Publishers' Marketplace has a notice for a Brontë-inspired novel by Stacey McGlynn: Weathered Wood and Water is described as follows:
A wonderfully executed and creatively imagined retelling of the JANE EYRE story set in modern times with a male hero.
On the North Fork of Long Island, twenty-four-year old, college drop-out Jay Naire lands a job painting and restoring an enormous eighteenth century mansion owned by the older yet beautiful Robin Rochester. Jay, thrilled to be working on a house overlooking the Sound, thinks this might be his chance to finally build a miniature, working version of a seventeenth century tall-masted galley ship. But before he can
realize this lifelong dream, he has to decipher the intentions of his enigmatic employer; extricate himself and his son from an awful marriage; and unravel the
mystery of his family's tragic history.
On January 19, 2007, the Arts Section of The New York Times declared that, “JANE EYRE is not easily refashioned to fit modern times…[and] is hard to imagine updated,” yet Stacey McGlynn has done just that with WEATHERED WOOD AND WATER. This quirky and bittersweet novel cleverly refreshes Charlotte Bronte's classic by reversing the gender of the hero. Inspired by the shifting gender politics of the two eras, it sheds light on how things have changed since JANE EYRE was first published in 1847, while simultaneously offering a unique insight into a modern man's harrowing struggle to gain custody of his child in a system institutionally
biased against fathers.
In the spirit of popular and award winning fiction like John Casey's SPARTINA and E. Annie Proulx's THE SHIPPING NEWS, WEATHERED WOOD AND WATER should appeal to men and women who enjoy reading of the plights of noble anti-heroes. And the recent publicity and commercial success of Zadie Smith's ON BEAUTY and Michael Cunningham's THE HOURS indicate great interest in modern retellings of classic novels, while readers seemingly have an insatiable appetite for all things Bronte, as in THE EYRE AFFAIR and THE BRONTE PROJECT.
All publishing rights are available.
Here's Stacey McGlynn's background:
Stacey McGlynn holds an MFA from Columbia University in film. Her short film, a comedy, which she wrote, directed, edited and co-produced, won, “Best Short Film,” at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival, and was invited to be shown at various other festivals and venues. Originally conceived of as a screenplay, Stacey decided to write Weathered Wood and Water as a novel instead in order to get closer to Charlotte Bronte. Stacey lives on Long Island with her husband and three sons.
If anyone is in a position to help a fellow Brontëite find an outlet for their work, these are the contact details:
Adam Chromy
Artists and Artisans Inc.
adam@artistsandartisans.com
phone: 212 924 9619
fax: 212 931 8377104
West 29th Street, 11th Fl., New York, NY 10001
Hopefully we will be posting about this novel's release date very soon!
Categories: Books, Jane Eyre
0 comments:
Post a Comment