Misquoting Jane

The Los Angeles Times publishesfurther information on Robert Fox's film deal concerning Justine Picardie's new novel Daphne.

The book:
'Daphne' by Justine Picardie

The buyer:
Robert Fox

The deal
Robert Fox options Justine Picardie's "Daphne," a tale of author Daphne du Maurier's midlife crises and literary obsession with the Brontës, told against the haunting backdrop of her classic novel "Rebecca."

The players
Fox (executive producer of "Atonement" and "Closer," producer of "The Hours," "Notes on a Scandal" and "Iris") producing. Picardie represented on literary rights by Grainne Fox at Ed Victor Limited in London and on film rights by Geoffrey Sanford at RWSH literary agency in Los Angeles. The book will be published by Bloomsbury USA in August.

The back story
The path from book to screen can be filled with twists and turns, false starts and random luck. But sometimes the path to an option deal -- the beginning of the process -- is no less surprising. Consider Picardie's forthcoming novel, which begins in 1957 as Du Maurier's marriage is falling apart. Plunging into her work, the distraught novelist begins relentless research into the life of Branwell Brontë, a tormented painter and alcoholic who was the only son born into the literary family. "Daphne" is the story of a famed British novelist on the verge of a breakdown, weaving in the strands of her most famous book, a literary whodunit and a troubled, modern character heavily influenced by the writer's work.
Is this "The Hours" meets Daphne du Maurier? Picardie, a highly respected author, wrote "a very different book, but there are certain elements that are not dissimilar," said Fox, who produced the 2002 film about Virginia Woolf. What's more remarkable is how he got involved in the project. Picardie spent years researching Menabilly, the famed seaside estate that inspired "Rebecca." Then she learned Fox had met the writer at the estate when he was a boy, and that his 100-year-old aunt also knew her. Through friends, she sent him an early draft of the book, and he was instantly smitten.
"I know the world this story takes place in incredibly well, I was maybe 5, 6 years old when I met Du Maurier and it's indelibly imprinted on my mind," Fox said. "It will be a very compelling story." For Picardie, the coincidence of selling a book option to a filmmaker who has intimate knowledge of her story is astonishing. "I couldn't have wished for a better fit, as an author." (Josh Getlin)

The coincidence is indeed amazing. Although the American market has to wait until August for Daphne, the novel is released in the UK next Monday March 3rd. Expect a review of it here on BrontëBlog soon!

And now for a case of a highly misunderstood, out-of-context quotation from Jane Eyre. This Day - a Nigerian newspaper - publishes this:

Any falling currency can be likened to an ugly woman, who in the words of Jane Eyre "is a blot on the fair face of creation." (Josef Omorotionmwan)

Does that sound like something the PLAIN, timid governess would say? Or does it sound like something Blanche Ingram - spoiled, proud, rich and pretty - would say instead? A quick glance at chapter XVII answers the question:

Miss Ingram, who had now seated herself with proud grace at the piano, spreading out her snowy robes in queenly amplitude, commenced a brilliant prelude; talking meantime. She appeared to be on her high horse to-night; both her words and her air seemed intended to excite not only the admiration, but the amazement of her auditors: she was evidently bent on striking them as something very dashing and daring indeed.
"Oh, I am so sick of the young men of the present day!" exclaimed she, rattling away at the instrument. "Poor, puny things, not fit to stir a step beyond papa's park gates: nor to go even so far without mama's permission and guardianship! Creatures so absorbed in care about their pretty faces, and their white hands, and their small feet; as if a man had anything to do with beauty! As if loveliness were not the special prerogative of woman -- her legitimate appanage and heritage! I grant an ugly woman is a blot on the fair face of creation; but as to the gentlemen, let them be solicitous to possess only strength and valour: let their motto be: -- Hunt, shoot, and fight: the rest is not worth a fillip. Such should be my device, were I a man." [Our bold]

So, dear journalists, do not boast of your literary knowledge when it's simply not there. You will make your point better if you stick to what you know. Thanks.

A couple of blogs. Random Jottings of a Book and Opera Lover posts a very touching letter Charlotte Brontë wrote to her friend Ellen Nussey shortly after Emily's death. And on an altogether different subject, The Beauty and Lace Shopping Guide reviews The Virago Book of the Joy of Shopping - previously mentioned on BrontëBlog - which includes a reference to Jane Eyre.

As people began to shop more, novelists imagined them doing it. Jane Eyre cringes at Mr Rochester’s pre-wedding excess, while Undine Spragg’s spending drives her husband to despair.

Categories: Books, In the News, Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV