Brontë anecdotes

The Australian News comments on the recent publishing of The New Oxford Book of Literary Anecdotes (May 2006 in UK, July 2006 in US and Australia) edited by John Gross.

A unique and vastly entertaining collection of over 700 anecdotes from Chaucer to J. K. Rowling, selected by the supreme man of letters and premier anthologist, John Gross.

In the book, there are some Brontë-related anecdotes:

And the Brontes were remembered by an old lady in their village thus: "They were all dressed alike until they gate into young women. I don't know that I ever saw them in owt but print -- I've heard it said they were pinched -- but it was nice print." Charlotte was given a party in London by William Makepeace Thackeray. It was not a success. One guest, trying desperately to engage her in conversation, opened with, "I hope you like London?" to which Charlotte replied, "I do, and I don't." That was it.

Not exactly an anecdote but a very appropriate quote if you are enduring a long hot summer is this Emily one that can be found on DNROnline:

My first stop is at a literary quotes page. Here’s one from Emily Bronte’s "Wuthering Heights": "He said the pleasantest manner of spending a hot July day was lying from morning till evening on a bank of heath in the middle of the moors, with the bees humming dreamily about among the bloom, and the larks singing high up overhead, and the blue sky and bright sun shining steadily and cloudlessly." Hmm, not sure how hot it really gets in merry olde England, but the presence of bees and sweat doesn’t conjure romantic scenes in my head.

The New York Times wants to take us to Paris for a few moments and does so by making a round of books set in and/or related to the City of Light. There's time for a Brontë mention, too:

In Susie Vereker’s “Pond Lane and Paris” a British widow who had nursed her invalid husband for years finds a job assisting an ambassador in Paris. The back cover describes the book as “Jane Eyre meets Nancy Mitford in this story of life and love.”

Categories: Books, Wuthering_Heights, Jane_Eyre, Charlotte_Brontë