Breathtakingly beautiful

We have previously posted about Patti Smith's love for Charlotte Brontë, particularly Villette. In The Australian we read this manifesto of Brontëiteness:

She talked about all of the writers and books she has loved: Robert Louis Stevenson's children's stories and Carl Sandburg's poetry, Mikhail Bulgakov's novel The Master and Margarita and Charlotte Bronte's "breathtakingly beautiful" masterpiece Villette. (Stuart Rintoul)

Another known Brontëite, not so militant, is Ayaan Hirsi Ali:

She was supposed to go to Canada to marry a man chosen by her father, a man she'd met only twice. But she'd grown up on a steady diet of Western novels, of Wuthering Heights and Nancy Drew and even Harlequin romances, and Ayaan Hirsi Ali wanted something more than submission to a man she didn't love. (Sarah Fenske in The Phoenix New Times)

The Cleveland Scene reviews Saul Dibbs's The Duchess (2008):

We first meet Georgiana at 17, when she is selected as a bride by the older Duke of Devonshire (Ralph Fiennes), with the approval of her mother, Lady Spencer (wonderful Charlotte Rampling). The story is pure Jane Eyre gothic: Georgiana becomes a prisoner in her own home when she discovers, to her shock, that she has married the Duke of Churl. The Duke is cruelly distant, devoted only to his dogs and prone to marital rape in his single-minded pursuit of a male heir when Georgiana stubbornly produces only girls. Like Princess Di, she is beloved by the people but despised by her husband. (Pamela Zoslov)

Another film review with a Brontë mention, in Alexandre Aja's Mirrors:

In the end, this is the ‘Jane Eyre’ meets the Exorcist with mirrors. Aja strains to explain the relevance of his theme: “Everyone has a relationship with their reflection. It’s something we don’t really think about, but it’s there.’ Even if you swallow that one, if you’re estranged from your reflection, Mirrors is not the sort of movie that will have you running to renew the acquaintance. (Joyce Glasser in Mature Times)

We read on Publishers Marketplace about a new novel deal by Libby Sternberg, Sloane Hall. Check these old posts for more information about this novel:

A neophyte cameraman fired from his first job finds work as a chauffeur in the household of a silent film star, justifiably skittish about making her first sound picture. Hollywood's greats--directors, cinematographers, musicians, and actors--are all tumbling as the sound technician becomes king. Against this backdrop, chauffeur and star fall in love, but devastating secrets interfere with their happiness. Sunset Boulevard meets Jane Eyre in this tale set against one of Hollywood's most tumultuous times.

The Lexington Herald-Leader reviews the current performances of The Mystery of Irma Vep at the Balagula Theatre in Lexington, Kentucky:

It is also kind of like being inside a lucid dream — a surreal late-night mélange of old black-and-white horror films mixed with a host of wry and ironic nods to our collectively clichéd literary consciousness. The script is copiously peppered with influences including Shakespeare, Poe, Hitchcock, the Brontë sisters and modern soap operas. Part of the fun is the narrative guesswork the audience gets to do. Just when you think you've got a handle on the show being a ghost story — bam! — it is about vampires, or werewolves, or ancient Egypt, or murder mystery, or romance. (Candace Chaney)

A Reader's Respite interviews author Molly Dwyer:

What led you to write fiction as opposed to a biography of Mary Shelley?
Although it's true I've written nonfiction, I'm a fiction writer at heart. It's always been my dream to write novels, so in that sense, it would not have occurred to me to write a nonfiction work on Mary Shelley. I was influenced early on by the Bronte's. As a teenager I remember thinking it would be amazing to write a book like Wuthering Heights because I'd get to live inside of it and interact with the characters. I remember being asked in a writing class what novel I wished I had written, and without hesitation, answering Wuthering Heights.
When I came across Mary Shelley's story, it resonated with those early desires. The stormy summer when Frankenstein was conceived, and the drama of Mary, Shelley and Byron have much in common with the gothic nature and passion of Wuthering Heights. So, although I didn't notice any of that as I undertook the project, in retrospect, I think I was drawn to it because of my very early love of the Brontes. (...)
Is there any author who influenced your work?
Lots. I already talked about Emily Bronte, and I'd have to add Charlotte Bronte, Jane Austen and George Eliot as well.

This column in Carroll County News is quite depressing:

So who does read these days? Home schooled children read. If I sell a copy of Wuthering Heights or Dante's Inferno, I can bet dollars to dimes that the customer is being home schooled. (Daniel Krotz)

5 Minutes for Books posts about different Jane Eyre film and TV adaptations, Petite Morte posts about her love for the Brontës (in Spanish). The Adam Smith Academy announces the following:

In our quest to continuing to give teachers and parents better resources for students, we are adding to our online AudioText novels.
The latest novel that we are in the process of adding is Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre." Students can read the eText, listen to the audio narration and click on any word to get its definition. Additionally, students can watch the mini-series movie, "Jane Eyre," to reinforce comprehension of the book. (The first mini-series segment can be found at the end of Chapter 2.)

Categories: Audio-Radio, Books, Brontëites, Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV, Villette, Wuthering Heights