Reading the Brontës in Wycoller

The news today are mainly on education and when/if to read Brontë novels at school.

An exception is The Jerusalem Post, which has an article on Tamar Yellin's book Kafka in Brontëland, a book that was released months ago but is doing the rounds now.

Then there's the title story, with its dual literary references. This tale follows a Jewish woman living in the moorlands of Yorkshire, once home to the Bronte sisters, who is fascinated by a local eccentric named Kafka. The woman seems open to believing that the man actually is Franz Kafka. (Daniel Septimus)

Now for education. The Times & Democrat has a few suggested reads - adapted according to age/school year - in anticipation of the forthcoming Drop Everything and Read Day (we like the name).

In support of Drop Everything and Read Day, taking place Thursday, April 12, Sylvan Learning Center has compiled a list of suggested reading to help elementary, middle and high school students achieve age-appropriate reading levels.

Their list is based on the one suggested at Book Adventure, a website whose purpose is the following:

Book Adventure is a FREE reading motivation program for children in grades K-8. Children create their own book lists from over 7,000 recommended titles, take multiple choice quizzes on the books they've read, and earn points and prizes for their literary successes. Book Adventure was created by and is maintained by Sylvan Learning.

The complete list can be found here, and apart from including Wuthering Heights for Grade 10 and Jane Eyre for Grade 9, includes a book called A Family Called Bronte by Paula Guzzetti for Grade 3. We would have liked to have seen Agnes Grey at least too, however.

On a similar note, Daily Mail touches on a similar subject:

Sixth-formers taking A-level English will be required to study more books in a backlash against "dumbing down".

The number of set texts is to increase from eight to 12 in an attempt to make the course more demanding. (...) (Laura Clark)

The list includes Wuthering Heights.

A look around the blogosphere shows that Creatively Girt has designed a nice mood theme for livejournal inspired by Jane Eyre 2006.

Radically different is the subject of Society of Paranormal investigations posts about Wycoller Hall, the place upon which Charlotte Brontë supposedly based Ferndean Manor in Jane Eyre.

Wycoller Hall, Pendle District Wycoller Hall Now in ruins, Wycoller Hall was the ancestral home of the HARTLEYs who were one of the greatest farming families in this part of Lancashire. The Hall was built by Piers HARTLEY in 1550. Later it was passed through marriage into the Cunliffe family following the Civil War. Four generations inhabited Wycoller Hall. The last of the true line was a man called Henry Owen [who assumed the name Cunliffe]. After his death in 1818 he left substantial debts so it became the property of the chief mortgager, a Rev. John Oldham who sold the doors, windows, roofing timbers and stone to support the building of a cotton mill in Trawden. Wycoller Hall is said to be haunted by a spectre horseman, and a lady dressed only in black silk.
'The Friends of Wycoller' was set up in 1948 with the primary aim to preserve the Hall. Restoration work on the Hall began in 1950 and the fireplace has been rebuilt with their help. [...]
The story began with the untimely death of the squire's (one of the Cunliffe family) wife.
One story tells of how Mrs Cunliffe died (probably during the reign of Charles II 1660-85) after she saw a fox slayed beneath her feet. The accepted version is that the squire became so outraged, after he found his wife in the arms of another lover, that he whipped her to death.
The squire's wife is said to have predicted the extinction of the Cunliffe family - a prediction which came true when Henry Owen-Cunliffe, the last member of the family, died in 1819.
Just as Peter Crawley was about to leave the outlines of the scullery (after he set a tape deck in record mode on 26 July 1996) there was a sound similar to that of a riding crop.

For more information on Wycoller Hall there is a book out there called Romantic Wycoller by E.W. Folley.

Categories: Books,Brontëana,In the News