Dear Ellen,
I have forgotten whether the 22nd is your birthday or mine--whichever it be--I wish you many happy returns.
~ Charlotte Brontë to Ellen Nussey, 22 April 1852
Even if Charlotte herself usually tended to forget all about her own birthday we don't. Happy 191, Charlotte.
You know what the best present would be? Just you stopping to read one of her novels, one of her poems, anything by her. To have people read her writings nearly two centuries after one's birth must be about the best tribute any author can get.
Connected with this celebration, a meeting of the Region 5 of the
American Chapters of the Brontë Society today, April 21:
[There's a meeting in] Chicago on the 21st to celebrate Charlotte's birthday. Margot Peters (Reg 5 co- rep and author of UNQUIET SOUL) will read poetry by Andrea Potos, Reg 5 member.
Thanks to Theresa Connors for the information.Categories: Charlotte Brontë, Reminder
Happy Birthday Charlotte. I'm rereading The Professor in tribute!
ReplyDeleteNice tribute. How are you liking it this time around then?
ReplyDeleteI still think it's underrated, and I hadn’t realised how amusing parts of the narrative were at first (Frances and Hunsden’s exchange about nationality and mothers and Frances' refusal to call William by his name because of her inability to pronounce the English Ws).
ReplyDelete*POSSIBLE SPOILERS*
I still well up every time I read the part when William kills poor Yorke!
Underrated, that's right. And, above all, underread... how many people who discard The Professor as (just) a proto-Villette or a late-juvenilia has actually read it?
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