Multidimensional, passionate and temperamental

Publishers Weekly reviews the upcoming Becoming Jane Eyre by Sheila Kohler:

South African Kohler's well-written seventh novel takes the lives of the Brontës: Charlotte, Emily, Anne, Branwell and their father, and substitutes imagination for facts. The book opens in 1846 with Charlotte's father recovering from eye surgery in Manchester, England. The narrative follows the internal ragings and musings of Rev. Brontë, the Brontë sisters, the nurse briefly hired to help Charlotte and her father, their own nurse of many years and even the mother of George Smith, the eventual publisher of Jane Eyre. Charlotte's desire for a heroine with more courage than she herself has spills onto the page during the long, lonely hours of her father's convalescence, as she remembers her doomed love for her teacher in Brussels and other hurts and affronts throughout her life. Kohler (Crossways) gives us a more multidimensional, passionate and temperamental Charlotte than most biographies. Too much narration and switching of points of view slows the pace, but connecting the writer with her heroine is intriguing. This novel will likely send fans back to the originals and should inspire those who know “of” the novels to finally read them. (Jan.)

The National Post reviews R. Sikoryak's Masterpiece Comics:

In Sikoryak's peculiar world, Dagwood and Blondie take on the roles of Adam and Eve, Wuthering Heights becomes a ghoulish EC Comics story and Beavis and Butt-Head wait for Godot. (Mark Medley)

The Penguin Classics Radio Room has posted a podcast comparing Twilight and Wuthering Heights:

Vampires on Paper

The Enduring Appeal of Vampires in Literature

Elda Rotor of Penguin Classics interviews Twilight expert Donna Freitas about the appeal of Stephenie Meyer's blockbuster vampire series…

Elda Rotor of Penguin Classics interviews Twilight expert Donna Freitas about the appeal of Stephenie Meyer's blockbuster vampire series and how it compares to Emily Brontë's enduring classic Wuthering Heights. Elda then speaks with Dacre Stoker, a direct descendant of Bram Stoker, and Ian Holt, authors of Dracula: The Un-Dead, who talk about Bram Stoker's masterpiece, why Dracula wears evening clothes, and how vampires pick up chicks even when they smell like the grave.

The Chorley Citizen recommends a walk with Brontë references:

Go over the Packhorse Bridge and approach Wycoller Hall. Although now a ruin, the building is still inspirational. Without doubt this was the model for Charlotte Bronte’s book Jane Eyre, which features Ferndean Manor. This is the end of the three-mile-long Feardean Way and some walkers prefer to retrace their steps from here. My walk, however, was a different return route. (Ron Freethy)

TV Squad reviews the most recent Mad Men episode (S03E09: Wee Small Hours):

Then there was Betty. After a dream involving Henry fondling her on the fainting couch, she began writing him. Very Bronte of her, but Henry showing up unannounced was dangerous. (Allison Waldman)

Becky's Book Reviews posts about Denise Giardina's Emily's Ghost, Gothic Novel is reading Wuthering Heights and Cynical Optimism posts about Villette.

Categories: Brontëana, Fiction, References, Villette, Wuthering Heights