A dangerously partisan but marvellous biography

Tonight, BBC1 will broadcast the second episode of Cranford, and The Independent (Ireland) publishes a nice article about it and Gaskell's life and work:

Seduced by Cranford, I fed my own addiction with the Life of Charlotte Bronte, that flagrantly and dangerously partisan but marvellous biography which I am convinced only a loving and passionate friend could have written. (Mary Leland)

Also tonight, ABC airs the first part (episodes 1 and 2) of last year's big BBC costume drama, i.e. Jane Eyre. Several newspapers publish alerts:

As she has done in 17 previous filmed productions, the young and supposedly plain Jane (Ruth Wilson) makes her escape from life at an orphanage to become the governess at Thornfield Hall. There she is put in charge of the illegitimate daughter of Edward Rochester, the great and moody romantic character created by Charlotte Bronte 160 years ago and played forcefully by Toby Stephens in this superbly seductive adaptation by Sandy Welch, directed by Susanna White for the BBC and WGBH Boston.
This is a fine yet tortuous romance. Though everyone is certain Mr Rochester is about to marry the local beauty Blanche Ingram (Christine Cole), he has become irresistibly drawn to Jane's wit and independence. Plain Jane, did we say? Bronte insisted on that but while it is impossible to place Wilson in this category, the make-up department does scrub her down nicely, particularly during the second escape, when Jane wanders onto the moors after the mysterious Richard Mason (Daniel Pirrie) disrupts her marriage to Mr Rochester at the altar.
There is tragedy, mystery, horror and madness here. It is an exceptional story and though Welch has just two episodes, he stays true to the original.
This handsome version was filmed on location in and around the medieval Haddon Hall in Derbyshire. (Robin Oliver in The Age)

The publishers have released a new edition of Charlotte Bronte's classic novel with the actress Ruth Wilson, in the title role tonight, on the cover.
It would be interesting to know how many viewers go on to buy the book.
The eldest of three Bronte sisters, Charlotte has on occasion been unfavourably compared to her sister, Emily, author of Wuthering Heights; her Jane Eyre, according to one critic, "a romanticised self-portrait".
Yet 160 years after its publication, this story of a Yorkshire orphan who becomes a governess and finds love with a troubled lord has proven one of the most enduring English novels.
Wilson, in her first major role, is a fresh and engaging not-so-plain Jane. Toby Stephens is more mannered and self-conscious as Edward Rochester.
This Jane Eyre might polarise some viewers. Some will marvel at the evocative setting. But others might wonder if the two-hour episode in this two-part series is not too long and the narrative too slowly paced. (Larry Schwartz in Brisbane Times)

By the way, remember Toby Stephens's hair extensions? Well, The Village Voice makes a passing comment in this article:

My affection for Toby Stephens is also based on film, or more properly, television miniseries. A few years ago he played a dashing Kim Philby in Cambridge Spies and a brooding Rochester (with really unfortunate hair) in the latest Jane Eyre adaptation. (Alexis Soloski)

The Baltimore Sun points out the Jane Eyre references in Peter Ackroyd's The Fall of Troy:

Ackroyd weaves these elements together with allusions to Jane Eyre as well as A Midsummer Night's Dream. There are several not-too-subtle references to Charlotte Bronte's Mrs. Rochester vis-a-vis Obermann's Russian wife. (Diane Scharper)

Girlebooks adds Anne Brontë's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall to its etexts catalogue.

And a new appearance of the Brontës melting pot virus. This time in The Charleston Post & Courier:

And Charlotte Bronte's "Wuthering Heights," which has the tortured love story between Heathcliff and Cathy. (Rebekah Bradford)

Finally, the Spanish newspaper ABC includes an article on the winner of the Spanish National Literature Award: Ana María Matute, who names Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights as one of her favourite books when young. This is not new, however, for she has mentioned it in the past as well.

Categories: Books, Brontëites, Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV, References, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall