Zombies, Werewolves, Missionaries and a Restless Umlaut

The Library Journal Xpress publishes a review of the upcoming Brontë mash-up Jane Slayre by Serri Browning Erwin:

No stranger to paranormal fiction, Erwin (To Hell with Love; Naughty or Nice) raises the bar for the next generation of "monster classics." Jane is orphaned and raised by vampires, sent off to a boarding school (that breeds zombies for domestic help), and loses her love to a lunatic werewolf. It’s a ghastly new spin on the familiar, page-turning classic Jane Eyre. Poignant and charming, Jane could give Buffy a run for her money. Unlike Seth Grahame-Smith’s novel but disjointed Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (the zombies were an awkward insertion), Erwin seems to be channeling Brontë, and the monsters are a seamless addition to the text. The story takes an unexpected turn toward the end, and this keeps readers entranced.
Verdict: Similar to Sharon Shinn’s Jenna Starborn, Erwin’s gripping revision of a well-loved classic is enthusiastically recommended for all. (Jennifer Anderson)

Jeannette Winterson, who is reported to be writing a BBC drama on the lives of the Brontë sisters, is interviewed in The Times. She talks about her first novel, Oranges are not the Only Fruit:

Her favourite book was Jane Eyre, except for the ending, so she fixed that. When she read it to me, she turned the pages and continued in the same Brontë narrative style, so that I believed for a long time that Jane had married St John Rivers and gone to be a missionary.

The Edinburgh Guide reviews the Northern Ballet Theatre's Wuthering Heights production:

Northern Ballet Theatre's reputation has grown immeasurably since David Nixon took over as Artistic Director in 2001. Since then he has created and choreographed nine full-length ballets for the company and in December last year won an OBE for services to dance.
The current programme, Wuthering Heights, is a tour de force. Working in collaboration with the composer Claude-Michel Schönberg (the celebrated composer of Les Miserables music, this is his first ballet score) they have created a work that incorporates all the turbulence and passion of this classic love story.
Right from the very beginning of the show's two acts, sombre music sets the tone of Heathcliff's anguish as he dances frenetically on the heath, recalling his youth when he and Cathy were once united in joy.
There are two dancers for Heathcliff and two for Cathy to portray their youth and subsequent maturity.
In this performance, Kenneth Tindall played the 'older' Heathcliffe, whilst Ashley Dixon was the 'younger'. Julie Charlet was the 'older' Cathy with Michela Paolacci as the 'younger' version.
The dancers, coupled with Nixon's fabulous choregraphy and Schonberg's music, were fantastic. In perfect synchronisation, they are throughly engaging throughout in the turbulent emotions involved in the journey of this doomed love affair which concludes on a beautiful note, with the young Heathcliff and Cathy united on the moor, capturing snow flakes.
The settings were simple, yet effective. The costumes were of the period and flowed elegantly. The dancing and acting of the troupe was excellent.
Choreographically and musically this is a great interpretation of Emily Bronte's story. (Barbara Bryan)

The Calgary Herald remembers when Jude Law appeared as Rochester in a Saturday Night Live sketch in 2004:

[A]nd appearing as a randy Mr. Rochester in a parody of Jane Eyre opposite Rachel Dratch. (Alex Strachan)

Sometimes, some critics miss absolutely the point. A new Spanish translation of Stella Gibbons's Cold Comfort Farm is reviewed by El Confidencial (Spain) and the reviewer is convinced of the following:

Si es usted devoto lector de Cumbres borrascosas -o cualquier otro relato paramero y meteorológico-, Lejos del mundanal ruido o la obra de David Herbert Lawrence, mejor no siga leyendo. Porque, en esta divertida novela, Stella Gibbons emprende la cervantina tarea de aniquilar a la novelística romántica y bucólica, por medio de una ácida parodia y, ni la familia Brönte (sic), ni Thomas Hardy, ni el autor de Hijos y amantes -éste por motivos diferentes, su supuesta misoginia-, entre muchos otros, salen bien parados. (Nuño Vallés) (Google translation)

We are devoted readers of Wuthering Heights and frankly we love Cold Comfort Farm. By the way it's not so difficult to check where the umlaut lies in Brontë.

El Faro de Vigo (Spain) talks about the presentation of the book Elas teñen a palabra by the sisters Andrea, Lara and Marcela Porto Mato. Three sisters and writers? The comparison is unavoidable:

"Codeseda non é Yorkshire (nin falta que lle fai), nin as irmás Porto Mato son as irmás Brönte (sic again). Andrea, Lara, Marcela: hoxe quero desexarvos de todo corazón sorte na vida e na arte, e expresarvos o meu apoio, porque para todos nós, vós formades parte do máis valioso que temos: o futuro da cultura galega", engadiu o conselleiro de Cultura e Turismo[, Roberto Varela]. (Google translation)

EDIT: (15/03/2010) El Correo Gallego also talks about these Galician Brontë sisters.

Brian Dillon's Tormented Hope (The Hypondriacs in the US) is reviewed on Cyberpresse:

«L'hypocondrie a été au XIXe siècle en Angleterre un symbole d'hypersensibilité», explique M. Dillon en entrevue de Londres. «Emily Brontë y faisait souvent référence. D'un point de vue plus contemporain, l'hypocondrie est une exacerbation de la conscience de soi. Il y a un parallèle évident avec les écrivains, qui doivent écouter leur propre créativité intérieure, être centrés sur eux-mêmes pour faire avancer leur oeuvre.» (Mathieu Perreault) (Google translation)

Millefeuille reviews Joanna Newsom's latest album Have one on Me:

Le dernier, plus sombre, laisse sonner un souffle intime autour des morceaux, jusqu'au magnifique dernier, Does Not Suffice, dans une atmosphère qui nous évoque les Hauts de Hurlevents d'Emily Brönte (sic 3), inspiration qui fut celle de Kate Bush sur Wuthering heights. (Vincent B.) (Google translation)

The Mexican writer Margo Glantz chooses the Brontës as one of her inspirations in Mundo52. Loula, Il était une fois... joins Lego's Brontë Sisters Challenge (in French), Mad Bibliophile reviews The Professor and Our Mutual Read Anne Brontë's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (a novel that according to Página 12 (Argentina) was

La primera novela en la que una mujer se emancipa del yugo marital es la de Anne Brontë, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, publicada en 1848. (Alicia Plante) (Google translation)

Artsy Psycho-babble briefly posts about Jane Eyre 2006. Canarias al Día (Spain) or Gazzetta del Sud (Italy) report the reading of texts by Emily Brontë in the recent celebrations of the International Women's Day.
Categories: Brontëites, Dance, Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV, References, Sequels, The Professor, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall