were to see this woman, and at other times he pleads to see her immediately; at other times he weeps.SEO stuff I don't want to do. Charles Dickens' novel A Tale of Two Cities is one of the most sold books on the planet with over 200 million copies having been sold world wide. It is the most famous of Dickens' works and set in the bloody and violent French revolution. It blends the great history of the French revolution with the tale of a family. Raising enduring themes of imprisonment, injustice, social anarchy, resurrection, and the renunciation that fosters renewal, there is a reason that this novel has stood the test of time and has been enjoyed by readers all across the globe in many different languages.