Wuthering landscape

Welcome a newly-discovered Brontëite to our ranks. The Guardian reports that author Kate Mosse, among others, will be choosing her favourite books for Waterstone's.

Their selections will then be displayed in stores across the country, complete with handwritten notes from the authors explaining their choices. Hornby's table will launch on 5 March, with Mosse's due in the summer. "To start with 40 sounds like plenty - you think 'great, I can put in all of my favourites'," said Mosse. "But then you start to think about it, and 40 seems so few for a lifetime of writing ... I'm at the stage where I have in mind 100, and then just three."
She has already decided she will definitely include Wuthering Heights, which she has read "at every decade" of her life and found something different in it. "As a writer in my 40s, I'm realising now how much it has influenced me. Of course there are amazing descriptions, and a passionate love story, but I now realise that the reason I keep going back to it is because of the landscape - that's the sort of writer I've become." (Alison Flood)

On the topic of lists, the Guardian also published its very own list of books a few days ago. 1,000 novels everyone must read divided in sections such as love, crime, comedy, family and self, state of the nation, science fiction and fantasy, war and travel. Some Brontës are found on it, although we don't exactly agree to their categories:

Love
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Vilette [sic] by Charlotte Bronte
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

State of the nation
Shirley by Charlotte Bronte

Unfortunately there's no Anne Brontë to be seen, although there are other Brontë-related books such as Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys (under Love), Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (under Love) or - remotely - Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons (under Comedy).

They say they are open to 'suggestions of crucial books that haven't made it onto our list', so a couple of comments have already taken them to task for omitting Anne Brontë:

I'm sure some would wonder why there's no Anne Bronte? (kafdos)
I second Anne Bronte. Whilst Shirley and Villette have their moments, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is superior to both of these books written by her more famous sister, in my opinion. (ben1283)

On a slightly similar topic, the Irish Herald comments on Gwyneth Patrow's liking for Jane Eyre.

The Belper News has found Holbrook's latest claim to fame: nine-year-old actress Stephanie Duffy, who plays the young Isabella in Wuthering Heights 2009.

Nine-year-old girl from Holbrook is set to star in a new ITV adaptation of Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights.
Stephanie Duffy, who attends the Ripley Academy of Dance and Drama, plays the part of Isabella.
She spent several days filming on location in North Yorkshire and Hawksworth.
Ripley Academy principal Diane Fleming said: "Stephanie loves to perform and this experience has given her the enthusiasm to develop her acting skills further.
"It is many children's dream to appear on television.
"Stephanie really enjoyed wearing authentic Victorian clothes and was filmed playing games with her on-screen brother and attending church with her on-screen nanny."

The Telegraph and Argus has an article on the forthcoming Brontë Trail organised by The Wayfarers.

Finally, T.'s Blog posts about Villette.

Categories: Anne Brontë, Brontëites, Haworth, Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV, Shirley, Villette, Wide Sargasso Sea, Wuthering Heights