Holiday plans

Most people will be on holidays now, or about to embark on them. So if you're in England what better than a walk around Shirley Country as the Yorkshire Evening Post suggests?

North Kirklees ramblers will be taking a walk round 'Shirley Country' on Monday July 2, setting off at 10.30am.
Spen Valley has strong links with the Bronte family and particularly Charlotte Bronte, whose novel Shirley, caused a sensation when it was published in 1849.St Peter's Church on Kirkgate, Birstall, will be specially opened to allow ramblers to visit; the walk will also take in Heald's Hall and Oakwell Hall. It will be led by local historian Kathleen O'Shea from the top car park at Oakwell Hall. The walk is 10 miles. Call 01924 470531 or 07815 410 787 or email phorbury@aol.com

Sounds like quite a treat, especially if the weather is fine.

If you are not on holidays or can't make it to the walk, don't worry. We have suggestions for you too.

Writer Unboxed interviews Jasper Fforde, whose fifth Thursday Next book, First Among Sequels, is about to come out. The interview is in two parts: part 1 & part 2.

What writer can’t help but giggle at this upon Thursday Next’s meeting with Rochester in THE EYRE AFFAIR:
I thought about the incident at Haworth all those years ago when I entered the book of Jane Eyre and caused Rochester’s horse to slip.
“It was a long time ago.”
“Not to me. You remember?” [Rochester said. He’s swirling Maderia in a glass, btw–KB]
“I remember.”
“Your intervention improved the narrative.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Before, I simply bumped into my Jane and we spoke briefly. If you had read the book prior to your visit you would have noticed. When the horse slipped to avoid you it made the meeting more dramatic, wouldn’t you agree?”
Thus in one scene, Fforde not only captures the writer’s dilemma of making scenes more gripping, but we get the additional treat of seeing a beloved character like Rochester in a new light. (Kathleen Bolton)

Fragments like that are why we keep on talking about Mr Fforde, even if the Brontë connections of his forthcoming book are not so clear. However, we are sure to find something Brontë in it, as usual.

Chicklish, whose subtitle is 'Reader, I snogged him...', interviews Sophie McKenzie, author of Girl, Missing.

Can you recommend a book that you loved as a teenager and/or that you love now?
When I was a teenager there were no books written exclusively for that age group - or, at least, none that I was aware of. In fact I stopped reading for a few years. I'd say that between the ages of about 13 and 16 I read very little other than the books we were studying at school. Of those I fell completely in love with Jane Eyre and everything written by Jane Austen. And, yes, I still love those stories today.

There's someone else who picks Jane Eyre today. Susanna Rustin from the Guardian talks to writers Pat Barker and Anna Ralph, mother and daughter respectively. Among her inspirations, Anna Ralph, whose first novel The Floating Island was published in the spring, choses:

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

And one more book recommendation. The StarTribune reviews a books that will be published on July 31: Shaggy Muses: The Dogs Who Inspired Virginia Woolf, Emily Dickinson, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Edith Wharton and Emily Brontë, by Maureen Adams

Good grief. It's hard to imagine the life of utter despair that these women would have endured were it not for their canine companions. Psychologist and former English professor Maureen Adams weaves a brilliant narrative using diaries, letters and published works to tell the largely untold story of how dogs comforted, healed and even sparked amorous adventures with five of the world's most enduring writers. Adams was drawn to the healing powers of dogs after her golden retriever, Cody, helped pull her out of a crippling depression. The resulting book is scholarly, historical and deeply researched, and Adams' lively and conversational style makes it accessible to readers who ordinarily might not be drawn to the lives of early feminists of the 1800s and mid-1900s. Artwork of the dogs, many of them sketched by the writers themselves, is a delightful addition. (Jacky Crosby)

What with Jasper Fforde's book, this one and - this half of BrontëBlog can't hide it - Harry Potter's last book and many other books besides it looks like July is going to be one great month. Even if you're not leaving the house.

On another note, The Telegraph has an article on Ken Russell (with a wonderful photograph we must add) now that a lost archive has come to light.

As in the film career that was to come, he pursued his own enthusiasms. There are several penetrating images of classical musicians. He and his first wife went up to Haworth in Yorkshire, where he snapped her dressed as Emily Brontë.
Recently the wheel came full circle when he was asked back to Haworth to make a short film for the Brontë festival and, with characteristic irreverence, choreographed and shot a ballet on the front lawn entitled Charlotte Brontë Enters the Big Brother House. (Jasper Rees)

The 'Brontë festival' in question is the Radical Brontës Festival which took place last September. What Ken Russell filmed was the Brontë Burlesque directed by Joolz Denby and a ballet that was staged in front of the Brontë Parsonage Museum.

Categories: Alert, Art-Exhibitions, Books, Brontëana, Brontëites