Angels, Monsters and More

Keighley News also echoes the news about the projected new Brontë square in Brussels:

A square in Brussels – the city where two of the Brontë sisters studied French – is to be named in honour of the literary siblings.
The square, in the north-west district of Koekelberg, is currently being redeveloped. (...)
The move is also welcomed by the Brontë Society.
Rebecca Yorke, for the society, said: “The Brontë sisters are loved and admired the world over and it’s absolutely appropriate that a public space is being named in their honour.
“Recognising Charlotte, Emily and Anne’s achievements in this way will help ensure that women and girls everywhere continue to be inspired by their lives and legacy.
“In addition, the society’s mission is to ‘bring the Brontës to the world and the world to Yorkshire’, and having a little piece of Haworth in the heart of Brussels will help us to do just that.” (Alistair Shand)

Wbur interviews the author Gail Caldwell:

Robin Young: On leading a non-traditional life and talking about that with Tyler
G.C.: “She was right out of central casting. I can tell you and I think the one that really slayed me was when I was washing dishes one day and she must have been five. And we had never talked about the fact that I lived alone or was there anybody special in my life. I was washing dishes and she was lying on the floor with the dog and she said, 'So did you vow never to marry?' I tried not to burst out laughing because who says that? It's like ‘Jane Eyre,’ you know? I don't know where she even got the word. I remember saying to her, ‘I've loved a lot of people and I've spread my love around.’ And she absolutely took it as the way the world worked.”

Luxurious Magazine interviews actress and coach Sofya Skya:

If you were offered the role of a cult character from Britain history or a literary character from the works of English writers, who would you choose?
(...) I could perform the role of Jane Eyre, the heroine of a Charlotte Brontë novel or Florence Nightingale, known as “The Lady With the Lamp”. I would like to perform the character of Queen Elizabeth I, although I would have to dye my hair and change its shape, it would be worth it.

The Indian Express reviews the film Bulbbul:

A classic example is the depiction of Bertha Mason, the mad raging first wife of Rochester in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre locked up in the attic. She served both as the definitive Other to the pious protagonist and a physical manifestation of the cut out roles that existed for women during the Victorian era: the angel or the monster. Literary critics Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar examined the binary roles of Victorian women by taking Mason as the centrepiece of their study and giving her the epithet of The Madwoman in the Attic. (Ishita Sengupta)

Author Leila Bahsain talks about the birth of literary characters in Article 19 (Morocco):

Ce que Lord Jim, Mrs Dalloway, Monsieur B. (Le joueur d’échecs), Jane Eyre et Marguerite Gautier… (que mes autres précepteurs me pardonnent de ne tous les citer) nous apprennent de la nature humaine supplante les enseignements de toutes les écoles du monde. Sans eux, je n’aurai pas su y faire avec la vie. (Translation)

Il Fatto Quotidiano (Italy) begins an article about the Singer brothers like this:

Se qualcuno nomina le sorelle Brontë, dire che era più bravo il fratello Branwell. Se qualcuno nomina Giorgio de Chirico, dire che era più bravo il fratello Alberto Savinio, come scrittore e come pittore. Se qualcuno nomina Isaac B. Singer, dire che era più bravo il fratello Israel, anzi la sorella Esther. (Antonio Armano) (Translation)

Soul Kitchen (French) talks about the new album of Jeanne Added:

Jeanne ajoute un EP à ses deux albums après la tournée Radiate et ses dates en solo avec près de trente minutes en images par Julien Mignot. Avec Air, elle pourrait faire partie de la famille Brontë se promenant sur la lande du Lancashire où hurle le vent à la recherche d’un second souffle avec un titre enfin en français. (Guimauve) (Translation)

L'Eco della Lunigiana (Italy) describes Le Ragazze del Pillar by Teresa Radice and Stefano Turconi:

Racconti in cui si respira l’atmosfera dei romanzi di Jane Austen o di Charlotte Brontë, ma che hanno nella resa fumettistica una realizzazione unica: la coppia Turconi e Radice, marito e moglie, possiedono una capacità rara nel far recitare i loro personaggi, gestendone le dinamiche in una Plymouth pulsante, nella quale strade e luoghi diventano subito familiari. (Translation)

Philosophie Magazine (France) interviews Pierre Michon:

Et malgré ses afféteries, pour l’amour, Proust est imbattable. Mieux que Brontë et James, que Hugo et Balzac ou Genet et Duras. (Martin Legros) (Translation)

Fala! Universidades (Brazil) lists both Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre among the five best classic British novels. Corren (Sweden) interviews a local librarian who says that Wuthering Heights is one of her favourite books. La100 (Argentina) recommends Wuthering Heights 2011.

Now, on the paragraph of people quoting the Brontës: The Tallassee Tribune quotes Charlotte Brontë on happiness (not the potato quote, though). A valedictorian in Santa Barbara News-Press quotes Charlotte on the uncertainty of the future. Parade includes one of Charlotte on a list of quotes about relationships.

Finally, the sequel of yesterday's contender to big blunder of the year. Same newspaper, same journalist, same problems with English spellings, same absence of fact-checking in general. This article is about Kate Bush's Wuthering Heights and we have some Wuthering Hights, a Kathy, Sex Pistos, Dimond Dogs.... and, of course, Emily Brönte.

Jane Eyre - Summer Edition (laser-cut and all)

Thomas Nelson, after its Wuthering Heights Winter Edition, publishes now a Jane Eyre Summer one:

Jane Eyre (Seasons Edition -- Summer)
by Charlotte Brontë
Thomas Nelson
June 30, 2020
ISBN 10: 0785234535

A fine exclusive edition of one of literature’s most beloved stories. Featuring a laser-cut jacket on a textured book with foil stamping, all titles in this series will be first editions. No more than 10,000 copies will be printed, and each will be individually numbered from 1 to 10,000. * Now with bonus bookmark!
It was quiet at the other end of the house; but I knew my way; and the light of the unclouded summer moon, entering here and there at passage windows, enabled me to find it without difficulty.
Throughout the hardships of her childhood, Jane Eyre clings to a sense of self-worth, despite the maltreatment from those close to her. At the age of eighteen, sick of her narrow existence, Jane seeks work as a governess. The monotony of her new life at Thornfield Hall is derailed by the arrival of her peculiar and volatile employer, Mr. Rochester.
A flagship of Victorian fiction, Jane Eyre intrigues readers through the vigorous courage of Jane's voice, a forceful depiction of childhood injustice, an unflinching examination of the restraints placed upon women, and a worthy exploration into the complexities of both faith and passion.
Jane Eyre (Seasons Edition--Summer) is one of four titles available in June 2020. The summer season also will include The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Persuasion, and The Wonderland Collection.

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A huge help for the Brontë Parsonage Museum

First of all, it's a relief to hear this:

We are very grateful (and relieved) to be one of the 196. We still have some way to go, but this Emergency Response grant will be a huge help. Thank you so much @ace_national. https://t.co/ppfNBgyuc7

— Brontë Parsonage (@BronteParsonage) July 7, 2020

On the Arts Council England website we read:

We've awarded a total of £33 million to 196 NPOs through this fund. This fund was also available to lead Creative People and Places organisations, but none applied. You can review or download the data below.
The Brontë Society £133,000

Tor recommends '23 Retellings of Classic Stories From SFF [Science Fiction & Fantasy] Authors', including

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
A retelling of: Every crumbling, haunted, Gothic house tale
For fans of The Turn of the Screw or Wuthering Heights, Silvia Moreno-Garcia has crafted a Gothic Funhouse of a novel that plays with beloved Victorian Gothic tropes. You’ve got a big old decaying mansion, a socialite in a big fancy dress, potential poisonings, screaming ghosts, dark secrets. What more could you ask for? (Christina Orlando and Leah Schnelbach)

While Insider ranks 'the 50 best period piece films of all time' according to critics.

37. "Jane Eyre" brought Charlotte Bronte's novel to life.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 84%
An orphaned girl named Jane Eyre (Mia Wasikowska) finds stability as a governess at Edward Rochester's (Michael Fassbender) estate in this adaptation of Charlotte Brontë's 1847 novel. As she begins to form a relationship with the head of the estate, she learns a troubling truth about him.
"This 'Jane Eyre,' energetically directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga ('Sin Nombre') from a smart, trim script by Moira Buffini ('Tamara Drewe'), is a splendid example of how to tackle the daunting duty of turning a beloved work of classic literature into a movie," A.O. Scott wrote for The New York Times. (Claudia Willen)

The fact that there's no other Jane Eyre and no Wuthering Heights at all makes us feel rather doubtful.

Vogue Spain recommends non-boring period films, including

2. ‘Cumbres borrascosas’ (2011)
Solomon Glave Cumbres Borrascosas
Esta reinterpretación elemental y erótica de la novela decimonónica de Emily Brontë por parte de Andrea Arnold rebosa anhelo. En ella fichó a Solomon Glave y James Howson para interpretar a Heathcliff de joven y de mayor, respectivamente (es, por tanto, la primera ocasión en la que este héroe byroniano ha sido interpretado por actores negros) y Shannon Beer y Kaya Scodelario hacen lo propio con la rebelde y desenfrenada Cathy. De niños atraviesan corriendo las ciénagas cubiertas de neblina y las cumbres azotadas por el viento, pero su amor demuestra ser destructivo para ambos una vez son adultos. (Radhika Seth) (Translation)

La razón (Spain) has a 'brilliant' article on the so-called 'Brönte' (sic) family from 'Howorth' (sic) who were cursed (sic) by TB while taking it for granted that even Charlotte died of TB too (or maybe 'late labour', whatever that is). It also claims that Branwell was the inspiration for Arthur Huntingdon in The Tenant of 'Wildhell' (sic) Hall by Anne (who is sometimes Anna in the article). Similarly, Emily was 'abrupt' and a real-life version of her unforgettable character 'Hitchcliff' (sic) and so on and so forth. We suppose the writer is now awaiting his Pulitzer nomination after penning such an accurate piece of writing.

Newsweek feels the need to remind us of the fact that there were indeed women writers before 1997. And The Brussels Times reports the news about the future Brontë sisters square in Koekelberg.

Finally, The Eyre Guide is giving away a copy of her novel The Governess of Thornfield.

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Estella,Catherine and Helen

Some recent theses:

"To Walk Honorably Through the World": Temperance, Gender, and Religion in Anne Brontë's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
Emma Johnson
Wellesley College
May 2020

Estella Havisham and Catherine Earnshaw. Two Women's Depictions in Victorian Literature
Anny Bolívar Brito
Minor Subject Thesis
University of Turku
School of Languages and Translation Studies
May 2020

This paper compares women's depiction through the main female character in Great Expectations by Charles Dickens and Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë with the lens of the Feminist theory. The qualitative nature of the research assists in the analyses of women's education, role, and interaction as key elements to understand the domesticity represented in these two Victorian classics of the nineteenth-century literature. It is claimed that Charles Dickens in Great Expectations challenges the patriarchal state that confines women to a domestic life whilst Emily Brontë in Wuthering Heights uses domestic ideologies to portray her female heroine, respecting the values and norms of a male-dominated society. The study demonstrates the tendency of Dickens to give his main character with unique situations where opportunities of female empowerment and self-growth are provided. In contrast, Brontë represents her central character as a heroine in distress who is not only punished with her inability as a woman to choose her own fate but also goes through constant suffering that keeps her in a physical and mental submission. Throughout the analysis of the premises, questions in regard to authors' intentions and limitations emerged, which are yet to be studied in future researches. 

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The “wild and windy moors” remain open

The Independent lists '10 great places to have a staycation in the UK this summer', including

Yorkshire
Dodge the crowds in the Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors and instead head west to Haworth Moor and Top Withens for a wild moorland walk. This is Brontë country, birthplace of the prolific sisters, and while the Parsonage where they grew up remains closed, the “wild and windy moors” remain open. The Pennine Way long distance footpath passes through this area, as does the Brontë Way, the Bradford Millennium Footpath and the Great Northern Trail, meaning plenty of options to roam. Elsewhere, Bradford’s grandiose Piece Hall is gradually reopening – and well worth a visit. Higher Scholes Cottage offers jaw-dropping views of the surrounding countryside and includes an outdoor hot tub. (Joanna Whitehead)

While Rail Advent reports that,

The Keighley and Worth Valley Railway has announced that they can begin running trains again on Wednesday 19th August 2020.
Steam trains will run from Oxenhope to Keighley, where passengers can stretch their legs and look at the steam locomotive up close taking on water.
The railway will be using first-class and vintage carriage stock, these are rarely used on the railway. Compartment carriages will seat up to 8 people, allowing you and your family to enjoy a train ride through the Worth Valley, safely.
Tickets will go on-sale online on Monday 13th July, and pre-booking is essential. Tickets will available online only.
The KWVR has been awarded a Good to Go industry mark, meaning the KWVR have the measures in place to mainline cleanliness and make sure you can have a safe visit.
The Keighley and Worth Valley Railway runs for 5 miles from Oxenhope through Bronte Country and the Worth Valley to Keighley via Haworth, Oakworth, Damems and Ingrow West.
Dr Matthew Stroh, Chairman at the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, told RailAdvent: “Being so near the reopening after the disappointment of the sudden closure is fantastic. It’s testimony to the great team effort needed to prepare the railway for operation in very trying circumstances, particularly with the challenge of having to recommence the work to replace the 115-year old bridge.”
“We are looking forward to welcoming our passengers on board in the coming weeks and to bringing steam back to the Worth Valley.” (Michael Holden)

Scroll (India) looks at what people are reading during lockdown.

When I asked her about how she felt when she was reading the news, Avantika said it was part of her job, but it felt like “a pendulum [that swung] between being quite afraid and being sort of detached.” For something familiar, she’d turned to Emily Brontë’s 1847 novel Wuthering Heights, which she’d devoured along with other British classics and works of young adult lit as a younger person. “I need books to be a safe space and comforting and home. Maybe, through these books, I’d been trying to look for a time in my own life when things were simpler.” (Subuhi Jiwani)

Sometimes (most of the time?) the silliness of Twitter is simply over the top. Meaww tries to report something while failing at understanding that the original tweet was that great Twitter obstacle: ironic.

"Okay class raise your hand if you read a book by a woman that was published before 1997," the tweet read. It was posted along with a screenshot that read: "Not long before Rowling was published, women authors were unheard of. Now your generation gets to take us further than my generation ever could because we aren't living your lives. But at least acknowledge that we laid the groundwork for you to take us on the next step." The controversial tweet soon went viral with almost 5,000 retweets and 22,000 likes and Twitter was bombarded with a string of popular female author names. (Jyotsna Basotia) 

We understand, though, that the tweet was ironic while the screenshot (which may have been from some other account) may or may not have been in earnest. Anyway, the Brontës were brought up profusely and indignantly by many an angry Twitter user (again: is there any other kind of Twitter user?).

Jessica Simpson must have used one of those YourTango lists for Instagram captions. As reported by Page Six,

On Sunday, the “Open Book” author, 39, commemorated her wedding anniversary with Johnson, 40, by posting a sweet photo of the couple posing with Johnson’s gift to her: a large butterfly-shaped crystal.
“Eric Johnson, my Husband, I love you. 6yrs ago today I married my perfect soulmate,” Simpson wrote. “Our unity was written in God’s sky of colliding stars. Together we manifest dreams, nurture desire, and hold space. Destined, it always has been and always will be, forevermore.” [...]
“Anyone who knows me at all knows that this crystal butterfly is my dream gift,” Simpson added, concluding her message with a passage from the Emily Brontë classic “Wuthering Heights”: “Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.” (Jaclyn Hendricks)

La Nación (Argentina) recommends watching Jane Eyre 2011 during lockdown. BBC News reports briefly about the Koekelberg square to be named after the Brontës.

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Wild Winds Coldly Blow

Emily Brontë's Spellbound has a new musical adaptation. We read on 4barsrest:

Grimethorpe Colliery Band has used its time away from the contest and concert platform due to the COVID-19 crisis to concentrate on a number of new artistic projects.
The first to come to fruition is a collaboration between the band, composer Nigel Clarke, actor Shaun Dooley, photographer Lorne Campbell, creative video producer Michael Hamilton and tenor horn soloist Helen Varley to bring to musical life an evocative poem written by author Emily Bronte.
'Wild Winds Coldly Blow', is inspired by her poem entitled, 'Spellbound' written in 1837, which evokes the bleak landscape of the Yorkshire moors.
It describes the magnificently rugged, imposing nature of the moorland with the music bringing a darkened sense of evocative atmosphere to bear through Helen's eloquent playing. (...)
'Spellbound' was recorded using the latest smart phone technology to try and show what can be achieved despite severe performance restrictions, with the audio put together by Griff Hewis, a specialist engineer who has worked on the band's 'Brassed Off Live' performances.
Meanwhile, the collaborative artistic concept also utilised images from renowned photographer Lorne Campbell and the video design skills of Michael Hamilton, which utilised the isolated farmhouse called 'Top Withens', said to be the inspiration for Emily Brontë's 'Wuthering Heights.' 

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She would never know how successful the book became

South China Morning Post lists authors with July birthdays such as

July 30 – Emily Brontë
The middle member of the three sisters who published their first works under the ambiguous names, Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell, Emily Brontë remains something of a mystery. She would write only one novel, and died aged 30, only a year after its publication. She would never know how successful the book became. (Karly Cox)

Indian Express wonders whether the madwoman in the attic is finally free.

A classic example is the depiction of Bertha Mason, the mad raging first wife of Rochester in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre locked up in the attic. She served both as the definitive Other to the pious protagonist and a physical manifestation of the cut out roles that existed for women during the Victorian era: the angel or the monster. Literary critics Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar examined the binary roles of Victorian women by taking Mason as the centrepiece of their study and giving her the epithet of The Madwoman in the Attic. (Ishita Sengupta)

The Telegraph and Argus looks at the house on 69 Main Street in Haworth, which has been unduly altered by adding a dormer window.

Brontë Babe Blog discusses 'The Brontës, Brussels, and Hercule Poirot' while AnneBrontë.org posts about the month of July as seen by the Brontës.

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Victorians on Broadway

A new scholar book exploring the crossovers between British literature and musical theatre:

Victorians on Broadway
Literature, Adaptation, and the Modern American Musical
Sharon Aronofsky Weltman
University of Virginia Press
ISBN 9780813944319
July 2020

Broadway productions of musicals such as The King and I, Oliver!, Sweeney Todd, and Jekyll and Hyde became huge theatrical hits. Remarkably, all were based on one-hundred-year-old British novels or memoirs. What could possibly explain their enormous success?
Victorians on Broadway is a wide-ranging interdisciplinary study of live stage musicals from the mid- to late twentieth century adapted from British literature written between 1837 and 1886. Investigating musical dramatizations of works by Charles Dickens, Charlotte Brontë, Christina Rossetti, Robert Louis Stevenson, and others, Sharon Aronofsky Weltman reveals what these musicals teach us about the Victorian books from which they derive and considers their enduring popularity and impact on our modern culture.
Providing a front row seat to the hits (as well as the flops), Weltman situates these adaptations within the history of musical theater: the Golden Age of Broadway, the concept musicals of the 1970s and 1980s, and the era of pop mega-musicals, revealing Broadway’s debt to melodrama. With an expertise in Victorian literature, Weltman draws on reviews, critical analyses, and interviews with such luminaries as Stephen Sondheim, Polly Pen, Frank Wildhorn, and Rowan Atkinson to understand this popular trend in American theater. Exploring themes of race, religion, gender, and class, Weltman focuses attention on how these theatrical adaptations fit into aesthetic and intellectual movements while demonstrating the complexity of their enduring legacy.

Chapter 8 is all about Jane: Broadway's "Jane, Jane, Jane!"

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The power of literature

The TV presenter Naga Munchetty loves Wuthering Heights because of, not in spite of, Cathy's character. In The Mail on Sunday:

When BBC Breakfast presenter Naga Munchetty told me she adores Wuthering Heights, I assumed she was drawn to its passionate story of intense love… but I couldn't have been more wrong.
Instead, Naga confessed she was a fan of Emily Brontë's classic novel because its female star is cruel!
'It showed me that women do not have to be likeable, that they can be hateful and that love isn't glorious. I sound so dark by saying that - dark of heart,' admits Naga, 45.
'Cathy is a hateful character, she is cruel. And I love her, I absolutely love her. Does that sound really awful?'
Er, not awful, Naga, but a bit scary… (Alistair Foster, Joanna Bell and Sophie Cockerham)

Also in The Mail on Sunday an article about the Yorkshire locations of The Secret Garden:

Literature lovers yearn for Yorkshire. All around God’s Own Country there are echoes of James Herriot, Bram Stoker and the Brontës, but the moors are arguably at their most memorable in The Secret Garden. Walk out on to the wild uplands, or step into a walled rose garden, and you’ll find the heart of this children’s book. (Mike Maceacharan)

The Guardian interviews yet another Wuthering Heights lover, writer Maryse Condé. Her reasons are deeper:

Anita Sethi: What kind of reader were you as a child?
M.C.: I was 10 or 12 when I read Wuthering Heights. A friend of my mother who knew I was fond of reading gave me the book. I’d never heard of Emily Brontë. It was the first time in my life that a book became close to my heart – it showed the power of literature that you can be an English author but reach close to the heart of a Caribbean child. There is a very desolate place in Guadeloupe with the ruins of a sugar mill and a plantation house that resembles Wuthering Heights and the Yorkshire moors. When I went to tell my mother’s friend how much I had liked the book and wanted to be a writer she replied that people like us don’t write. Did she mean black people, women or people from small islands? That I will never know.

Period dramas that are not--- stuffy, on this list from Vogue India:

Wuthering Heights 2011
Elemental and erotic, Andrea Arnold’s reimagining of Emily Brontë’s 19th-century novel drips with longing. It casts Solomon Glave and James Howson as younger and older incarnations of Heathcliff—the first time the Byronic hero has been played by black actors—and Shannon Beer and Kaya Scodelario as the wild and wayward Cathy. As childhood friends, they run through misty marshes and windswept hilltops together but as adults, their love soon proves to be mutually destructive. (Radhika Seth)

The Seattle Times recommends some new paperbacks:

 “The Confessions of Frannie Langton” by Sara Collins. Collins’ acclaimed debut novel begins in a 19th-century prison, where a Black woman, formerly enslaved on a Jamaican plantation, is being held for a murder she can’t remember committing. “Between (Collins’) historical research, Frannie’s voice and a plot that never slows to a walk, the novel pulls the gothic into new territory and links it back to its origins,” wrote a reviewer in The Guardian, noting that Frannie, the central character, “is an extreme version of Jane Eyre. She is a powerless child brought up horribly in a horrible place, and her voice thunders in exactly the same way.” (Moira MacDonald)

El País (Spain) interviews the writer Rafa Cervera:

El Saler es para él “como la campiña de Cumbres Borrascosas, el Macondo de Cien años de soledad o el Twin Peaks de David Lynch”. El entorno ideal para recapitular y hacen inventario, en forma de una novela magnética, de vivencias, amistades, amores, sensaciones de todo tipo e incluso un devenir emocional que tiene mucho que ver con las propias relaciones familiares[.] (Carlos Pérez de Ziriza) (Translation)

Listín Diario (República Dominicana) recommends Victorian Ghost Stories in its Spanish translation, Damas Oscuras. It would be better if they actually read the book:

Mujeres innovadoras: algunas de ellas, involucradas en el movimiento en pro del voto de las mujeres, o abiertas denunciantes del maltrato dentro del matrimonio, algunas periodistas, otras exploradoras y científicas, todas escritoras de ley, como se ve en esta antología que abre una estrella, pues el primer cuento es de Emily Brontë. (Darío Jaramillo Agudelo) (Translation)

No, it is not. It's by Charlotte Brontë.

MSN México lists some trivia from Anne with an E:

Los títulos de la temporada 1 de Anne with an E son citas de la novela Jane Eyre de Charlotte Brontë y que tanto gusta a Anne (Amybeth McNulty) en la serie. (Octavio Alfaro) (Translation)

Mundo Hype (Brazil) asks some of their contributors:

O livro mais bonito que você comprou ou ganhou este ano
Helder Gatti: Villette de Charlotte Brontë na edição mega caprichada da Martin Claret. (Translation)

Bergamo News (Italy) remembers the TV production Cime Tempestose 1956:

Con il teleromanzo tratto dal capolavoro di Emily Brontë, “Cime tempestose”, esordisce alla regia Mario Landi, che firma anche la sceneggiatura insieme a Leopoldo Trieste. Sia pure vengano smorzati i toni esasperati e cupi dell’originale, il successo fu tale che il 31 luglio dello stesso anno viene trasmessa la replica. Fra gli interpreti Massimo Girotti, Anna Maria Ferrero e Armando Francioli. (Claudio Caminati) (Translation)

Gazeta.pl (Poland) recommends Jane Eyre 2011.  Tu l'as lu? (the book club of The Huffington Post-France) is reading this month, Wuthering Heights (via Vanity Fair). Tanta voglia... di leggere! (in Italian) reviews The Professor.

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A Jane Eyre live online performance

Another alert for today, July 5, a virtual performance of Jane Eyre, 

Elora Community Theatre presents
July 5, 2020 - 7:30PM
Jane Eyre
by Charlotte Bronte
Adapted By: Thomas Hoschak
Director's: Deb Stanson & David Tanner

Watch it here

CBC News gives more details about it:

Elora Community Theatre normally performs its shows at the Fergus Grand Theatre but has started a "virtual playhouse" this summer. It's a completely different way of experiencing a play — imagine characters interacting with one another through the grid of a video conference instead of the width of a stage.
Their first production in June — A Midsummer Nights Dream — was streamed live on Zoom with actors in costume using virtual backgrounds for sets. It's been up on YouTube since. This Sunday's show will be Jane Eyre, co-directed by Deb Stanson and David Tanner.
But just because you're not seeing a fullscale production doesn't mean it's any less work for the actors involved. Just ask J.M. Frey, who plays the adult Jane Eyre, who narrates the play.
"Everyone has Zoom backgrounds to swap around or change depending on what scene they're in, and everyone has to look at the camera, and everyone is responsible for their own green screens and lighting, and everyone is responsible for remembering to turn their mic and their cameras on and off the top and bottom of each scene that they're in,"  she said.  (Jackie Sharkey)

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A walk to one of the most famous ruins in literature

The Telegraph and Argus features the new book Day Walks in the South Pennines by Paul Besley.

Rugged moorland once trodden by Haworth’s legendary literary sisters features in a new book of walks.
A circular trek of nearly eight-and-a-half miles between the village and Top Withens, reputedly the inspiration for the setting of Emily Brontë’s classic novel Wuthering Heights, is spotlighted.
It is among 20 routes outlined in Day Walks in the South Pennines.
The book – subtitled 20 routes in West Yorkshire and beyond – includes photographs, Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 maps, easy-to-follow directions, details of distance, plus refreshment stops and local information. [...]
Author Paul Besley describes the Haworth route – which starts from the parish church – as “a relatively gentle walk along well-made trails, with just the section to Oxenhope Stoop Hill from the track that can prove a little taxing. Combined with the historical aspects of the area, it makes for a day out packed with possibilities”.
He added: “It is a walk to one of the most famous ruins in literature. This gentle walk is difficult to complete without humming along to Kate Bush’s hit ‘Wuthering Heights’!” (David Knights)

Expressen (Sweden) quotes Angela Carter's opinion of Emily Brontë.

Den brittiska författaren Angela Carter fick en gång frågan om vem som var hennes favorit bland kvinnliga författare. Hon svarade Emily Brontë – men ångrade sig senare, skrev hon i ett brev till en vän, Brontë var ju ”pure butch”. (Hanna Johansson) (Translation)

Vogue (Spain) interviews writer Silvia Herreros de Tejada about her new novel La otra isla.

¿Consideras que la diáspora cubana es especialmente intensa en su manera de aferrarse a la nostalgia? El cubano es novelero de por sí. Es gente muy arrebatada, con mucha pasión y muy de hacer cuentos, como dicen ellos. Son extremadamente fieles a sus raíces; hay una profundidad de sentimientos. En un momento de la novela se dice que Fidel Castro ha sido el mejor escritor romántico de la historia, toda su retórica es increíblemente novelera, de ideales profundos. Es como el personaje de Heathcliff, de Cumbres Borrascosas. En Cuba entrevisté a personas que habían estado presentes cuando dio su primer discurso y se le posó la paloma blanca en el hombro y decían que jamás se habían sentido tan exaltados y enamorados de unas ideas. Toda Cuba es una gran novela romántica, en el sentido decimonónico. (Eva Blanco Medina) (Translation)

The Eyre Guide shares pictures of the lovely edition of Jane Eyre published by Thomas Nelson.

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Keeping the Flame Alive - Quiz 7

The seventh instalment of the Keeping the Flame Alive Quiz challenge. All of them devised and shared by John Hennessy.

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Anne Brontë: In Her Own Words in Bradford

The (online) Bradford Literary Festival has an interesting virtual event tomorrow, July 5:

Bidisha, Samantha Ellis, Adelle Hay, Marianne Thormählen
Anne Brontë: In Her Own Words
Sunday, 5th July 2020 | 9:00 am

The Brontë sisters – Emily, Charlotte and Anne – are often talked about in one breath without considering their own unique personalities.
Anne Brontë’s work, which included novels Agnes Grey and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, address feminist issues that are still subject to debate and discussion today. But what do these novels tell us about Anne herself, and do her poems and letters reveal more?

In this panel discussion, chaired by Bidisha, Brontë experts Adelle Hay, Samantha Ellis and Marianne Thormählen look at what we can learn about the ‘real’ Anne Brontë as a writer and as a woman.

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The voices of the Brontës fly on the wind

The Guardian reports the news that Brussels is to rename a square after the Brontë sisters.

A square in Brussels will be named after the Brontë sisters, the first tribute of its kind in the Belgian capital, more than 178 years after Charlotte and Emily arrived in the city to study French.
Councillors in the north-west district of Koekelberg voted to name a square “Place des Sœurs Brontë” in French, or “Zusters Brontë plein” in Dutch, as part of a wider plan for the “feminisation” of public places. The local authority found that the vast majority of its streets and squares named after a person commemorated men.
The resolution in favour of renaming the square describes the three sisters – including Anne Brontë, who never went to Brussels – as “models of emancipation”.
“It is for us a tribute to the literary talents of the Brontë sisters and an honour for the commune of Koekelberg to commemorate the presences of two of the three sisters in our municipality,” said Ahmed Laaouej, the socialist mayor of Koekelberg.
The square is being redeveloped – it has recently been pedestrianised – and is home to the local Dutch-language cultural centre and library. The new name is expected to be made official in early 2021 as part of a street renaming programme. [...]
The sisters lived in the city centre but visited Koekelberg to see their Yorkshire friends Mary and Martha Taylor, who studied at the Château de Koekelberg school, a pricier establishment beyond the means of the Brontë sisters.
When the Brontë sisters would meet the Taylors in a park 100 metres from the site of the new square, Koekelberg was a tranquil area, with tree-lined avenues and grand houses. Now it is an urban landscape better known for the vast art-deco Sacred Heart basilica that looms over the Brussels skyline. [...]
Helen MacEwan, the founder of the Brussels Brontë Society and author of The Brontës in Brussels, said the naming of the square was great news. “It’s going to be a very important point in Koekelberg, so even though we haven’t got a street bang in the centre of Brussels, which is where they actually lived, I think we can all be absolutely delighted.”
For now, the only trace of the Brontës’ stay in Brussels is a tiny plaque on the Bozar cultural centre, built close to the school – now long-since demolished – where Charlotte and Emily Brontë once lived and worked. The plaque was erected by the Brontë Society in 1979, but until now Brussels has never recognised the English novelists on city walls or street names. (Jennifer Rankin)

Time magazine echoes the news as well.

The only mark of the Brontë’s stay in Brussels is a small plaque created in 1979 on the Bozar cultural venue close to the grounds of the school where Charlotte and Emily studied and lived. Until now, the novelists have not been recognised on Brussels' street names or city walls.
"It's a wonderful decision especially, as it will be placed in the city's cultural center. The Brontë's are one of Brussels' most important literary links," says Helen MacEwan, author of the Brontës in Brussels and a founder of the Brussels Brontë Group.
The tribute was first proposed by former Brussels secretary of state and member of the Koekelberg council Robert Delathouwer. "He has long been aware of the Brontë's link with Brussels, and wants to pay tribute to them in the city that Charlotte depicts in her novels The Professor and Villette. He thinks it's a great idea to inspire young people," MacEwan tells TIME. [...]
The tribute — expected to be made official in early 2021 — is part of plan to dedicate more public place names to women, after the local authority found that the vast majority of its streets and squares named after men. In Koekelberg, almost half of the 70 names of public places are tributes to men (politicians, artists, veterans or those who died for their country). The remaining place names refer to the independence of the country or the end of the World Wars.Ans Persoons, Alderwoman of Urban Planning and Public Spaces of the City of Brussels, said in March 2019: “We are looking the names of women from Brussels. We want to grant them a more visible space in the neighborhoods in which they have a history.” (Madeline Roache)

Also on Republic World.

Yorkshire Life discusses 'Why the Yorkshire coast is an inspiration for artists and writers'.

But if wind-blown walks are more your thing, here’s Victorian writer Charlotte Brontë on Filey:
‘The sea is very grand. Yesterday was a somewhat unusually high tide – and I stood about an hour on the cliffs yesterday afternoon – watching the tumbling in of great tawny turbid waves – that make the whole shore white with foam and filled the air with a sound hollower and deeper than thunder... When the tide is out – the sands are wide – long and smooth and very pleasant to walk on. When the high tides are in – not a vestige of sand remains.’
Charlotte’s literary sister, Anne, was equally fond of the sands seven miles up the coast at Scarborough:
‘Refreshed, delighted, invigorated, I walked along forgetting all my cares, feeling as if I had wings on my feet, and could go at least 40 miles without fatigue, and experiencing a sense of invigoration to which I had been an entire stranger since the days of early youth... the sea was my delight.’
Her love of the Queen of Watering Places is shared by long-term resident and internationally-known playwright Alan Ayckbourn, author of 84 plays including The Norman Conquests. Born in Hampstead, he long ago gave up the bright lights of London for a more elemental existence on the North Yorkshire coast: [...]
‘[It’s] October or November when the shutters come down on the front. That, for me, is when the best time of year begins. I love the Yorkshire coast when the waves are high and the sea comes crashing in and the voices of the Brontës fly on the wind.’ (Janet Deacon)

Bookish questions to writer Oyinkan Braithwaite in the Daily Mail.

[What book] . . . would you take to a desert island? Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. I have read Jane Eyre a number of times and I have three editions of the book. I was about ten the first time I read it and it’s still my favourite novel. I do not tire of it, so I believe it would be the perfect desert island read.

Entertainment Weekly also has a bookish interview with writer Julie Orringer.

Which book made you a forever reader?[...]
The book that unlocked the world of adult literary fiction for me was probably Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, which I read when I was maybe 12. I'll never forget Fritz Eichenberg's haunting woodcut illustrations in my 1943 Random House edition: the child Jane in a plain black dress and pinafore, scrutinized by towering adults; Mrs. Rochester looming over Jane in the night; Mr. Rochester clasping Jane against him under dark wind-wrung trees. (Seija Rankin)

Página 12 (Argentina) features the work of Anne Carson.

En El ensayo de cristal (1995) confronta a una mujer recién separada, admiradora de Emily Brontë, con la vejez y la enfermedad de los padres y la experiencia de su ruptura sentimental. Carson enhebra recuerdos, voces y sentimientos con una ambigüedad impávida: “y el consenso general es que en sus 31 años Emily no tocó un solo hombre./ Dejando el sexismo banal de lado,/me tienta// leer Cumbres borrascosas como un acto de venganza acumulada/ por toda esa vida que a Emily se le negó./Pero la poesía muestra rastros de una explicación más profunda.// Como si para algunas mujeres la rabia pudiera ser una especie de vocación./ Un pensamiento escalofriante”, se lee en la versión inédita de la poeta Sandra Toro. (Daniel Gigena) (Translation)

SBS looks back on the celebrities that have appeared on the quiz show Jeopardy.

The pre-famous Jeopardy celebrity
The former prisoner of war, US Senator, and US Presidential nominee John McCain made an early appearance on the first incarnation of Jeopardy in 1965, back when it aired as a daytime game show (1964-1975). McCain won the first episode, but was knocked out in the Final Jeopardy round on the second day - he couldn’t remember Heathcliff’s name from the book 'Wuthering Heights'. (Dan Barrett)

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The Mother of the Brontës in Bradford and Online

An online vent, tomorrow July 4 in Bradford:

Mrs Brontës Book Group with Sharon Wright
Hosted by Bradford Libraries
Saturday, July 4, 2020 at 2 PM

Join Sharon Wright on Facebook as she talks about her book The Mother of The Brontës - when Maria met Patrick.
Who was the mother of all Brontës?
Maria gave birth to the most gifted literary siblings the world has ever known – then vanished from history for 200 years. Sharon wrote this, her first biography to rescue this remarkable woman from the shadow of her brilliant children.
We thought it’d be fun to call our event Mrs Brontë’s Book Club because she’d definitely approve. Maria loved books as much as we do. There was the Penzance Ladies Book Club where she grew up and a subscription to The Lady’s Magazine.Maria loved poetry and theology… but also the Gothic potboilers that were all the rage in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. She was an educated Cornish gentlewoman and lady of letters long before she was mum to world-famous Yorkshire writers.
Before Cathy met Heathcliff and Jane Eyre met Mr Rochester, Maria Branwell met Mr Brontë. Their real life love story is where it all began. Along the way are scandals and secrets, smugglers and shipwrecks, great passion and bottomless sorrow.
Plenty to discuss! So until we can get together for a proper cup of tea and a custard cream, We'll see you online for Mrs Brontë’s Book Club!

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Jane Eyre: fashionista

Good news from the Brontë Parsonage on Twitter:

Our #LittleBook campaign has been shortlisted for a #MandHAward! We're honoured to be up there with great campaigns from @tateliverpool @I_W_M @CastleHowardEst and @HRP_palaces . Thank you @MandHShow! https://t.co/wMCn0NYqYl pic.twitter.com/H3njPQn52Z

— Brontë Parsonage (@BronteParsonage) July 1, 2020

4 Bars Rest features a picture of cornet player Bethan Plant playing outside the Brontë Parsonage.

Source

Bethan Plant, who has just finished her degree studies at the RNCM in Manchester, and is a member of Brighouse & Rastrick Band, is pictured outside the Parsonage in Howarth [sic] in West Yorkshire, home to the famous literary Bronte family. [...]
Bethan was pictured by Lorne Campbell playing 'Cathy's Theme', the famous melody from the 1939 film adaptation of 'Wuthering Heights' starring Laurence Olivier as Heathcliffe [sic], and which was composed by Academy award winner Alfred Newman.
The images were sent to all leading national newspapers.
In 2007 Philip Wilby composed his critically acclaimed 'Brontë Mass' which was later transcribed for brass band.
It is hoped that the museum will open in the near future.

Still locally, Evening Standard recommends staying at Ponden Hall as it is one of the 'coolest and quirkiest English B&Bs'.

Ponden Hall Bed & Breakfast, North Yorkshire
On the edge of a moor loved by the Brontë sisters, Ponden Hall is even said to be the inspiration for Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights. The main hall was built in 1634 and the library was often used by Emily in the 1800’s. Now a three-bedroom B&B overlooking the Ponden Reservoir, bibliophiles should opt for The Earnshaw room, complete with a cosy box bed built to the specifications of the bed Mr Lockwood slept in at Wuthering Heights. Breakfast is the busiest time of day, and will be one of your favourite takeaways from your visit at Ponden - opt for the full Yorkshire breakfast for a northern twist on the classic. With thick cut bacon, luxury sausages and black pudding (a vegetarian option is available too), it's hearty enough to set you up for a day exploring the moors. (Laura Hampson)

According to The Guardian, Jane Eyre is one of the 'Top 10 best-dressed characters in fiction'.

2. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
Jane is so fiercely attached to her Puritan dress that even when about to marry the rich Mr Rochester she rejects bright colours for “sober black satin and pearl grey silk”. Paradoxically, this makes her passionate originality flame brighter to him – and us – an original touch that makes this poor, plain, intelligent and brave young woman eternally beloved by readers. When happily reunited with Mr Rochester, we learn through him that her dress is blue – the colour of heaven and happiness. (Amanda Craig)

Times of India lists Emily Brontë as one of several 'Best selling novelists who wrote just one book'.

02/9 ​Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
The Brontë family produced quite a few famous authors in one generation. Sisters Emily, Charlotte and Anne were all published novelists who are read til this day. While her sisters both published more than one book, Emily only managed to get one published in her lifetime. She might have been writing, or at least plotting, a second one but she died young, of disease.
Her book 'Wuthering Heights' is a tale of love which was so passionate and violent that critics of that time (the early 1800s) thought it was written by a man.

Lancashire Post reviews Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.

Moreno-Garcia’s enthralling novel gives a brief nod to classics like Jane Eyre and Rebecca but features a much more strident and forceful leading lady… flirty, feisty Noemí is no shrinking violet but a rebellious young woman intent on unearthing the truth of the dastardly Doyles. (Pam Norfolk)

The Darien Times asks teachers and students to weigh in the racial diversity debate.

One student said the school doesn’t assign a lot of books or articles that are written from Black peoples’ perspectives, telling their experience.
Another student said within the high school curriculum, there is a lot of focus a lot on classics like Jane Eyre, Black Beauty or Lord of the Flies, “but I think that we could incorporate more literature written by the black community. That would give us a different perspective on the world. We should read literary criticism from different lenses.” (Sandra Diamond Fox)

The Yorkshire Press announces what to expect from this year's edition of the Yorkshire Festival of Story in August.

Yorkshire’s rich heritage will be celebrated as the Brontë Society explores the fierce brilliance of Anne Brontë in her bicentenary year. (Alexis Wilson-Barrett)

The Sisters' Room has a post on Louisa May Alcott and Charlotte Brontë. El País (Spain) mentions TB in connection to La Traviata and mentions, in passing, how it affected the Brontë family. El espectador (Colombia) discusses pseudonyms. L'Opinione delle Libertà (Italy) has an article on Wuthering Heights.

Finally, on The Brussels Brontë Blog, Helen MacEwan writes about the Koekelberg sqaure to be named after the Brontë sisters. HLN (Belgium) has an article about it too.

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Brontë Studies. Volume 45 Issue 3

The new issue of Brontë Studies (Volume 45 Issue 3, July 2020) is already available online. We provide you with the table of contents and abstracts:

Editorial
pp. 209-213  Author:  Amber M. Adams & Josephine Smith

‘Unpleasant and undreamt of experiences of human nature’: a Refocus on Thorp Green
pp.  214-226  Author: Chitham, Edward
Abstract: 
In this article I re-examine the milieu at Thorp Green during, before and after Anne Brontë's stay there. Though Branwell is not the chief focus, slight doubt is cast on his account of events. There may be other explanations of some of what he reports. Use will be made of research by Bob Gamble, with many thanks.

Servants and Animals in Anne Brontë’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
pp. 227-239 Author: Newman, Hilary
Abstract: 
In Agnes Grey and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall Anne Brontë employs animals and servants to provoke moral responses from her readers. Unfailingly, those characters Anne Brontë — and her reader — approve of are humane in their treatment of animals and servants. Similarly, her most morally flawed characters largely expose themselves to criticism through their behaviour and treatment of their dependants. Animals and servants are briefly considered in Agnes Grey. This is followed by an extensive exploration of these features in The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. Anne Brontë creates her own individual manifestation of a moral code and this is an important factor in the success of the novels in engaging the reader.

An Appalling Wish to Emancipate: Work as a Common Thread Towards the Middle-Class Woman’s Emancipation
pp.  240-252   Author: Aires Lima, Sónia
Abstract: 
During the Victorian era, a time of pronounced economic growth but also of great instability, a large number of women found themselves facing unexpectedly precarious financial situations. Work, a vital element towards the survival of the individual, proved crucial for the empowerment of the Victorian middle-class woman. In a society where an independent woman was rather atypical, Anne Brontë’s female characters are noteworthy examples of women who used work as a path towards emancipation. The governess and the abused wife both appear to embody a universe of women who experienced ill-treatment, something everyone knew about, but not everyone chose to discuss.

Character Depiction in Anne Brontë’s Agnes Grey
pp. 253-257  Author: Gharib, Susie
Abstract: 
This paper attempts to draw the reader’s attention to the physiognomic skills of Anne Brontë as manifested in her neglected novel Agnes Grey. This is an aspect of character depiction that has merited critical attention in the works of her sister Charlotte.

‘A distinct family likeness’: A Reappraisal of the Creative Partnership between Anne and Emily Brontë
pp. 258-271 Author: Quinnell, James
Abstract:
Since the publication of Charlotte Brontë’s ‘Biographical Notice of Ellis and Acton Bell’ as an appendage to the 1850 edition of Wuthering Heights and Agnes Grey, scholarship on Anne Brontë has been shackled to biography in ways perhaps not realized. Ideas of Anne as the quiet one, less able to cope with exposure to the harshness of the world as her sisters, have diluted the impact of her writing.
This is particularly the case in her relationship with Emily, where Anne has lost out to the supposed wilder Romanticism of her elder sibling. Moreover, the commonplace idea that Anne became Emily’s critic in the publication of their novels has further served to sunder them.
I argue for the continued affinity of thought between Emily and Anne in the period their novels were written and published. Charlotte’s ‘Biographical Notice’ has profoundly affected the way that Anne is seen in relation to Emily and vice versa. I use Emily’s Belgian devoirs to help tease out, via Agnes Grey, how the two were still as much twins in the way they saw the world in adulthood as they were in adolescence. I then critique the idea, now almost de rigueur, that The Tenant of Wildfell Hall was written as a parody of Wuthering Heights.
My conclusion is that by removing Charlotte Brontë’s ‘Biographical Notice’ as a filter to our appreciation of Anne and Emily’s literary partnership, it opens up new ways of engaging with their writing.

The Presentation of Two Housekeepers in Wuthering Heights
pp.  272-281 Author: Tytler, Graeme
Abstract:
Best remembered as it commonly is for its famous love story, Wuthering Heights is hardly less memorable for the presentation of its various minor characters, prominent among them being two of Heathcliff’s housekeepers: Zillah and the unnamed woman from Gimmerton. Although these two figures play useful roles in the structure of the novel, whether for purposes of plot or as narrators, they are of interest chiefly for what they reveal of themselves in their elaborate utterances. Thus we note that, while not without their moments of kindness or good humour, both housekeepers tend to be quite hard-hearted or contemptuous towards the second Catherine, Linton Heathcliff and Hareton Earnshaw. That all this may be due partly to their abject fear of Heathcliff and partly to their mercenary attitude to their work is not difficult to surmise. It is, moreover, through their essentially unsympathetic presentation that Emily Brontë succeeds in indirectly pointing up the virtues of the second Catherine and Hareton.

Recent Acquisitions at the Brontë Parsonage Museum, 2010–2019
pp. 282-296 Author: The Curatorial Team
Abstract:
The collection held at the Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth is a great scholarly resource, providing insights into the Brontës’ lives and works. Today the Brontë Society continues to add to, and care for, its unrivalled collection of Brontëana.

 REVIEWS

Anne Brontё and the Trials of Life
pp. 297-298  Author: Watson, Graham

Without the Veil Between: Anne Brontë: A Fine and Subtle Spirit: A Novel
pp. 298-299 Author:  Stoneman, Patsy

The Girl at the Window
pp. 300-301 Author:  Powell, Sarah

Emily’s Papers
pp. 301-302 Author:  Van Der Meer, Carolyn

The Brontës and the Idea of the Human: Science, Ethics, and the Victorian Imagination
pp. 302-303 Author:  Shastri, Aparna

The Remarkable Story of Nancy de Garrs, Charlotte Brontë’s Nurse
pp. 303-304 Author:  Duckett, Bob

The Mother of The Brontës: When Maria met Patrick
pp. 304-306 Author:  Duckett, Bob

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'I know nothing. I understand nothing. And yet, I have dared to write 200,000 words about life!'*

Source

It's Olivia de Havilland's 104th birthday today. She played the role of Charlotte Brontë in the infamous 1946 film Devotion (that's 74 years ago!).

Médias de Bruxelles reports that Koekelberg has named a square after the Brontës because of their connection to the place (Mary Taylor was lived and studied at Chateau Koekelberg with her sister Martha, who actually died there, while Charlotte and Emily were at the Pensionnat Heger).

La commune de Koekelberg va donner le nom des sœurs Brontë à l’une de ses places. Le conseil communal a en effet décidé lundi soir de rebaptiser la partie supérieure de la rue des Braves, dorénavant interdite à la circulation et en rénovation complète, en place des Sœurs Brontë. Deux des trois sœurs romancières de la première partie du 19e siècle ont visité naguère cette commune de l’ouest de Bruxelles. [...]
L’histoire de Koekelberg a révélé l’existence d’un lien avec des noms féminins au rayonnement littéraire international : les sœurs Brontë, et plus particulièrement deux d’entre elles, Charlotte Brontë (auteur de ‘Jane Eyre’ et ‘Villette’) et Emily Brontë (auteur de Les Hauts de Hurlevent).
Les deux sœurs ont résidé à Bruxelles au début des années 1840. Elles étaient inscrites au Pensionnat des Demoiselles de Héger au centre de la capitale. Elles étaient amies avec des compatriotes, Mary et Martha Taylor, résidant au pensionnat Goussaert, à Koekelberg, dans un parc privé, jouxtant la propriété et l’atelier du sculpteur Eugène Simonis, à 100 mètres de l’actuelle rue des Braves. Les sœurs Brontë ont rendu visite à leurs amies résidant dans la commune. Charlotte s’est également rendu à Koekelberg le jour du décès de Martha. Tout comme leur sœur Anne, elles sont toutes des modèles d’émancipation féminine à une époque où cela ne coulait pas de source. (Translation)

The Washington Post reviews the novel Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia's "Mexican Gothic" is a feminist horror novel inspired by Gothic classics including "Jane Eyre" and "Wuthering Heights." It's also a nod to fairy tales, though not the Disney versions. "Mexican Gothic's" characters recall the macabre stories in which Cinderella's sisters chop off their feet and Sleeping Beauty's stepmother meets her fate in a barrel of snakes. (Carol Memmott)

Marhaba (Qatar) recommends it too 'if you are a fan of Rebecca and Jane Eyre'.

Entertainment Weekly reviews new releases in the romance category, including

A Duke, The Lady, and a Baby by Vanessa Riley
Vanessa Riley gifts readers a sparkling love story with deep wells of faith and feeling with A Duke, The Lady, and a Baby. When Patience Jordan followed her new husband from the West Indies to Regency England, she never anticipated being so lonely. Now, widowed and thrown into Bedlam by scheming family members, Patience has to masquerade as a nanny for her newborn son while being overseen by her son’s new guardian, Busick Strathmore, Duke of Repington. Repington comes with a heap of trust issues, having lost a leg in the Napoleonic Wars. Riley’s light, lilting tone is all Austen, but she probes questions of madness and race like a Brontë sister. Patience could easily become Jane Eyre’s Bertha, an Afro-Caribbean woman declared mad by greedy, racist men. There is a touch of the Gothic to Riley’s story, but Patience has the Widow’s Grace, a secret society of widows determined to win justice for their members, on her side. As Patience works to secure a future for her son, she warms to the taciturn, schedule-obsessed Repington after witnessing his tenderness for her child. The two build a gentle romance, rooted in mutual trust. It’s refreshing to read historical romance that reflects the true diversity of the era. (Maureen Lee Lenker)

The Independent features writer Naoise Dolan.

As for those Rooney comparisons, Dolan doesn’t mind them, but she points to many other novels that portray women’s interiority through self-hatred, from Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar to Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. She believes self-loathing is a form of narcissism. “Simply put,” says Dolan, “if you’re constantly thinking about how much you hate yourself, you’re still constantly thinking about yourself.” (Ellie Harrison)

Admittedly there are bits of Jane Eyre that would fall on the category of self-hatred, but mostly it's a novel about self-confidence, isn't it?

We couldn't agree more with this suggestion in Marie Claire: 'Let's Stop Prying Into the Personal Lives of Women Writers, Shall We?' And we find this quite shocking:

Finola Austin, writer of Brontë’s Mistress, has been asked several times if the sex scenes in her novel are inspired by personal experience (she’s writing about the Brontës!). (Leah Konen)

Some reviewers are still finding it hard to grasp that women do actually have a thing called 'imagination'.

The New York Times features the world of Dark Academia:

Yet in the digital world, a different kind of academic community is thriving, one where students have created a niche of their own, along with an aesthetic that mirrors the world they once knew.
Known as Dark Academia, it is a subculture with a heavy emphasis on reading, writing, learning — and a look best described as traditional-academic-with-a-gothic-edge; think slubby brown cardigans, vintage tweed pants, a worn leather satchel full of a stack of books, dark photos, brooding poetry and skulls lined up next to candles.
Created largely by users 14 to 25 years old, posts tagged with the Dark Academia moniker have racked up over 18 million views on TikTok; there are over 100,000 posts on Instagram. And though Dark Academia predates the pandemic, for many of its denizens it has taken on new importance during a time when school is canceled IRL. [...]
A typical post may involve teens showing off their argyle sweaters to classical tunes, followed by a series of photos of leather-bound books, handwritten notes, a page from “Wuthering Heights” and a shot of classic Greek architecture. (Kristen Bateman)

Corriere della sera (Italy) lists literary families such as the Brontës.

* A line from Devotion, of course.

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We Are the Brontë Sisters

Some quite cute Brontë sisters and sticker sheets. Who can resist that?

We Are the Brontë Sisters
By Brooke Vitale
Part of Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum
Penguin Young Readers Licenses (30 Jun. 2020)
ISBN 9780593096376

An 8×8 with 2 sticker sheets based on an episode from the PBS KIDS animated television series Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum starring the Brontë sisters.
Based on the children’s book series Ordinary People Change the World by New York Times bestselling author Brad Meltzer and illustrator Christopher Eliopoulos, the series will introduce kids to inspiring historical figures and the character virtues that helped them succeed.
When Brad runs out of ideas for his latest story, the Secret Museum sends him, Xavier, and Yadina to meet the Brontë sisters! Together, they use their imaginations to create new, wonderful, and incredibly fun stories. This episode-based 8×8 will focus on the traits that made our heroes great–the traits that kids can aspire to in order to live heroically themselves.

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Jane Eyre's rich lexicon

Daily Mail jokes that Charlotte Brontë might be accused of 'cultural appropriation' because she owned a pair of moccasins.

Meanwhile, it has been revealed that the Brontë Parsonage museum contains a pair of Native American moccasins which belonged to Charlotte Brontë.
That’s her off the reading list. And I give the Brontë statue outside her old home in Yorkshire a couple more days before some lunatic tears it down.
Charlotte Brontë must fall! (Richard Littlejohn)

The statue is in the back garden so hopefully it will be safe ;)

US News recommends Jane Eyre for your 'ACT, SAT Summer Reading List'.

"Jane Eyre," a classic novel by Charlotte Brontë, is a great starting point. A story about love and overcoming life’s struggles, "Jane Eyre" employs a rich lexicon while reporting on the plot’s many characters. Thus, this work allows students to prepare for two key types of ACT and SAT reading questions: understanding vocabulary in context and recalling details. (Tiffany Sorensen)

Broadway World shares a video of Emily Wong performs a Schubert piano sonata included in the ABT's production of Jane Eyre that was to be performed in the MET these days.

American Ballet Theatre has released a new Orchestral Performance video!
Emily Wong, an ABT Company pianist and member of ABT's Orchestra, plays the Piano Sonata in B flat from Jane Eyre
The piece by Franz Schubert takes place during the final pas de deux of Act I.

The Sunday Times (South Africa) has trouble telling real people apart from imaginary people in a review of the book Sea Star Summer by Sally Partridge.

Whip-smart, sarcastic and beautiful, Naomi prefers the company of Agatha Christie and Jane Eyre to real-life people. (Anna Stroud)

Agatha Christie was real people.

MACG on the song Beautiful Liar by VIXX:

“Beautiful Liar” is a K-pop gothic story. And no, we’re not talking modern goth. The literary Gothic stories such as “Wuthering Heights” or “Frankenstein.” The symbolism alone is enough to make my head spin, but to remember that these are the same guys who gave us “Dynamite“?! It’s mind boggling. (Jess)

El cultural (Spain) discusses the use of pseudonyms. There's an interesting post on Penzance and the Brontës on Cornish Story.

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