"Wuthering Heights still has the power to speak to young people"

Publishers Weekly presents Clare B. Dunkle's blog tour for her newly-published Wuthering Heights prequel: The House of Dead Maids:

What was Heathcliffe [sic] like before he showed up in the pages of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights? Clare B. Dunkle gives readers an answer to that question in The House of Dead Maids, published last week by Henry Holt Books for Young Readers. Teen readers and Brontë aficionados can learn more about this prelude to the classic 19th-century novel, and the story behind its creation, by following the author’s 20-stop blog tour, details of which appear on her Web site. Here’s a peek at some of what Dunkle might blog about in the next weeks—as well as a look at the impetus for the tour.
Dunkle’s novel, which centers on a young woman who encounters ghosts of former maids when she becomes nursemaid to the boy who will become Heathcliff, grew out of her lifelong connection to Emily Brontë. The author’s mother, a Brontë scholar, wrote her master’s thesis on Heathcliffe, and Dunkle first read Wuthering Heights at the age of nine.
“I grew up hearing great stories about the lives of the Brontës and I reread Wuthering Heights many times as a child and teen,” she says. “I was fascinated by Heathcliff and bonded with this boy who was unwanted from page one to the very end. I was acutely aware that the boy was already damaged goods before he came into that story, and that interested me very much.” (...)
“As a writer looking around for new projects, I realized that Wuthering Heights was the perfect Victorian novel to introduce to modern readers,” she explains. “It’s gritty and rough around the edges and has no formal or mannered speech. It really was way ahead of its time—Brontë refuses to weigh in and point out who is good and who is bad, and leaves readers to make all those decisions. That’s very empowering for teens and I really believe that the novel still has the power to speak to young people.”
To research The House of Dead Maids, Dunkle visited Yorkshire, touring the Brontë parsonage where Emily lived for much of her life, with the graveyard just feet away from the home. “I also did a lot of biographical reading about the Brontës and read quite a bit of literary criticism,” says the author. “I wanted to get this book right, to make sure I captured the true feel of a Victorian story.” (Sally Lodge)

Today's stop is at Carrie's YA Bookshelf, by the way.

The Times has an article about Michael Berkeley's latest opera, For You, and recalls what happened to his previous one:

Michael Berkeley’s operas seem to attract hiccups. Work on his second opera, Jane Eyre, was delayed after the unfinished manuscript score was stolen from his car boot. (Geoff Brown)

Via The Improper we found out that in an article from Cosmopolitan (France) the journalist suggested Robert Pattinson as a perfect Heathcliff (so original...):

Son sang britannique transparaît encore dans son physique romantique, parfait pour incarner un remake des "Hauts de Hurlevent" ou une adaptation filmée d'un roman de Jane Austen. (Florence Trédez) (Google translation)

Another Bollywood star, Shriya Saran, has a weakness for Brontë and Austen. In the Deccan Chronicle:

Then, I fell for classics like Pride and Prejudice, Emma and Jane Eyre.
I loved books by Jane Austen and Charlotte Brontë because of the era they wrote interested me. At a time when most women authors wrote under ghost names, there were a few, who had the courage to come out in the open with the reality and what they felt about society. The characters in these classics are very insightful. Though I loved all the female characters, it’s Mr Darcy from Pride and Prejudice who stayed in my mind. (Priyanka Bhadani)

The Yorkshire Post talks about films about, or shot in, Yorkshire:

The Railway Children hinted at a lost world of Edwardian innocence that can never be again. Wuthering Heights offered a slice of timeless Victorian gothic. And in Kes, a poor boy from a dysfunctional family sought freedom via a soaring, elegant kestrel. (Tony Earnshaw)

The Plymouth Herald presents the performances of Milan in Plymouth. The popera trio itself say:

"We do things like Wuthering Heights and Bohemian Rhapsody and our grand finale is Nessun Dorma — it's quite a diverse set with full choreographed dance moves, but it hangs together really well." (Clare Robinson)

Another fashion-related Brontë mention. About the New Zealand Fashion Week on TVNZ:

Wuthering Heights and high school balls sprung to mind during Liz Mitchell's show. Sultry cocktail frocks, sensual evening gowns in silk velvets and curvaceous pleated skirts dominated Mitchell's runway. (Anna Gowan & Sophie Lowery)

Wide Sargasso Sea in the New York Times Crossword and a Sims 3 character named Charlotte in honour of our Charlotte on engadget.

Les Brontë à Paris posts in French about John Brown. The Book Case comments on yesterday's discussion on the Guardian Book Blog. Young Journalist posts about Jane Eyre and New Lits 2010 re-imagines a fragment of the novel. Cultural Civilian discusses movies about writers with special attention to Devotion.

And Elizabeth Gaskell's bicentenary (September 29th) is going to be celebrated with a blog tour, all stops and subjects of which are announced on Austenprose. In the meantime, Ellen and Jim Have a Blog, Two posts at length about Gaskell and some of her works.

Categories: Books, Elizabeth Gaskell, Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV, References, Sequels, Wuthering Heights