Prudish and Tragic

Mormon Times describes a method, as good as any other, to arrive to Jane Eyre:

I must have read at least 60 of those "Baby-Sitters Club" books in my preteen and early teenage years, all with staggeringly familiar plots and — even then — boorishly predictable outcomes. Yet they also helped cultivate a habit that's still with me today, and in that sense each one was a stepping stone to authors like Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Joan Didion, Tom Wolfe and Charlotte Brontë. (Beth Palmer)

The Independent (Ireland) describes Amanda Brunker's books and uses a Brontë reference:

Her plotlines are as much Eighties-leaning Harold Robbins and Jackie Collins as anything else. There is a lot of sex. And even more bonking. Amanda Brunker is not Chick Lit. She is Clit Lit. She bristles with prudish annoyance at the term as if she were Charlotte Brontë. “I’m sorry but I think that is a vile and crude term,” she says. “My books aren’t porn. They’re modern, fun tales that follow relationships through the good times, bad times and yes, of course, some naughty times. Call it Raunch Lit if you like. A modern-day bonkbuster, but no other tags, please, until you’ve read my books. You would be doing me and my novels a huge disservice. (Barry Egan)

The Atlanta Books Examiner reviews Our Lady of the Night by Mayra Santos-Febres:

Mayra Santos-Febres illustrates, in this novel, the new Caribbean tragic heroine. Unlike the Western, tragic, female heroines of Jane Eyre (Charlotte Brontë) and Washington Square (Henry James), these new heroines are independent and take charge of their lives. Gender is a smaller issue for the Caribbean, tragic heroine. Race and pigmentation are the primary forces which stymie their development. (Rosetta Codling)

Sit Long and Read Much recommends reading Agnes Grey, Vanishing Point publishes his Mrs Reed trading card and Read and Relax posts briefly about Wuthering Heights.

Amy Alkon from the Weekly Vulcano has a sentimental consultory:

According to Shakespeare, the Brontë sisters, and every romantic comedy ever made, love is throwing aside everything to crawl across broken glass on four continents, only to die in your beloved's arms.

Categories: Agnes Grey, Jane Eyre, References, Wuthering Heights