A rags-to-riches tale

Sharon Tanenbaum recommends the recently published The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Brontë by Syrie James in RealSimple:

In the foreword to this historical novel, author Syrie James (The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen) asks you to imagine that the private diaries of Jane Eyre scribe Charlotte Brontë are at your fingertips. Using Brontë’s biographies and 24 years of her actual correspondence with close friend Ellen Nussey as a basis, James has created a faux-diary about the rags-to-riches tale and romance of the celebrated writer.

The Telegraph has an article about writers who succeeded after dying. One of them, Emily Brontë:

After all, one book is sometimes enough to earn literary immortality: consider To Kill a Mocking Bird, Wuthering Heights, Black Beauty. Furthermore, plenty of writers have enjoyed fame beyond the grave that they only dreamt of (or occasionally disdained) in their lifetimes. (Nicolette Jones)

More Sargasso references in the Salinger affaire. Now in the Times:

Even so, is Salinger being po-faced? Or does he have a fair claim for copyright infringement? 60 Years certainly isn’t the first novel to exploit another author’s characters. Jean Rhys’s Wide Sargasso Sea owed a debt to Jane Eyre. Flashman was spun out of Tom Brown’s Schooldays. There have been James Bond sequels, though they have been written under the stewardship of Fleming’s estate.

The Daily Post (New York counties) includes an article by a local student now in Oxford, England:

Europe has a unique siren's call for me.
I love everything about it. I fell head-over-heels for France with the help of my high school French teacher. And England? Well, this is a country that has produced some of my favorite things, such as Pink Floyd, Jane Eyre, and cute guys with British accents -- not to mention Hugh Grant and Hugh Laurie, the two English loves of my life.(Kristy Kibler)

Lots of reviews on the blogosphere: Cover to Cover briefly reviews Wide Sargasso Sea; Books, Time, Silence reviews Wuthering Heights; CineBooks does the same with The Professor in Romanian; The first draft of anything is shit... reviews Agnes Grey, Female Mysoginist has a post about Wuthering Heights (and Jane Eyre) with some bizarre arguments.

Finally, an alert for tomorrow June 4 from the Calderdale Council:

Saturday 4th July
Bronte Moors Charity Challenge Walk
7 mile short walk or 20 mile circular walk from Haworth via Top Withins,Walshaw and Gorple reservoirs and Hardcastle Crags in aid of the Stroke Association.

Entry form and information from Haworth & Worth Valley Rotary Club - Tel. 01535 604339 / 646232.

Categories: Alert, Books, Jane Eyre, References, Wide Sargasso Sea, Wuthering Heights