Could Barbara Cartland become Emily Brontë?

The Guardian talks to film director François Ozon, who puzzles us with this statement of his while talking about his latest film, Angel, based on the novel of the same name by Elizabeth Taylor:

One of the fascinating things about Angel Deverell is that, like the crime novelist in Swimming Pool, she actually isn't much cop as a writer. "No, she is not good," admits Ozon. "But it is easier to show someone who is not a genius, a bad painter rather than a Picasso. For me, it's not important that Angel is a poor writer. What's important is her energy, her will, her strength. I think Angel has a gift but her problem is she becomes popular when she is too young. It happens all the time. Barbara Cartland was a success with this shit that she writes, and she never changed. Maybe if she'd been a big flop she would have become Emily Brontë." He laughs at the idea. "Maybe not." (Ryan Gilbey)

The Times Literary Supplement reviews Shadows of the Workhouse by Jennifer Worth:

In the voice of the social historian, Worth explains and tries to be fair to the workhouse system. It was “the first attempt at social welfare in this country”, but the poor feared it – with good reason. Entering the workhouse was akin to imprisonment: married couples and siblings were separated, food was inadequate, casual brutality the norm. And yet orphans who would have died of starvation on the streets were housed and educated in some measure. Frank not only survived but developed a successful business and was able to rescue and give a home to the fifteen-year-old sister torn from him as a three-year-old. The outcome (which should not be revealed) is either a fairy tale with a happy ending or an exposé of moral depravity. With the freedom of a novelist Worth tells us how people felt, what they intended and what they said. There are echoes of Jane Eyre, and the sentimental descriptions of Peggy and Frank are designed to lull us into condescension and then shocked compassion. The revelation is thrilling; all the more so when you unravel the parts and take stock of the elements that have been combined. (Norma Clarke)

And The Christian Science Monitor reviews What Happened to Anna K by Irina Reyn:

Anna K., a romantic who read "Wuthering Heights" 14 times growing up, has always longed to be the main character of a novel – preferably a big 19th-century one by a literary giant. "She would imagine it was she who was the heroine, willing powerful lovers to prostrate themselves before her, allowing them to sob their love to her in the middle of a rainstorm, at balls, inside carriages." (Reyn has a great deal of fun with such jokes – on Page 5, for example, she announces that "ever since she was a little girl, Anna had loved trains.") (Yvonne Zip)

The Almanac, from the South Hills of Pittsburgh, reports a curiously-named development:

The preliminary plan for the 54-home Wuthering Heights development was approved Aug. 14 by Peters Township Planning Commission. But the plan was contingent on modifications to township ordinances which had to be granted by council.
The modifications had to do with a road - Bronte Court - which was designed to connect with Clubview Drive at the "S" curve on that road. (Carla Valentine Myers)

For their own sake, we hope the 54 families that move into those homes won't be competing to see who ressembles Heathcliff the most :P

If you are a Virgo and like both Emily Brontë and reading your horoscope today you will enjoy reading The Village Voice horoscope:

VIRGO [August 23–September 22] "I have dreamed in my life dreams that have stayed with me ever after, and changed my ideas," wrote Emily Brontë in Wuthering Heights. "They have gone through and through me, like wine through water, and altered the color of my mind." One of your main assignments in the coming week, Virgo, is to identify a dream that can work that kind of magic on you. If there is no such dream currently seeded in your imagination, find a new one to plant there. (Rob Brezsny)

As for blogs, Jane Austen Today posts an interesting review of Jane Eyre's Daughter

Jane Eyre’s Daughter is a pleasant read , a friendly coze in the mid-to-late- Nineteenth Century. It will not give the avid Jane Eyre fan much in the way of seeing Jane in later life, but young Janet becomes a strong and interesting heroine in her own right.

Halsey's Hip Hype reviews Jane Eyre and the Livejournal community Picspammy has a good many screencaps from Wuthering Heights 1939.

Categories: Books, Emily Brontë, References, Weirdo, Wuthering Heights