North Lees Hall, the cottage

The Shields Gazette writes further on the topic of the north of England being the best backdrop in English literature and the upcoming ITV show Melvyn Bragg's Travels in Written Britain.

NORTHERN England has been named as the best backdrop in English literature - bolstered by the fame of Catherine Cookson Country.
The survey, for Melvyn Bragg's Travels in Written Britain Series, found it was the most popular setting for home-grown literature.
Catherine Cookson was named Britain's fifth favourite author, and the South Tyneside settings for her books were the most cited for the north of England in the survey.
Voters named Catherine Cookson's novels as some of the most memorable books set in the north of England. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, and Jane Eyre by her sister Charlotte, were also mentioned.
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier was the book on most people's lips set in the south, the second-favourite setting in British literature.
Others in the south included Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Oliver Twist and Pride and Prejudice. [...]
The survey of around 2,500 people was carried out to mark Melvyn Bragg's Travels in Written Britain which starts on April 6.

It is very often we write about the wonderful literary landscape of the North here at BrontëBlog, but recently the novel Daphne by Justine Picardie has prominently brought to our attention the wonders of the 'du Maurier country' down south, as the previous article says as well. Dovegrey Reader has posted a truly enlightening review on Daphne, remarking also the wide scope of the book. In the comments of that post - and in Justine Picardie's own blog - you might get to chat about the book with the author herself. Quite a treat, if you ask us.

And here's one more literary landscape. The Times writes about Britain's 20 best holiday cottages:

NOVEL ENCOUNTERS
North Lees Hall is a tiny 16th-century tower house that punches well above its weight in terms of romance, with a fabulous spiral staircase, 6ft-wide stone fireplaces, four-poster beds hung with Elizabethan drapes, mullioned windows and views onto the Peak District’s Stanage Edge and its spectacularly wind-whipped walking country. Pretty Hathersage is within hiking distance, Chatsworth just a short drive away.
Wow factor: it’s thought to have been the model for Thornfield Hall, Mr Rochester’s home in Jane Eyre – but, thankfully, comes minus the madwoman in the attic.
Details: 0845 090 0194, http://www.vivat.org.uk/; one apartment sleeps 2, the other 4; from £125pp for a week. (Susan d'Arcy)

Asked about this, we wouldn't have precisely described North Lees Hall as a cottage, but whatever the category the place sounds like a unique retreat for Jane Eyre fans, even though Norton Conyers (another cottage?) has also been said to have been the model for Thornfield Hall.

The New Zealand Herald has an article on Linda Grant's novel Still Here.

Grant even wrote a piece for UK Vogue a few years back about clothes in literature. "Chaucer is highly descriptive of everything the Canterbury pilgrims are wearing," she says. "The first page of George Eliot's Middlemarch is about what Dorothea Brooke is wearing. There are descriptions in Jane Eyre about going shopping for fabrics." (Nicky Pellegrino)

Statesman writes about how 'Christian leaders from around the world are gathering Tuesday at a Southwest Austin church to begin a three-day conversation that they hope will transform the church.' This is interesting:

The church, he [Larry Linenschmidt, executive director for the Hill Country Institute of Contemporary Christianity] said, should be nurturing the next Bachs, Rembrandts and Brontës, not discouraging them. (Eileen E. Flynn)

Not that the patronage of the church is as essential as it used to be, though.

North by northwestern talks about Los Campesinos (you know, the ones who sing the lyrics 'don't read Jane Eyre').

And finally Sarah's Blog has a brief comparison of Jane Eyre the novel vs Jane Eyre 2006.

Categories: Books, Brontëana, Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV, Music