Doubtful viability

Bookreporter reviews mostly positively Sheila Kohler's Becoming Jane Eyre:

Using a famous name in a title is tricky. On the one hand, you draw readers in automatically: the weight of the known quantity kicks in and distinguishes your book from the rest. On the other, you are inviting comparison with a singularly gifted and enduring author whose accomplishment you cannot hope to equal. I always feel, too, that it’s not quite fair; you are piggy-backing on somebody else’s wholly created world and characters rather than going to the trouble of making your own.
BECOMING JANE EYRE, fortunately, isn’t one of those postmodern pastiches that mingles Jane Austen with zombies and sea monsters. The title might be gimmicky, but the book itself is modest and well-crafted --- a research-based fictional account of how the motherless Brontë sisters and their troubled brother, Branwell, lived and worked in Haworth, their father’s Yorkshire parsonage. Reading it, I felt certain that Sheila Kohler, a South Africa-born novelist, is as passionate as I am about JANE EYRE. She sets out to find the person behind the heroine, and the journey hasn’t been wasted. (...)
I think Kohler sometimes draws too obvious a parallel between Charlotte’s life and certain aspects of JANE EYRE --- even unto how she thinks up her characters’ names. There are too many “Aha!” moments for complete believability. And because so much of the drama in the Brontës’ life is inward, there may be an excess of musing (and not enough actual conversation). It takes a while for the book to come alive. (Read more) (Kathy Weissman)

And the Daily Beast talks with the author:

Sheila Kohler’s Becoming Jane Eyre is tuned into the End-of-the-Aughts zeitgeist. Remakes of film versions of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights are in the pipeline, as is another film based on the four Bronte siblings—prodigious Gothic/Romantic authors Charlotte, Emily (Wuthering Heights) and Anne (Agnes Grey), and dissolute brother Branwell. Why this renewed interest in Brontes? Does it tie into the current rage for vampires—for the doomed romantic love that can only be achieved beyond death? (...)
On the night we dine together Kohler is a week away from the publication of her seventh novel, Becoming Jane Eyre, in which she "inhabits" the character of Charlotte Bronte as she struggles to birth the immortal Jane E, the orphan governess to Mr. Rochester, he of the mad wife in the attic. Early reviews had called the book “exquisite,” and “a beautiful complement to Bronte’s masterpiece.”
“I do think that some of this interest in the Brontës follows on the success of all the Jane Austen films and books inspired by her life and work,” Kohler says. “The connection with the vampire series (though I have neither read or seen the films) comes, perhaps, from our guilt at our sexual desires, our need to camouflage our desire for the other sex, causing them to become the ones who prey on us, the ones who drag us reluctantly to their beds; the ones who humiliate us and remain ultimately out of reach, adulterous or drugged and drunken, or simply resisting the urge to drink our blood.”
Kohler developed a passion for the tragic Brontës while growing up in Johannesburg. “When I was seven years old my father died. Shortly afterwards an aunt (my mother was one of three girls and a boy like the Brontë family) read me and my sister and a cousin the first chapters of Jane Eyre. The scene in the red room where Jane is shut up and has a sort of fit, thinking she has seen her uncle's ghost, made a tremendous impression on me. Later I read the whole book, of course. In fact I've read it again and again all through my life, and read it differently. I read Villette, too, as a teenager and was taken with the feverish atmosphere, the description of loneliness and loss as the heroine walks through the streets of Brussels.” (...)
“I felt I had mined my own life again and again, and particularly my sister's tragic death,” she says. “I wanted to reach outside of myself and I did so with great pleasure—although, of course, one always selects and reimagines events through the prism of one's own life and probably my sister's death was one of the reasons I was drawn to Charlotte Brontë's story, with the tragic deaths of her two beloved sisters.”
Kohler’s fascination with the abuse of power remains. “All through the book, Charlotte attempts to maintain her independence, financial and moral,” she says, “and her integrity in the face of great odds; with her dominating father, of course, at Cowan Bridge where the girls were so miserably treated; with her employers, the Hegers in Brussels where she fell in love, as well as in the families where she was a governess and so put upon and humiliated; and even in her relationship with her sisters, where there is a struggle for power, as there is so often in a family, a balance which shifts as events change as they do so frequently in life; and finally there is the struggle with her publisher George Smith and her husband Arthur Bell Nichols whom she decides to marry against her father's desires.” (Jane Ciabattan)

Herman Van Rompuy, the brand-new President of the European Council is a Brontëite. He was told to select several books to present as gifts to any person of his choice and among others he chose Wuthering Heights to give to his brother Eric (He knows why...). On the Belgian radio program Friedl' (Radio 1):

Herman Van Rompuy wil graag het boek 'Woeste Hoogten' van Emily Brontë schenken aan zijn broer Eric. Ook dit boek leerde hij kennen dank zij zijn moeder. Op de radio wou Herman Van Rompuy niet vertellen wat hij er als opdracht zou inschrijven. Hier lees je het:

'Voor Eric,

Hij weet waarom.' (Google translation)

The wonders of Haworth and Brontë country are highlighted in the Daily Mail:

Of course, the wild, romantic moors are the reason most visitors come to the area, to go walking - possibly in search of Top Withens, the mythical site of Wuthering Heights - and immerse themselves in the incredible story of the three Bronte sisters.
Rambling around the barren land, anyone who has sighted a BBC period drama in recent times will feel the urge to scream 'Heathcliff' or 'Cathy' at the top of their voices.
top withens, wuthering heights
Top-notch rambling: Dilapidated farm buildings at Top Withens, the mythical site of Wuthering Heights, aren't much to look at but are great fun getting to
Haworth Parsonage, on the very edge of town, was home to the literary sisters from 1820 to 1861 and the scene of great tragedy.
Patrick Bronte lost his wife a year after moving to the town and then all six of his children, first his youngest daughters Maria and Elizabeth, then his only son Branwell, followed by Emily (Wuthering Heights), Anne (Agnes Grey) and Charlotte (Jane Eyre). Charlotte and Emily are buried in the crypt in the church next door.
Charlotte’s physician, Amos Ingham, lived in a house that has now been converted into a hotel, Ashmount Country House, which is a short wander from Haworth’s steep, cobbled main street.
Ray and Gill Capeling run a very homely establishment with traditionally furnished rooms, an honesty bar in the front room and a Yorkshire breakfast that will put extra miles in a rambler’s boots.
An apothecary and a sweet shop at the top of the hill by the tourist information office are well worth a nose around and The Black Bull serves a fine pint but the main aim has to be to get out on the moors.
The walk to Charlotte’s Waterfall is not too strenuous and gives a glimpse to the more invigorating routes on offer.
And there’s nowhere finer in town to reflect on your day’s yomping than the Weaver’s, which is a friendly bar/restaurant serving much locally sourced fare.
A gentler form of sightseeing for weary limbs can be found in the Keighley & Worth Valley Steam Railway, which has six stops, one of which is Haworth, and another Oakworth, where the Railway Children was filmed.
With a pint of hand-pull bitter on offer in the buffet car for less than £2, it’s difficult to imagine a more pleasurable way to see the local landscape.
Running it close however was the drive south out of Haworth and across the moors on the way home - the most spectacular view yet of an unsung part of the world which has earned my respect. (Danny Wheeler)

South Coast Today considers that Everything Brontë is cool again. Why? Because of Bella and Edward, of course:

Thanks to "Twilight," teen girls are buying "Wuthering Heights."
It seems the gothic romance by Emily Bronte is red-hot among teens because, well, Bella Swan reads it.
For the uninitiated, Bella Swan is the protagonist in Stephenie Meyer's steamy teen romance/sci-fi series, "Twilight." She's the 17-year-old girl who lusts after the forbidden, but gorgeous, vampire named Edward Cullen. (...)She's not only made a vampire the object of young female desire, but if she says Bella likes "Wuthering Heights," well, every teen girl on the planet wants to like it.
Sales of "Wuthering Heights" shot up in France when it was marketed alongside "Twilight" books in shops, according to the British newspaper, The Guardian. In the United Kingdom, Harper Collins republished the gothic classic with a cover imitating the "Twilight" jacket; it bears the endorsement: "Bella & Edward's Favorite Book."
This has spurred some clever book-jacket parodies on the Web, including a cover of Bram Stoker's "Dracula," announcing, "Inspired by Twilight!" and — my favorite — a copy of Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter," advertising "The Same Color as Blood!"
New film versions of "Wuthering Heights" and "Jane Eyre" will shoot next spring, and a script about the teenage fantasies of the Bronte siblings is in the works. (Lauren Daley)

About this projected Wuthering Heights, the London Evening News talks with Gemma Arterton, Catherine in the Ecosse project.

Gemma is also rumoured to be starring as Cathy in a remake of Wuthering Heights (replacing Natalie Portman), although she seems rather doubtful about the project's viability. 'I just think it's such a rich book, it's hard to make it into a film,' she says. (Lydia Slater)

The Guardian reviews Diamond Star Halo by Tiffany Murray which contains several Wuthering Heights references:

And how can Halo prevent herself for slipping into a fatal attraction for this fascinating interloper who lands in the bosom of her family, "part seal-pup, part bloody Heathcliff"?
The reference to Emily Brontë's hero is telling, as Murray's principal method is to filter Halo's growing perception through the literary works that can be found on the average teenage bookshelf. Her Cathy complex is underscored by the fact that she eventually finds a less intense though far less-complicated love with a gentle, Edgar Linton-like Irish musician called Brendan. (Alfred Hickling)

Another review, now of The Soldier's Song by Alan Monaghan published in The Irish Times:

As the novel opens in the summer of 1914, Ryan is on his way to the lavish party of a wealthy friend – a memorable scene that Monaghan evocatively describes – where the social divisions between him and his fellow students are starkly exposed, and his status as an outsider firmly established. Familiar as this narrative device has become (it turns up in everything from Jane Eyre to Pretty in Pink ), it provides Monaghan with a springboard from which to explore his protagonist’s character and choices – why he would volunteer to join the king’s army, for one – but it also underscores the political and class contradictions that will arise later in the book and opens the way to questions of loyalty and identity. (Catherine Heaney)

The Lancashire Evening Post talks about the recent 16th Auld Lang Syne fell race which takes place around Brontë country:

However, with the route using the bridleways near the Bronte waterfall and Top Withens being sheets of ice and completely un-runnable, the old and original route – which was changed after the 2003 race – was used instead.
The old route then used the bridletracks which were mostly snow on ice from Penistone Country Park, above Haworth, leading up to the moors.

Mariana Enriquez devotes an extraordinary article to vindicate Anne Brontë (and her novels) in Página 12 (Argentina). If you are fluent in Spanish don't miss it. It's worthwhile:

En vida fue la más exitosa de las tres hermanas Brontë, pero la historia de la literatura la dejó injustamente en un lugar secundario. Como si Anne Brontë hubiera sido no sólo la menos talentosa sino la más dócil, como si no hubiera sido igual de genial que Emily y Charlotte, pero de manera completamente diferente. (Read more) (Google translation)

In Ñ (cultural magazine of the Argentinian newspaper Clarín), Patricia Suárez writes a story-hommage to Truman Capote where we found a Brontë reference in the description of the books owned by the protagonist (the author's maid):

Sobre el chiffonier que hace las veces de mesa de luz, dos pilas de libros: El amor libre. Eros y Anarquía. Artes del Buen Vivir. Las Brönte (sic) y su mundo. El banquero anarquista. Teatro de Humor V. (Google translation)

Maybe this one?

Remakes, sequels, prequels is the subject of this article in La Razón (Spain). Wide Sargasso Sea is included of course:

Por su parte, Jean Rhys, en «El ancho mar de los sargazos», que acaba de reeditar Lumen, modernizó a principios del siglo XX el famoso «Jane Eyre» de Charlotte Brontë. Rhys dio voz al personaje de la mujer encerrada en la azotea, que en el clásico de Brontë no tenía voz propia. (Carlos Sala) (Google translation)

El Sur (Spain) reviews the theatre play The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie now at the Teatro Alameda (Málaga):

La nueva versión «bebe mucho del cine», con influencias de las adaptaciones cinematográficas de Agatha Christie, de obras como 'Rebeca' de Alfred Hitchcok o 'Cumbres Borrascosas' de William Wyler. (Regina Sotorrío) (Google translation)

Author Daniel Heredia recommends Wuthering Heights in La Voz de Cádiz (Spain):

'Cumbres borrascosas'. «Los niños ya no leen los clásicos juveniles decimonónicos que fueron nuestros preferidos. Habría que conocer muy bien al niño. Y, sobre todo, haberle leído muchas cosas en voz alta, y estudiar sus reacciones. Hay adolescentes que leen libros muy elementales y otros que leen literatura sin más. Hay que aprovechar las incitaciones a las que ellos conceden crédito: por ejemplo, sé de muchos adolescentes que han leído ‘Cumbres borrascosas’, porque es el preferido de alguno de los protagonistas de ‘Crepúsculo’». (Daniel Pérez) (Google translation)

Le Monde (France) publishes an article about the film director Jane Campion:

Trouvant le jeu des adeptes des planches "trop artificiel", elle a rejeté l'héritage théâtral, mais a adopté le goût d'une littérature anglo-saxonne romantique, impulsive. Avec une prédilection pour les plumes féminines insurgées : Emily Brontë, Emily Dickinson, Flannery O'Connor, Virginia Woolf. (Jean-Luc Douin) (Google translation)

The Times of India has an article about movie adaptations of famous novels and Wuthering Heights is mentioned. The Lawrence Journal-World recommends reading the classics, including the Brontës' of course. If you are confined to your quarters because of the bad weather, The Sydney Morning Herald and the Norwich Bulletin praise the wonders of the Kindle device with a Brontë mention, Broadcastnow selects Ruth Wilson (Jane Eyre 2006) as one the most talented entertainers of 2010 (as seen in The Telegraph). CultuurNet, UitinBrabant and the Groninger Gezinsbode cover the Theater Artemis Dutch tour with Wuthering Heights. NieuwsbladDeBand talks about the other Brontë Dutch tour: De Brontë Sisters.

On the blogosphere, Omphaloskepsis reviews Wuthering Heights. Housewife Eclectic and ireferáty (in Czech) post about Jane Eyre. Finally, Susan Newby posts on The Heart of Haworth about the Brontë Parsonage Children Consultation Project:

An important part of the re-thinking our displays and interpretation at the Parsonage was to enhance the experience of our younger visitors. As well as the place where the Bronte sisters wrote their wonderful novels and poetry, the Parsonage is also of course, where they spent their childhoods and grew up. As a place simply to learn about children's home life in the past, and this remarkable family in particular, we know that children visiting today find much that they can relate to and enjoy. However, although much work was done last year to develop very popular interactives in the exhibition spaces, we are aware that the information in the Parsonage itself and the way it's presented is not as accessible as it could be to children, especially younger ones. (Read more)

Categories: Anne Brontë, Books, Brontë Parsonage Museum, Brontëites, Fiction, Haworth, Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV, References, Wide Sargasso Sea,Wuthering Heights