North and South draws on Gaskell's own experiences of the poverty and hardship of life in the industrial north of England. Her heroine, Margaret Hale, is taken from the wealthy south by her nonconformist minister father, to live in a fictional northern town. The stark differences are explored through Margaret's abrupt change in circumstance, and her sympathetic reaction to the plight of the northerners. She comes into conflict with a local

The Reverend Curtis Black is surely one of the cleverest ne'er-do-wells ever to set foot in a church. In this new tale, Curtis is starting over. He has a new job, a new wife (again), and a newfound will to follow the straight and narrow path of righteousness. Or so he thinks. While his spirit may be willing, the wayward preacher has a particular weakness when it comes to female flesh. Curtis hasn't ever made a promise he could keep, and before