Dressed as the Brontë sisters

Yesterday was Yorkshire Day (check previous post). The Halifax Evening Courier covers some local related events... including this one:

There was also a quiz to test people's knowledge of their region and staff dressed as the Bronte sisters.
Tony Murray, sales development manager, said: "We are a Yorkshire store born and bred and this is our way of giving something back to the community.
"It's fun for staff and great entertainment for our customers."

Picture: Kate Bancroft (left) and Tracey Wilson, dressed as Charlotte and Emily Bronte, hand out Yorkshire Mixtures at Harvey’s. Source.

Justine Picardie's Daphne is crossing the pond: it will be published next week in the U.S. The Wall Street Journal talks about the book and Daphne du Maurier:

In Ms. Picardie's "Daphne," a novel based on real events, Ms. du Maurier is 50 years old and beginning a long period of turmoil in her domestic life. She has just learned that her husband is having an affair (as her husband did); divorce in that era and class was out of the question. Trying to write her way out of despair, she embarked on a biography of Branwell Bronte, brother of Jane and Emily, who was a gifted writer but died at the age of 31 after years of alcoholism.
A second narrative strand in "Daphne" is that of a modern-day graduate student who wants to write part of her Ph.D. thesis on Ms. du Maurier. When she approaches her tutor with the idea, he dismisses it summarily. " 'Rebecca,' he says, "is simply a shallow, melodramatic rehash of 'Jane Eyre,' and therefore less deserving of celebration than of accusations of plagiarism. (Cynthia Crossen)

The Otago Daily Times (New Zealand) announces the performances of Polly Teale's Jane Eyre in the upcoming Otago Festival of the Arts (October):

The New Zealand premiere of Jane Eyre will also open at the Fortune Theatre during the festival. (Nigel Benson)

Premiere it is not, since last month a production of the piece opened in Wellington, New Zealand.

The Washington Post reviews The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows and its Brontë connections are mentioned:

Yes, the premise is contrived: The authors don't even bother to suggest how Juliet's discarded book turned up in Guernsey, and the neat way its literary society fits into her Times assignment is highly convenient. Most readers won't mind because her request for more information unleashes a flood of correspondence from a delightful gallery of eccentrics: valet John Booker, whose discovery of Seneca "kept me from the direful life of a drunk"; Isola Pribby, who immerses herself in the Brontës when she isn't whipping up elixirs "to restore manly ardor"; fisherman Eben Ramsey, who loves Shakespeare; farmer Clovis Fossey, who dotes on the poetry of Wilfred Owen but detests Yeats ("What does he know about verse?"). (Wendy Smith)

The Scotsman interviews Emma Tennant, author of a couple of Brontë sequels: Heathcliff's Tale and The French Dancer's Bastard aka Adèle: Jane Eyre's Hidden Story. Unfortunately she doesn't mention them.

On the blogosphere today: Tus Lecturas (in Spanish) and The Bennett Loft briefly discuss Wuthering Heights and ProPhotogs interviews photographer Shelby Lane:

Favorite Book? Hmmmm… I read a lot. I guess my all time favorite is Jane Eyre, but the last Harry Potter book is not too far behind on my list.

Categories: Books, Brontëites, In the News, Jane Eyre, References, Sequels, Theatre, Wuthering Heights