"The Brontës were a complicated and fascinating family"

An article about religion and the Twilight saga in the Washington Post contains a couple of Brontë references:

Twilight, like this blog post, will never be considered great literature, but it might spur an interest in better books. At best, Edward and Bella, the main couple in the book, are signposts pointing to the great romantic couples of literature, such as Heathcliff and Cathy, Romeo and Juliet -- all referenced in the Twilight books. Though Meyer's signs are written in very large, blocky letters, perhaps some will be encouraged to read the better books. (...)
God exists in Meyer, but He does not seem much like Dante's God who moves the heavens and the stars by love. God shows up, but Jesus is no place to be found. I am not objecting to this on theological grounds, more on romantic ones. Christ doesn't destroy the romance of a better book like Jane Eyre, He makes it tolerable to the rest of us and gives it hope of enduring by providing a reasonable framework for passion. (John Mark Reynolds)

The Philadelphia Inquirer also links together Twilight and Wuthering Heights once again:

Romance is the pulsating heart of the Twilight books by Stephenie Meyer, with the tortured love of Isabella Swan for the vampire Edward Cullen. Meyer patterns her books on classic romances: Twilight on Pride and Prejudice, New Moon on Romeo and Juliet, Eclipse on Wuthering Heights, and 2008's Breaking Dawn on The Merchant of Venice and A Midsummer Night's Dream. (John Timpane)

The Brontës as a Gothic reference is used in The National Business Review (New Zealand) describing a house for sale:

I could see one of the Brontë sisters buying it, perhaps to lease to Andrew Wyeth. But I’m not sure they’re still with us. (Chris Keall)

Jill McCorkle begins her short story PS published in The Atlantic like this:

What I know now is that I should not have continued shelling out 200bucks a pop to you. On some days I felt you two were picking up a frequency like a dog whistle that I just wasn’t able to hear. Of course, you might just have a great gift for empathy, but then I’d have to ask where was this gift when Jerry was trying to have me committed to the attic like that woman in Jane Eyre who set everything on fire.

Feathered Quill Book Reviews interviews Syrie James (The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Brontë):

Did you need to change Charlotte's tone or the narrative to make the book appeal to a contemporary audience?
I made a concerted effort to stay true to Charlotte’s life story and to the voice in her novels and correspondence, and to represent the people in her life as accurately as possible. For much of her romance with Mr. Nicholls I was obliged to use my imagination, since we do not know exactly what transpired between them in the early years of their acquaintance—nor can we know exactly what occurred on their wedding night. I may have romanticized a few things about their relationship for today’s audience, but in the end, I wrote the story that I would love to read! (Read more)

Categories: Books, Fiction, References