Keeper and Mr. Rochester's real estate

Our daily news survey brings today:

Some reviews of Maureen Adams's Shaggy Muses (more information here). Some give just the basic facts as this one or this other one, but others give more information:

Keeping dogs, in fact, helped all these writers keep their sanity. Bronte, and Woolf all depended on their dogs "to keep them grounded during the white heat' of sustained creative work," writes Adams. Carlo, a gigantic Newfoundland, gave the reclusive Dickinson an excuse for long walks around Amherst.

Dogs bound through "Wuthering Heights," Bronte's only novel, but she left no record of her relationship with Keeper, a once violent mastiff she tamed. Others fill in the gap. "The accounts of Emily's funeral," Adams says, "all mention Keeper" who, according to Emily's sister Charlotte, "to the day of its death, slept at her room door, snuffing under it, and whining every morning." (Margo Hammond in The Cleveland Plain Dealer)

Now for some Brontëites.

This is not the first time that we report on Cuban poet Pablo Armando Fernández's love for Wuthering Heights. This article on Juventud Rebelde returns to his memories of his discovery of the novel and its influence on his writings (in Spanish).

Argentinian actress Mónica Villa is interviewed in Clarín. She chooses Jane Eyre as her favourite fictional heroine.

Another Brontëite happens to be Natasha Trethewey, poet and author of Native Guard as she says in this interview in Newsweek:

My Five Most Important Books

* "Wuthering Heights" by Emily Brontë. It's so dark and romantic, and I was inspired by the way Brontë used the language of the characters to communicate their class differences.

Ellie's Thoughts in Print, posts a lot, and we mean a lot, of pictures of her recent visit to Haddon Hall:Thornfield Hall in Jane Eyre 1996 and 2006. Reel-me-in talks about The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. And the weird thing of the day: Look at how a real estate promoter from Rochester, NY can publicise his business. We agree with Reject the Kool-Aid (where we found the link):

And finally, there's this terrible affront to Mr. Rochester at www.mrrochester.com. You sir, ought to be ashamed of yourself.

We wonder whether their estates come with madwomen in the attic.

If not, the Scotsman guesses that if Emma Campbell Webster's Being Elizabeth Bennett: Create Your Own Jane Austen Adventure is successful we'll soon have a Jane Eyre adventure too.

Emma Campbell Webster, author of Being Elizabeth Bennett: Create Your Own Jane Austen Adventure, which applies the principles of Fighting Fantasy to Pride And Prejudice, published next month (they haven't used this on the US edition, but it ought to be described as a book where "YOU become the WIFE"). Apparently, you need to know a lot about Austen to negotiate successfully the various impediments to marrying Mr Darcy. The Bookseller thinks it's "gimmicky but fun", but with any luck, Webster can start on The Attic Of Jane Eyre. (Stuart Kelly)

Categories: Books, Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Weirdo, Wuthering Heights