Yorkshire moors and ex-Spice Girls

The Washington Times reviews Gertrude Bell: Queen of the desert, shaper of nations by Georgina Howell and the Yorkshire moors turn up:

Born into a world of privilege, "as English as English can be, which is to say she was bred in the wuthering heights of Yorkshire," (Richard Horan)

The Toronto Star reviewer compares the Norfolk coast where Booker's finalist Trezza Azzopardi third novel, Winterton Blue, is settled with the, once again, Yorkshire moors:

The Norfolk coast, like the 19th century Yorkshire moors, is a realm of romance, where two water-damaged, windblown lovers are tossed together like something out of the Brontë sisters. (Nancy Wigston)

But it's always better to visit the real thing. You can go to Haworth of course (here you can find 17 recent pictures), you can go to Haddon Hall (Thornfield Hall in the recent BBC adaptation) as Phillipa Ashley has done or you can visit North Lees Hall (a possible real Thornfield Hall inspiration) as it is suggested in this article in The Times:

Or perhaps North Lees Hall in Derbyshire, the Elizabethan tower-house that inspired Mr Rochester’s place in Jane Eyre? (Vincent Crump)

Remember that you can actually lodge in North Lees Hall, as we published some time ago.

Daphne du Maurier is briefly sketched in the books section of The Guardian. Her Brontë relations are mentioned:

The author saw the Bronte sisters as her closest literary forbears and her best work is steeped in a similar Gothic romanticism. In 1961 she wrote a biography of Branwell, the Brontes' brother.

We reviewed last year's edition of Daphne du Maurier's The Infernal World of Branwell Brontë some months ago.

Ex-Spice Girls and the Brontës seem an unlikely couple but if some days ago we mentioned Victoria Beckham, we have now Geri Halliwell in the news:

Her latest project is a series of children's books, about a character she's invented called Ugenia Lavender (more of which anon). The books, to be launched one-a-month from May to October next year, were announced by Macmillan's children's division last week. (...) From what I can make out (I only saw a short excerpt), Halliwell has littered the text with cultural and literary in-jokes. One of Ugenia's friends is called Bronte; (Barbara Ellen in The Observer)

Finally some blog entries: Shanny's Life has recently read Jane Eyre and shares her impressions. Another Jane Eyre-related blog is this one where the author is discussing several elements of the novel. Mardecortesbaja's opinion can be read here.

Categories: Books, Haworth, In the News, Jane Eyre