She's volcanic

The Wall Street Journal reviews Governess: The Lives and Times of the Real Jane Eyres by Ruth Brandon, the slightly adapted American title of the Other People Daughter's:

Today we have nannies, but in the 19th century they had governesses. If the word calls to mind a person forlorn and severe, the reason may well be Charlotte Brontë's 1847 novel, "Jane Eyre." Most of us can conjure up a mental picture of governess Jane.
By design, she is outwardly unremarkable. Small, quiet, with pulled-back hair and a dress of subdued gray, she's a plain Jane indeed. Internally, though, she's volcanic. As a 10-year-old orphan foisted on malign relatives, Jane can be filled with rage and an eerie imagination. As a 20-year-old governess, she feels an idolatrous love for her master, Edward Rochester. We chart Jane's maturity by watching her channel her passions. Ultimately, she emerges triumphant over her awful cousins, her tall blonde rival, the mad wife who is revealed living in the attic, and even over the still loving but chastened Mr. Rochester. Jane ends up independently wealthy with the man she wants. How realistic can this portrait possibly be?
In "Governess," Ruth Brandon considers the case studies of six governesses -- "The Lives and Times of the Real Jane Eyres," as the subtitle has it. Taken together, their lives span a generous century from 1750 to 1860 and suggest that, between the fiction and the reality, there are many alarming points of similarity and a few quietly tragic differences.
Most of the melodrama in "Jane Eyre," it turns out, mimics upper- middle-class social dynamics of the era. A sudden reversal of fortune, such as the death of the male head of the family, could push a gently bred and moderately educated girl out of the lady-of-leisure class and into the mass of workers. (That's some ignominy, we working women might say.) But along with social demotion, the young woman would forfeit any chance of marriage. Even worse, she would be a silent but suffering witness to the life she had lost: She was neither mother nor wife, neither servant nor mistress -- although she took on some duties of all these. The governess might be scorned by the mother she was substituting for, insulted by the children who capitalized on her lack of authority and seduced -- or simply seized -- by the men of the family. (Alexandra Mullan)

Probaby not the best day to talk about Gordon Brown but we have found this article in The Times about Alison Jackson's works which once again contains a mention to his 'Brontë features':

It's as bad as trying to find a Gordon Brown. Despite castings in the UK and global searches she can't find anyone to play him, “which is annoying as you don't know how long he'll be PM. The problem is he has very old-fashioned looks, Heathcliff or Rochester, tight breeches, muddy lanes, high collars, lambchop face. I've just found an odd-job man in Bulgaria who might fit the bill actually.” (Tim Teeman)

The Brontë horses make it to the news yet again. This time through Charlotte Brontë which, according to The Irish Examiner:

Tobar Na Hinfe hinted at ability first time out at Limerick and stepped well up on that subsequently when beaten a head by the useful Charlotte Bronte at Naas. (Pat Keane)

As for the blogs: La tormenta en un vaso writes in Spanish about Mary Cholmondeley's Moth and Rust and finds something similar to Jane Eyre. Mes 3 soleils brings to our attention a biography on Emily Brontë in French by Jeanne Champion called La Hurlevent. Also in French, Madame Charlotte reviews La Recluse de Wildfell Hall, not very favourably, though. Sarah's Bookarama reviews Justine Picardie's Daphne.

Categories: Books, Jane Eyre, References, Weirdo