Setts, clampers, vampires and a new Ruben Toledo cover

Let's begin with some Haworth-related news. Keighley News discusses the cost of restoring all the setts in Main Street:

Repairing or restoring all the damaged setts in and around Haworth’s historic Main Street would cost about £1 million.
The figure was announced by Haworth, Cross Roads and Stanbury Parish Council chairman John Huxley, who is part of a working group set up to investigate how to carry out the work.
Cllr Huxley said a report on the issue has suggested different methods of preserving the setts, including imposing a 7.5 tonne vehicle weight restriction.
Cllr Peter Hill said there has already been one concrete, positive outcome of the increased attention on the state of Main Street.
He said in future, any contractors digging up the road would be obliged to employ a sett specialist to ensure the stones were properly replaced.
Cllr Huxley said Bradford Council was now considering what effect a figure of £1 million would have on its budget.
He said a complete restoration would take years to finish.
The parish council declined an invitation from British Telecom to “adopt” the traditional red phone booth in Sun Street, Haworth, for £1.
Councillors were informed that BT was planning to remove the phone but leave the booth in place.
Parish clerk Glyn Broomhead said he understood that in the last 12 months only 105 calls had been made from the phone box.
Cllr Barry Thorne warned the cost of maintaining the structure would be “enormous”, adding that even replacing broken window panels would be extremely expensive.
Cllr Huxley said the council should respond “thanks but no thanks” to the invitation.
Haworth is to be twinned with its namesake, in New Jersey, USA.
Cllr Peter Hill, who has recently visited Brontë Country’s American counterpart, said he would be putting together a “twinning statement of goodwill” to formalise the partnership.
He said there was scope for Haworth New Jersey’s school, along with its volunteer fire brigade and ambulance services, to link up with similar organisations here.
He emphasised the initiative would not cost the parish council any money. (Miran Rahman)

The Guardian brings up again those (in)famous Haworth clampers in its letters section:

On a recent visit to the beautiful Bronte town of Haworth, I had the misfortune to park in the Changegate Road car park operated by Car Stoppers Limited. I paid £1.60 and returned to my car in plenty of time to find it had been clamped. The clamper was still there and I proved that I had paid the fee. He insisted the ticket had been turned round and the expiry time "was not clearly visible". I paid £75 to have the clamp removed but he told me to take the matter up with his boss. I appealed but heard nothing. I am a pensioner on a fixed income. JG, Oldham

Another case of a seemingly out-of-control clamper operating on private land. The operation is run by local resident Gareth Evans whose activities in Haworth have been highly controversial. His company once clamped the ex-speaker of the Commons, Baroness Boothroyd, who told me that Car Stoppers was out of order in the way she and her friend were treated. It was winner of the RAC Dick Turpin Award for the nation's worst clamper in 2003, but that dubious accolade seems to have had little impact. Motorists can be tied up in small print in the firm's terms and conditions – the fact you can prove you paid seems to be of little concern. Capital Letters has tried to contact Mr Evans with no success. I would have pointed out what strikes me as apparent breaches of the Companies Act in the paperwork. Take action in the county court to challenge the practices of this business. The penalty notice states the ticket number you purchased, which proves it must have been visible. It will cost you £30 but, believe me, it will be worth it to make Mr Evans jump through a few hoops. (Steve Playle)

On October 29th The Museum at FIT in New York invited Ruben and wife Isabel Toledo to share their stories of fashion and art (including Ruben Toledo's recent covers for Penguin classics like Wuthering Heights). The Columbia Spectator talks about it and gives some interesting news:

Wuthering Heights, Pride & Prejudice, and The Scarlet Letter were the three books chosen to feature Toledo’s interpretations. The artist said that the books were just fascinating, citing Wuthering Heights as his favorite. (...)
[Elda] Lotor [editorial director for Penguin Classics] and Toledo surprised the crowd by revealing that three more classics will undergo a Toledo makeover: The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dracula, and Jane Eyre.

And now for some other class of vampires, the undead ones. The Independent makes and A to Z of vampires and uncovers a Jane Eyre quote:

J is for Jane Eyre
Jane Eyre suffers a terrible fright when a nocturnal visitor comes to her bedroom; the next day, she tries to explain to Mr Rochester that what she saw was no common English ghost: "This, sir, was purple: the lips were swelled and dark; the brow furrowed; the black eyebrows wide raised over the blood-shot eyes. Shall I tell you of what it reminded me?... Of that foul German spectre – the Vampyre." In fact, the suspected vamp is the first Mrs Rochester. Note that at this time – Jane Eyre was published in 1847, exactly 50 years before Dracula – it is Germany, not Transylvania, that is held to be the homeland of vampirism. Miss Brontë was probably thinking of the many German Romantic poets who wrote on the theme, including Goethe. (Kevin Jackson)

The Telegraph-Journal interviews Susan Vida Judah, textile artist and Brontëite:

q Your favourite hero of fiction?
a Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre. Jane, a talented, empathetic, hardworking, honest and passionate girl, with a strong sense of conscience, is skilled at studying, drawing and teaching - characteristics anyone would like to emulate.

Another Brontëite is Anna Keesey according to The Linfield Review:

Keesey also said she appreciates the works of 19th-century women writers such as Charlotte Brontë, author of “Jane Eyre.”

The Mirror's Weakest Link Test includes a very, very easy Brontë-related question:

11. In literature, who does the character of Jane Eyre marry in Charlotte Bronte's novel of the same name: Mr Rochester or Mr Winchester?

Hollywood Today interviews Syrie James, author of The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Brontë:

I was astonished to discover that much of Jane Eyre was inspired by Charlotte’s own experiences,” says The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Brontë author Syrie James. “Despite her difficult circumstances at home, including the fact that her brother became an alcoholic and a drug addict and her father nearly went blind, she and her sisters Anne and Emily [who wrote Wuthering Heights] all became published authors at the same time. I can’t think of any other family in history who’ve achieved a similar literary feat. I knew it would make a fabulous story, and it had never been told.”
The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Brontë tells the story of Charlotte Brontë from her point of view. In her diaries, she’s very honest about who she is. Brontë has traveled a bit and fallen in love, but that love was not to be. Brontë is secretive, as all the Brontë sisters are about their writing. When they admit what they’re doing, they’re there for each other. The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Brontë was selected by the National Women’s Book Association as a Great Group Read of 2009.
“While in Yorkshire, touring the former Roe Head School which Charlotte attended in her youth, the Director of the school took my husband and me up into the spooky, rambling attic and told us old legends of the Ghost of Roe Head,” says James. “He and others have seen strange apparitions, including an inexplicable, icy presence which haunted the main hall. I feel certain that legends of the same mysterious, attic-dwelling ghost influenced Charlotte’s Jane Eyre.”
“Her father’s curate, the tall, dark, and handsome Arthur Bell Nicholls, carried a silent torch for Charlotte for more than seven years before he had the nerve to propose,” says James. “Charlotte greatly disliked him for many years, but her feelings eventually changed. She came to love him with all her heart.”
For her research, James poured over countless Brontë biographies. She read all the poetry of the Brontës, their published novels, Charlotte’s juvenilia, and her voluminous personal correspondence. More than 500 letters exist, preserved by Charlotte’s publisher’s literary adviser William Smith Williams and her friend Ellen Nussey. James studied the art of the Brontës which she found “quite remarkable”. She also read everything she could find about the life of Arthur Bell Nicholls.”
“I went to Haworth, England,” says James. “I walked the village’s steep, narrow main street, and made an extended visit to the Brontë Parsonage Museum, which has been preserved to reflect the way it looked when the Brontës lived there. I haunted the church and the rooms and lanes where Charlotte and Emily and Anne lived and walked, and strolled through that gloomy graveyard in the pouring rain. I visited the Brontë library, where I was allowed to hold and read a selection of original letters and manuscripts penned by Charlotte and other members of the Brontë family.
 What an unforgettable thrill!” (...)
“It seemed to make sense to write my next novel from the perspective of another 19th century British writer,” says James. “This time focusing on the life and romance of Charlotte Brontë, the famed authoress of one of my all-time favorite books, Jane Eyre. I wanted to know and understand the woman who wrote this remarkable novel, which is still so popular today. As I did my research, I was quickly captivated by the true story of Charlotte’s real-life romance.”
Even thought James’ book is called a dairy, it’s not written in diary format. There are occasional references where Charlotte addresses her diary. The book is more conversational, as though Charlotte is telling you a story. James researched her subject thoroughly. Charlotte, her friends, and family come off as plausible. James adds details that are available. The drama isn’t over done. James’ characters are real people. As you read you can understand their feelings and why they do the things they do.
James makes Charlotte’s relationship and subsequent marriage to Arthur Bell Nicholls romantic, as Charlotte might have written herself. After reading this book you’ll want to go back and read the Brontë’s books. At the back of The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Brontë there are is an afterward, question-and-answer section for the author, and excerpts from some of Charlotte’s letters, as well as some poems by the Bronte siblings. (Gabrielle Pantera)

The Jane Eyre references of the film An Education are mentioned in the Washington Post's review:

After a few more impromptu encounters, Jenny and David begin to date, and suddenly Jenny's world of Latin declensions and "Jane Eyre" is carbonated with a heady cocktail of concerts, nightclubs and the slow, deliciously slippery slope of sexual seduction. (Ann Hornaday)

Some performances of a theatrical adaptation of Henry James's The Turn of the Screw at the Campbell House Museum seem to invite The National Post to make a Jane Eyre reference:

The governess, herself the child of a stark and oppressive home with romantic notions derived from reading Jane Eyre, does passionate, even hysterical, battle for the children's bodies and their souls. (Robert Cushman)

Los Angeles Times finds unlikely Jane Eyre echoes in Barbados:

Then there are the Barbadians themselves, people who are the very definition of friendly locals. And the fact that 300 years of British rule have left the island with some interesting Anglo-Caribbean quirks, including stone churches straight out of "Jane Eyre" and cricket players with dreadlocks. (Janis Cooke Newman)

El Tiempo (Spain) recalls the Brontëite in Siri Hustvedt:

Desde niña quiso escribir. "Fue un deseo que comenzó cuando tenía 13 años y vino directamente de la lectura -dice Siri-. Siempre fui una lectora apasionada y alrededor de los 11 ó 12 años me sentí capaz de digerir libros 'adultos', sobre todo novelas. Leí vorazmente -a Dickens, las Brontë, Austen, Twain- y de la experiencia con esas grandes novelas incubé la fantasía de convertirme en escritora". (María Paulina Ortiz) (Google translation)

ABC (Spain) is really quite confused about the origins of the gothic trends:

Yo no sé ustedes, pero reconozco que fue ayer cuando me enteré que la mítica película «Cumbres borrascosas» (1939), basada en la obra de Emily Bronte, es el germen de la novela gótica. Tal cual. Quién nos iba a decir que ese estupendo dramón, llevado al cine por Willian Wyler y protagonizado por Laurence Olivier y Merle Oberon, iba a derivar en el desarrollo de un movimiento que se sigue por igual en todos los continentes y países. Desde Japón a España. Vivir para ver. (María Isabel Serrano) (Bing translation)

Indeed.

L'Occidentale (Italy) has an article about Britain through its literature:

I romanzi delle Brontë o di Jane Austin danno una visione positiva della campagna e negativa della città industrializzata, di cui Dickens offre squarci spaventosi. (Daniela Coli) (Google translation)

Коммерсантъ (Russia) talks about sequels and mentions Wide Sargasso Sea:

Это своеобразный приквел к знаменитому роману Шарлотты Бронте "Джейн Эйр", рассказанный от лица одного из самых неприятных персонажей — первой жены графа Рочестера. Роман Джин Рис стал, таким образом, феминистским и антирасистским ответом Шарлотте Бронте, которая осмелилась изобразить гордую креолку в виде жалкой и отталкивающей полубезумной злодейки.
Злободневность романа принесла ему популярность, вполне сопоставимую с популярностью "Джейн Эйр". Журнал Time включил его в свой список ста лучших англоязычных романов XX века, его экранизировали в Голливуде в 1993 году, по нему сняли сериал, и он стал основой либретто оперы. (Google translation) (Константин Пряничкин)

Mademoiselle V stays in London reviews Wuthering Heights 2009 in French, Liratouva2 (also in French) posts about Jane Eyre, Ladyloo Land retells a scene from Wuthering Heights with a particular Halloween feeling, Oyunun başı sonu… posts about Jane Eyre 2006 in Turkish, the RPP Blog has a reminder of this weekend's broadcast (see our sidebar) of Mi Novela Favorita: Jane Eyre (in Spanish) in Perú.

Categories: Audio-Radio, Books, Brontëites, Haworth, Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV, References, Wide Sargasso Sea, Wuthering Heights