North and South (trilogy)

North and South (1982) Published in 1982, North and South introduces the rice-growing Mains of South Carolina and the ironworking Hazards of Pennsylvania, whose respective scions Orry and George meet and become friends at West Point. Over the next two decades (1842–1861) the men fight in the Mexican–American War, suffer various family conflicts and witness the increasing discord between the North and South regions of the United States. It was later ranked the No. 4 hardcover fiction bestseller of 1984 by Publishers Weekly, Heaven and Hell (1987) The trilogy concludes with 1987's Heaven and Hell, as the Mains and Hazards face more challenges and obstacles while weathering the post-war Reconstruction era. It was later ranked the No. 9 hardcover fiction bestseller of 1987 by Publishers Weekly. ==TV adaptations==

North and South was adapted into a six-part television miniseries for ABC, which premiered on November 3, 1985. Starring Patrick Swayze as Orry Main and James Read as George Hazard, it remains the seventh-highest rated miniseries in TV history. Its sequel, an adaptation of Love and War called North and South: Book II for television, debuted on May 4, 1986, with similar success. A final installment, Heaven and Hell: North and South Book III, premiered on February 27, 1994, but it failed to match the success of its predecessors. The miniseries follow the general plot of the novels, although the focus is shifted from the friction between the North and South to the love story between Orry Main and Madeline Fabray LaMotte. Notable departures from the books are Swayze's Orry surviving through the end of Love and War (only to be murdered by Bent at the beginning of Heaven and Hell), Kirstie Alley's Virgilia Hazard not surviving, Elkanah Bent being a wiry Georgian instead of an obese Ohioan, and Orry Main's older brother Cooper Main being omitted from the first two series. ==References==