John Thornton, Look Back at Me

I did like this story, and I have read several books by this author. Of all of them, this is one the one I most liked. John is not Elizabeth Gaskill's John Thornton. He is much more confident and social than the original John Thornton. What both characters have in common is their deep love for Margaret. What the author does that diminishes the power of her stories, IMO, is to use talking about sex to tell her story. In Victorian time, it simply would not have happened, and John's cavalier attitude about sex is off-putting. How could he just use the women he "dates" knowing that he would never offer them more than his body? A man of honor would never do that, and in the original story, he is a man of honor. Margaret is endearing and the actress who portrayed her in the 2004 mini-series was so incredibly beautiful and I pictured her as I read the story. As the author states, these are not Elizabeth Gaskill's characters, so please do not read expecting that John Thornton is the same John Thornton we all know and love. One other thing I like about this story is Hannah Thornton realizes that her jealousy and possessiveness of her son had greatly injured him and she did what she could at the end of her life to make it up to John and Margaret. I love the bit about the ruby necklace.

This book started out well, giving a reader who is unfamiliar with Gaskell's North and South, a good idea of what had already transpired. Unlike the other reviewer, I didn't mind that Margaret married another, it added to Thornton's despair. However, you just know she has to be widowed for their story to continue. The other option would be divorce which at that time would be unheard of/disgraceful if not for society, than certainly for the righteous Margaret and proud John to experienceCAUTION!!! Parents with young ladies who enjoy books such as Austen's and Gaskell's be advised! Many of the authors of these continuation stories feel it's necessary to have pretty explicit sex scenes. This makes me sad because when I was younger and became a fan of this time period, I would have loved to be able to get more of my favorite books! Please check these books out before you let your kiddos read them!I am an avid reader and a huge fan of the victorian period. When Wynyard decided to have these beloved characters throw propriety completely out the window was when I realized just what an amateur author she is. It's too bad, really. The story could have been great if it were not for the many discrepencies. :-/

Now before I had bought the book I took the time and read some of the reviews of it. That being said, I was determined to give it a chance. While for the most part I like the story itself, but there was one thing that I could NOT get past: the grammar. I hate to be a grammar nazi but I had thought that if someone had taken the time to publish this book that they would have also taken the time to proof-read it as well. I have never in my life seen such an atrocious use of quotation marks as I saw in this book. I understand that no one is perfect, and that mistakes can happen. I am sure there are some grammatical errors in this very review, but 320 pages of it baffles the mind. At times I had difficulties understanding which character was speaking due to an improper use, or lack thereof, of quotation marks.I did give it 3 stars as I did for the most part 'like' the book. I do also believe that the author may want to do some brushing up in the grammar department.

The language ("OK", "guy", so many others) show a complete lack of any kind of research, and no respect for the original author.The kidnapper/stalker was awkwardly dropped. How much more fun it would have been to have the Professor be the guilty party - maybe even to have pushed Mr Reed from the balcony?And the avuncular sex talks between Margaret and the professor, the mere touching on the topic of homosexuality, and her conversations with John would never have happened in the genteel world in which Margaret was raised, widow or not.All-in-all, a shabby backdrop for soft porn.

A touching and romantic journey...About this edition:A couple of times, whole paragraphs were repeated; andA reader's comments on a section were accidently published within, leading me to believe this was once published on a website.Again, Loyal Wynyard's John Thornton and Margaret Hale are definitely not Elizabeth Gaskell's John Thornton and Margaret Hale, but her version of this wonderful couple is sweet and entertaining.( Read in August of 2012 )

CONTAINS SPOILERSFirstly, I applaud anyone with the gumption to self publish, however the glaring anachronisms ( in 1850's England no one was wished Happy Holidays and John Thornton never "dated" anyone), under development of some good plot points, an over reliance on language and long sections of dialoguethat just wouldn't have occurred in the time (the character that is the essentially Mr Bell, seemed to be a very useful combination of Karl Marx and Freud). I was hopeful that the plot twists and differences, that had great potential would re imagine a story I love in a new way would match the obvious connection the author feels to North and South, it doesn't. I guess it's hard to review fan fiction by comparing it to the original, as the point of it is to re shape and re imagine, however in this case it does not work, bizarrely if the analysis Margaret is given by this story and John and Margaret need an honest conversation about pregnancy risks (of she which was extraordinarily aware of in comparison to everything else in her life) this plot would sit much better in a modern setting.

If, like me, you're an ardent fan of Elizabeth Gaskell's characters John Thornton and Margaret Hale from North and South you're in for a treat of a read!I have just read this for the third time; it was the first variation I read about 3 years ago and is probably one of the best, meeting John and Margaret later in their entwined lives making reference to all that we know went before but with a new storyline for them to contend with which takes us on quite a journey of passion, danger and, ultimately, love.I would have loved to be able to award 5 stars but, as ever with this author, there are grammatical and punctuation errors throughout not to mention Americanisms galore and towards the end of Chapter 28 (thankfully towards the end) we are 'treated' to input from someone else - editor, transcriber, cleaning lady - I know not who, on their thoughts of a particular scene and other possible variations on what John and Margaret are doing in a carriage and how they're doing it!However, all in all, this is a lovely story to read and if you can ignore all the irritants mentioned above, you will very much enjoy it.

I have read a few sequels to N & S and this was better than I expected. I bought it based on the reviews and I wasn't disappointed. I enjoyed it and even re-read it.This is set after Margaret's return to London and Mr Bell's death. Instead of John & Margaret meeting in London on John losing his business, they never meet and John successfully re-builds his business on his own. John writes to Margaret four times in two years without reply and John intends to find out why...The love scenes were, in my opinion, slightly graphic for this setting of such a story but fit in well with this particular telling of it and how it was written as a whole. Overall, a good read.

Starts off well, following Mrs Gaskell's style without the occasional archaisms but degenerates rapidly into a bonkbuster.. Shows a lack of understanding of Victorian manners and morals.one has only to read Mrs G's novels and other contemporary writers to acquire a clear picture firsthand. .[ I am happy to learn that the Thornton/Hale relationship was blissfully consummated but don't need to have it repeatedly rammed down my throat in graphic detail]

This is an awful book, It was supposed to be set in northern England the dialogue is American crossed with London font waste money buying it

I love that this book gives a totally different perspective on the story