Hypochondria, madness and tribute bands

Brian Dillon's Tormented Hope which, by the way, in the US has been renamed The Hypochondriacs, is reviewed by The Los Angeles Times.

For Charlotte Brontë, attacks of what she called hypochondria, but we might characterize as depressive breakdowns, helped abbreviate the teaching career she loathed -- in large part because it left her so little time to indulge her imagination or write -- and two stints studying in Brussels.
Once back home, Brontë channeled her distress into her writing. Dillon sheds new light on two of her lesser novels, "The Professor" and "Villette," by examining them in relation to their author's health issues. (Heller McAlpin)

Exeter Express & Echo sums up another much-mentioned book: The Blue Hour: A Life of Jean Rhys by Lilian Pizzichini.

When the romance ended, Rhys returned to England and in 1927 her first short story collection was published. A string of critically-acclaimed novels followed during the 1930s. But she did not publish another again until Wide Sargasso Sea. It took her nine years to compile her "prequel" to Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, which tells the early life of Mr Rochester's mad wife, Bertha, in the West Indies.

And Surrey Mirror reports the forthcoming performance of a Kate Bush tribute band, Hounds of Love:

With the blessing and personal involvement of her former tour manager and Kate herself, Hounds of Love is the first time that a live interpretation of her music has been toured in the UK. [...]
"Without attempting to emulate the voice of Kate Bush, Josie finds the expression to communicate Kate's songs with impressive, passionate sympathy. They get fantastic reviews wherever they play."
Expect hits such as Wuthering Heights, Babooshka, The Big Sky, Wow and Running Up The Hill.
Get a taste of them on Youtube – www.youtube.com/user/HoundsofLoveBand.
Hounds of Love – the music of Kate Bush, presented by Acoustic Sussex, Chequer Mead Arts Centre, East Grinstead, Thursday, February 11, 8pm, £12 (£10), 01342 302000.

Another county, Yorkshire, and its number of visitors are the subject of a proud-to-be-from-Yorkshire article in The Telegraph and Argus. Culture 24 lets visitors know that the Brontë Parsonage Museum is now refurbished and reopened.

Blogs for today: English Major's Junk Food has read and reviews Villette as part of Laura's Reviews All About the Brontës Challenge. Laura's Reviews, meanwhile, reviews Syrie James's The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Brontë as part of the same challenge. Ponteiros Parados has uploaded a picture entitled 'Wuthering Heights'. The Modern Rainstorm suggests a few clothing items and accessories inspired by Jane Eyre 1944. And finally, Nonsuch Book reviews and gives away five copies of Rachel Ferguson's The Brontës Went to Woolworths.

Categories: Books, Brontë Parsonage Museum, Charlotte Brontë, Haworth, Jane Eyre, Music, Wide Sargasso Sea, Wuthering Heights