Letters to Brussels

Today, October 18, we have an alert from the Brussels Brontë Group:

"Letters to Brussels: Charlotte Brontë's letters to Monsieur Heger"

A talk by Derek Blyth
The well-known Brussels-based author of numerous books about Brussels and Belgium.

Thursday 18 October at 19.30

The library at Cercle des Voyageurs, Rue des Grands Carmes 18, 1000 Brussels

Non-members welcome

After the talk, there will be an opportunity for questions and discussion.

A charge of €3 will be made to cover the cost of the room. Drinks will be available from the bar

For further information please contact
Helen MacEwan at helen.macewan@ec.europa.eu

Charlotte Brontë's years at the Pensionnat Heger in Brussels studying French under the guidance of Monsieur Heger were two of the most important of her life.

On her return to Haworth, obsessed by the memory of her Belgian teacher, she wrote him a series of increasingly desperate letters, four of which are now preserved in the British Museum. It is nothing short of a miracle that the letters have survived at all. They were torn into small pieces, repaired with needle and thread and then left forgotten in a drawer until 1913.

What was the exact nature of Charlotte's feelings for Heger? What were Mme Heger's precise motives in repairing the letters? Derek Blyth will share his thoughts with us on some of the questions that have intrigued generations of Brontë enthusiasts.

Derek Blyth, who is based in Brussels, is well known for his many books and articles on Belgium. He has been fascinated by Charlotte and Emily's stay in Brussels since re-reading Villette shortly after moving to the city.

More information can be found on this post on the Brussels Brontë blog or this other one on the Brontë Parsonage blog.

The Brussels Brontë Blog also posts a translation of an article published in Nieuwsblad about the activities of the Brussels Brontë Group.

Categories: Alert, Brussels, In the News, Talks