A sense of place

Essential Writers discusses the importance of a sense of place in a story and uses Wuthering Heights as a successful creation.

You can find countless examples of a sense of place in classical literature. Charles Dicken’s London was as recognisable as any of his characters, and in Emily Brontë’’s Wuthering Heights the Yorkshire moors played as significant a role as either Heathcliff and Catherine - remove their love story to some peaceful village or a balmy Mediterranean shore, and the stormy sensual undertones would mutate into something else entirely. (Judy Darley)

It is certainly food for thought. Undoubtedly, the moors are one more character in the novel, and yet Luis Buñuel's adaptation Abismos de Pasión and Jacques Rivette's Hurlevent, set in Mexico and France respectively, are (arguably?) among the best adaptations of the novel.

At any rate, the fact that the sense of place is a success is the many references it gets. Such as this one from The Delaware News Journal:

Just yards from Pa. Route 52, the home at 2 Frog Pond Road pops out of the Chester County landscape as if a fairy tale or some well-pedigreed piece of literature just came to life. It would come as no surprise to see Catherine and Heathcliff storming out the heavy wood front door or Lurch from the Addams Family greeting guests. (Betsy Price)

A different sense of place, however, is that achieved by Nora Roberts at her Inn BoonsBoro, mentioned in The New York Times.

Rooms are named for famous literary couples, including Marguerite and Percy of “The Scarlet Pimpernel” and Jane and Rochester from “Jane Eyre.” Each suite has its own signature scent. (Tammy La Gorce)

Woman Up - a Politics Daily blog - writes about her book club:

A member whom I depend upon for good ideas -- such as re-reading her beloved "Jane Eyre" -- was mysteriously absent from our meeting. This elegant woman, let's call her A -- shares my love of the late 18th century and handwritten notes. Just my cup of Earl Grey tea. In discussing the character Jane Eyre, we identified her as the first autobiographical heroine in the English novel - unless you count the shades of Jane Austen in "Persuasion." So when I got home from book clubbing, I read the reason why we missed her: seems the pool opens in a matter of weeks. She had a work-out to do with a Brazilian bikini video because, as she put it, "I am determined to wear a bikini this summer."
Somewhere, governess Jane Eyre and novelist Jane Austen are swooning and reaching for their smelling salts. Sisterhood may not be as powerful as it used to be. But we try. (Jamie Stiehm)

Metro (US) reviews Second City's One If By Land, Late If By T, with its Emily Brontë skit:

The troupe has several non-region-specific skits that get great laughs, but Dana Quercioli’s stand-up comedy debut of Emily Brontë (seriously) proves to be one of the funniest bits in the show. (Nick Dussault)

And the Buxton Advertiser celebrates local resident Alison Beatrice Mollan's 100th birthday.

She moved to North Yorkshire with her family at the age of five, attending Casterton School in Cumberland, famed for its past pupils, the Brontë sisters. (Louise Bellicoso)

We still find it kind of funny that the school is so freely associated with the Brontës, given that Maria and Elizabeth died because of it and Charlotte blamed her physical 'underdevelopment' on it. Needless to say, none of them were ever close to being 100.

The Wingéd Elephant compiles several reviews of the upcoming Laura Joh Rowland's second installment of her Adventures of Charlotte Brontë series: Bedlam. For instance, this one from Booklist:

Rowland’s literary heroine demonstrates all the cunning, guile, and daredevil skills of a modern-day Bond girl while retaining the essence of Victorian morality. Sharply relevant, Rowland’s inventive action-thriller delivers enough intrigue and romance to satisfy a wide array of readers.

The Club of Compulsive Readers traces parallels between Jane Eyre and Rebecca, the Brontë Sisters talks about Eric Ruijssenaars's 2000 book Charlotte Brontë's Promised Land; it's a long wild drive... posts a poem devoted to Heathcliff (in Spanish); Paulus Torchus continues reading Jane Eyre.

Categories: Brontëana, Humour, Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV, Wuthering Heights,

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Jack Gibbons's Brontë Music

A couple of recent YouTube videos with music inspired by the Brontës:

The pianist and composer Jack Gibbons's musical setting of Emily Brontë's Sleep Not:

Jack Gibbons song Sleep Not Op.19, a setting of words by Emily Brontë, composed in 2001 and sung by the soprano Ann Mackay accompanied by the composer (recorded in London in November 2003). The work is dedicated to the distinguished American author Edward Jablonski (1923-2004), who was especially fond of this song. The video is accompanied by the remarkable photographs of Julia Margaret Cameron (1815-1879).

Jack Gibbons has also composed some other Brontë-related songs: Beloved Again, I'll Not Weep and Shall Earth No More Inspire Thee (Emily Brontë) and Life (Charlotte Brontë).

And raevellion has uploaded a performance of Bernard Herrmann's aria I Have Dreamt from his Wuthering Heights opera:

March 11, 2009 Performance at Indiana Wesleyan University
Mezzo-soprano, Dr. Loralee Songer
Pianist, Mr. Douglas Singer

Categories: Music, Opera, Poetry, Wuthering Heights

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Tea (or coffee?) with Mr Rochester at Haddon Hall

WhatsOnStage reviews Polly Teale's Brontë, currently at The Watermill Theatre, and gives it five stars.

For over 30 years Shared Experience has explored storytelling onstage, finding new ways to share their characters’ interior and exterior worlds. In Brontë, the three sisters who wrote some of the most enduring stories in the English language invite us into their lives and the worlds of their imagination.
Writer Polly Teale directed the premiere in 2005, working on script development with Nancy Meckler, director of this production, and the pair’s long association proves extraordinarily fruitful.
If anything, their revisit is even more richly layered. The performers playing the sisters again begin in modern dress, researchers into the Brontë who transform into the trio, exchanging biographical insights as they help each other into stays and petticoats – and earth-coloured dresses that enhance the beauty of the stage picture even as they underline the drabness of the sisters’ lives.
Maybe it’s a function of Ruth Sutcliffe’s high-walled set, both confining and cocooning from the outside world, but there’s an even greater feeling of bottled-up energy and creativity. The sisters and their brother Branwell (convincingly febrile Mark Edel-Hunt) fire each other’s imaginations in childhood. Later the sisters transmute every life experience, from the humiliation of the governess’s role to errant male behaviour into the richness of their writing
But Teale’s story is not linear. It moves back and forth in time, exploring cause and effect; and in and out of fiction to explore the interior worlds the sisters will share with us in their work. And all this is achieved with such clarity that the audience follows with rapt attention.
She’s served by a pitch perfect cast. Kristin Atherton’s Charlotte burns with creative fire and passion, trapped in a world of workaday drudgery and genteel poverty from which Teale has her emerge to become her alter-ego Jane Eyre, dogged by the wild and fiery id of the madwoman Bertha (Frances McNamee), a dangerously sexual presence in flame red.
Even the world she creates is a man’s world and she shares with her sisters responsibility for their menfolk, their ageing father (superb David Fielder, reprising his roles, as Bronte senior at different ages, Mr Rochester and Charlotte’s kindly husband, curate Bell Nicholls) and the brother whose artistic talent is drowned in drink. Flora Nicholson is touching as the caring supportive Anne. Apparently the most down to earth sister, Nicholson makes it clear she’s nursing the interior life that produces the sensational The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.
Elizabeth Crarer’s luminous Emily, a free-spirited tomboy with close-cropped hair finds inspiration in the moors beyond the vicarage, and security in the family circle at home. When Emily releases the bird of prey she’s taming and rejoices in it its return, Crarer simply stands on the table and flutters her hands, but the beauty of this image, so central to the story, is heart-stopping. Cathy and Heathcliff, her most famous creations, are wonderfully realised by McNamee and Edel-Hunt. The image of Cathy’s fragile ghost cradling the dying Emily will stay with me. (Judi Herman)

The Yorkshire Post has an article on a new, very interesting initiative:

Car giant Vauxhall has teamed up with Visit Britain to create the road trip, which spans 1,016 miles and takes in locations used for films including Harry Potter, The Da Vinci Code and Monty Python And The Holy Grail.
"In all, 10 stops are listed which together cover 23 locations used in 39 films. [...]
Another destination on the tour is Haddon Hall, a medieval manor house in Bakewell which was used for a 1996 Hollywood production of Jane Eyre, along with Elizabeth in 1998, The Princess Bride in 1987, and 2008's The Other Boleyn Girl. (Jeni Harvey)

In spite of the fact that it is not known to have inspired the creation of Thornfield hall, Haddon Hall is taking on a mythical status as the Thornfield Hall. It wasn't just featured in Jane Eyre 1996, but also in Jane Eyre 2006 and is currently in use in Cary Fukunaga's production. And coincidentally, Flickr user jayteacat has uploaded a few nice pictures taken recently at Haddon Hall where props, details and well-known spots can be seen. EDIT: And yet another Jane Eyre 2011 location. On Jim Dixon (Chief Executive of Peak District National Park Authority)'s Twitter we can read:

Good weather and obliging wildlife allowed the last day of filming for Jane Eyre at Stanage Edge on our North Lees Estate yesterday.

We also can add a new name to the cast. Bessie's role will be played by Jayne Wisener. Picture credits: Kris Dickson.

The Huffington Post takes a look at '11 Classic Monster Mashups'. Jane Slayre is one of them:

By Charlotte Brontë and Sherri Browning Erwin, published by Simon and Schuster.
Just out in April 2010, this one recasts Bronte's classic "Jane Eyre" with vampires and slayers and werewolves galore. Library Journal says that it "raises the bar for the next generation of 'monster classics'." (Jessie Kunhardt)

The Daily Kos doesn't seem to need mashups in order to find characters distasteful:

Even after thinking for quite a while, I seem to not be the sort to sit down with horrible types such as Iago. No to Heathcliff. I don’t much like Rebecca’s husband in Rebecca.
Nor am I interested in Rochester though Jane Eyre forgave him.

At the bottom of the article there's a poll asking, 'Who would you have coffee with?' where you can pick Heathcliff or Rochester among others. Rochester is already paired with tea in a (really excellent) book, though.

It looks like British soap operas and the Brontës go hand in hand lately. Apart from Coronation Street, there's Emmerdale, whose recent goings-on are summarised by The Northern Echo:

Hardly surprisingly, Viv is furious although some might think that a woman who names her twins Heathcliff and Cathy deserves all she gets.

And the description of Cathy Knapp, 'former wife of the artist Stefan Knapp' read in The Spectator doesn't stray far from that either.

Cathy is without a doubt a woman from a bygone time, a cross between some kind of Bronte-sisters-figure and a glamorous character from the 1980s soap opera Dynasty! (Charmain Ponnuthurai)

The Brontë Parsonage Blog reports that Helen MacEwan was interviewed for the weekly staff newspaper of the European Commission about the Brussels Brontë Group.

On the blogosphere, Pete's Blog includes a brief review of Wuthering Heights and Mint is crrently reading Becoming Jane Eyre by Sheila Kohler. The Brontë-Along goes on: cha no ma-ri who recently made Brontë cookies has now turned them into paintings.

Finally, an alert for tonight seen on The Batavia Daily News Online:

The Arts Council for Wyoming County's classic film series has a contemporary flair tonight -- two films from the 1970s. Featured are "Wuthering Heights" (1970) with Timothy Dalton, and "Skin Game" (1971) with James Garner. The free screenings begin at 7 p.m. in the gallery, 31 South Main St., Perry. Call (585) 237-3517.

Categories: Alert, Books, Brussels, Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV, Theatre, Wuthering Heights

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Sloane Hall and The House of Dead Maids

A couple of Brontë-related novels that will be published next Autumn:

Sloane Hall
by Libby Sternberg
Five Star
ISBN 13: 9781594149177
September 2010

Troubled John Doyle finds work as a chauffeur for the alluring Pauline Sloane, a silent screen star about to make her first talking picture. Passion ignites then breaks both their hearts, leaving them struggling to find their way past a chasm of pain. Inspired by Jane Eyre, Sloane Hall (set in 1920s Hollywood) is a fresh tale of obsession and forgiveness.

The House of Dead Maids
By Clare B. Dunkle.
New York: Henry Holt, 2010.
ISBN-13: 978-0805091168
Edited by Reka Simonsen.
Illustrations by Patrick Arrasmith.

A chilling prelude to Emily Brontë’s classic novel, Wuthering Heights.

A black dress next to my black dress. Gray hands reaching for mine.

The old looking glass in the beaded frame returned only a suggestion of features. I longed to see my new clothes, and as I stepped into the passage, I was just turning over in my mind where I might have seen a better mirror. When first I caught sight of the small figure in black, I thought it was my reflection.

She stood very still in the dusky passage where the light was poorest. Like me, she wore the black dress that proclaimed her a maid of the house, but whereas mine was new, hers was spoiled by mildew and smears of clay. Thin hair, dripping with muddy water, fell to her shoulders in limp, stringy ropes. This was my companion of the night before—and she was dead.

The child who will become Heathcliff is already a savage little creature when Tabby Aykroyd arrives at Seldom House to be his nursemaid. But the Yorkshire moors harbor far worse. The ghost of the last maid will not leave Tabby in peace, yet this spirit is only one of many.

As Tabby struggles to escape the evil forces that surround the house, she tries to befriend her uncouth young charge, but her kindness cannot alter his fate. Long before he reaches the old farmhouse of Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff has already doomed himself and any who try to befriend him.

Clare B. Dunkle's website contains lots of information about her book. Including a series of illustrations by Patrick Arrasmith, sample chapters, background notes, Tabby's World, The Mysteries of Wuthering Heights, Wuthering Heights Motifs, Branwell's Pirate, Brontë's Myths, Musings of Heathcliff, Nelly & Joseph: Yorkshire Spirits, etc ...

Categories: Books, Jane Eyre, Sequels, Wuthering Heights

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Gordon Brown sang with Kate Bush (not really)

The Guardian asked writer Esther Freud to list her 'top ten love stories' and among them is Jane Eyre:

2. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
Jane Eyre was responsible for a misguided belief in the power of romance that complicated my teenage years. The idea that you could lean out of your window and whisper your lover's name, and that he might actually hear you, appealed to me too much.

Another Brontë novel and another top ten: Wuthering Heights is chosen by Tonic as one of ten literary 'one-hit wonders':

Emily Brontë: Using the male nom de plume, Ellis Bell, Brontë published Wuthering Heights in 1947. Following her death in '48, her sister, Jane Eyre author Charlotte, re-published the novel under Emily's proper name. (Jenna Gabrial Gallagher)

Apart from the fact that the novel is wrongly dated a whole century later, it must also be said that Charlotte Brontë never republished any of her sisters' works under their real names: in both her introduction to Wuthering Heights and her Biographical Notice she refers to them as Ellis and Acton Bell.

Also misleading is the following selling point made by The Irish World:

For accommodation there is a large selection of guest houses including the summer home where English writer and author of Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte once lived. (Diarmaid Williams)

We don't know which 'summer house' they are referring to, probably one associated with Arthur Bell Nicholls and/or his family - but 'lived' would seem too strong a word when all she would have done was stay for a few days at most. And if, as we fear, they actually mean the bed & breakfast Charlotte's Way, known as Hill House when Arthur Bell Nicholls lived there, well then Charlotte Brontë didn't ever set foot there, as Arthur only moved there after she died.

Coronation Street is still making references to Brontë Country, as seen on the Coronation Street Blog:

And finally this week, Norris and Mary go to Bronte Country in the motorhome with Kate Bush’s Wuthering Heights singing them off the Street. Once they’re cosied up in their cottage on the moors . . . (Glenda Young)

Too bad they seem to be late for the Brontë Society Spring Walk which took place on April 18th. The Brontë Parsonage Blog has a post about it.

Minnesota Reads interviews author Catherine Lundoff.

What is one book you haven’t read but want to read before you die?
I actually have a list of every book that I’ve read since I was about ten years old so I can verify what I’ve already read, scary as that may seem. I’m still trying to get into Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys, which seems like a book that I might find fascinating if I could only begin. Well, that and maybe anything by Anthony Trollope, only because I keep being told that I’ll eventually like him if I keep trying. (Jodi Chromey)

And now for something really quite funny involving Heathcliff, Gordon Brown, a Gordon Brown lookalike, Kate Bush and Wuthering Heights. As the Daily Mail puts it:

Is it Wuthering Gordon?
Isn’t there something oddly familiar about the dark, handsome Heathcliff style figure, pictured here duetting with Kate Bush on an old episode of Terry Wogan’s BBC chatshow?
The YouTube clip from the Eighties has been watched more than 375,000 times, as the rumour spread yesterday that it was a young Gordon Brown.
It isn’t. He can’t sing. (Andrew Pierce) (Picture source)

For anyone interested here's the link to the YouTube clip in question. Oh, that it was actually Gordon Brown! Then the Heathcliffgate would make so much sense.

On the blogosphere, Love, Laughter, and a Touch of Insanity posts about Wuthering Heights.
Chaplum (in French) and SmallWorld write about Jane Eyre. Sunny Books shares a cute Jane Eyre moment and Fashion Low Down writes about 'Fashion Lessons From Childhood Fiction: Jane Eyre'.

Categories: Brontë Society, Brontëites, Haworth, Humour, Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV, Weirdo, Wide Sargasso Sea, Wuthering Heights

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Jane Eyre in Manchester and Salem

New theatre productions of Jane Eyre:

In Manchester, UK:

The Manchester College /The Arden School of Theatre
Jane Eyre
Wed, 28/04/2010 - 19:00 - Fri, 30/04/2010 - 19:00

Orphaned at an early age, Jane Eyre leads a lonely life until she finds work as a governess at Thornfield Hall, where she meets the mysterious Mr Rochester and sees a ghostly woman who roams the halls by night.

Please note. There are only 100 seats for these performances. Booking in advance is advised.

To book please contact Victoria Muir at The Arden School of Theatre on 0161 279 7257 or vmuir@themanchestercollege.ac.uk,
Zion Arts Centre, 335 Stretford Road, Hulme, Manchester M15 5ZA

In Winston-Salem, North Carolina, a student production of Gordon & Caird's Jane Eyre. The Musical:

The Salem Academy
Jane Eyre

Charlotte Bronte's story of governess Jane Eyre has been set to music! Join us for an engaging and moving stage experience as Salem Academy students act, sing, manage the stage and perform their hearts out!

There will be four performances; all are free and all are in the Drama Workshop, Salem Fine Arts Center.

* Thursday, April 29, 7:30 p.m.
* Friday, April 30, 7:30 p.m.
* Saturday, May 1, 4:30 p.m. (closed performance; call for possible seats)
* Sunday, May 2, 2 p.m.

Doors will open 30 minutes before each performance. For more information, call 336-917-5508.

Categories: Jane Eyre, Music, Theatre

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Exhibition of poems by Katrina Naomi in the Parsonage

A press release from the Brontë Parsonage Museum:

Charlotte Brontë's Corset: Poems by Katrina Naomi

An exhibition of poems by writer in residence Katrina Naomi has gone on display at the Brontë Parsonage Museum until 31 May. The poems are the result of Katrina’s time spent exploring in the archives, working with visitors and observing the daily life of the museum. The exhibition takes the form of a series of text installations within the historic rooms of the Parsonage.

The exhibition coincides with the publication of a new collection of Katrina’s Brontë poems, Charlotte Brontë’s Corset, which is on sale in the museum shop.

Katrina’s poems are fresh and surprising and examine the Brontës’ possessions for clues about their lives; the sisters’ stockings, Patrick Brontë’s feather quill and Branwell’s drinking chair for example. But Katrina is also fascinated by the museum and many of her poems explore life behind the scenes of the Parsonage museum. We have displayed Katrina’s poems alongside the objects that inspired them and we hope that they invite visitors to think about the collections in new ways too. (Jenna Holmes, Arts Officer)

The writer’s residency took place as part of the museum’s Contemporary Arts Programme, which with the support of Arts Council England has been running a series of events showcasing and celebrating women’s writing. As part of her residency, Katrina delivered a special creative writing project with the Together Women’s Project in Bradford.

Katrina will be reading a selection of her Brontë poems at the first Brontë Festival of Women’s Writing which will take place at the museum in September.

Categories: Art-Exhibitions, Brontë Parsonage Museum, Poetry

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A suitably spectral moor and more

Faith Central - a blog hosted by The Times - wonders why Yorkshire is supposedly Britain's most haunted county. The Brontës are of course mentioned:

Seventy four demons are reported to be living in Yorkshire, a county long-established as a haven for ghosts and gothic legend (no coincidence this was once home to the Bronte family who inhabited a village placed on the edge of a suitably spectral moor). (Bess Twiston Davies)

Anyone interested in that sort of thing might want to take a look at Marie Campbell's Strange World of the Brontës, by the way.

Back to more earthly matters. The Daily Iowan has an article on writer Anchee Min and her style is said to be shaped by

Her exposure to classic and modern literature has also left its mark, particularly the writers Charlotte Brontë and Frank McCourt. (Rebecca Koons)

Another style description comes from The Philadelphia Inquirer, quoting from Nicole LaPorte's new book The Men Who Would Be King: An Almost Epic Tale of Moguls, Movies, and a Company Called DreamWorks.

LaPorte [...] suggests that [Russell] Crowe may have anger issues.
"Crowe . . . chewed up monologues," LaPorte writes in her poetic, Bronte-esque neo-Gothic prose, "spitting out each and every poisonous syllable." (Tirdad Derakhshani)

On the blogosphere, The Secret Dreamworld of a Jane Austen Fan posts about the Jane Eyre adaptation curently on stage again in Stockholm (until May 16). Both Medieval Bookworm and Passionate Book Lover review Rachel Ferguson's The Brontës Went to Woolworth's. And Eggplantia posts a few updates on the Brontë-Along, including the fact that 43 bloggers have already joined in the initiative! So, congratulations to the organisers.

Categories: Books, Haworth, References

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Juliet Gael Romancing tour

Juliet Gael is touring the Midwest presenting her novel Romancing Miss Brontë:

Kansas City Public Library
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
6:30pm @ Plaza Branch, Kansas City

A native of the American Midwest, Juliet Gael presents her novel, a mix of fact and fiction that captures the passions, hopes, dreams, and sorrows of literature’s most famous sisters.
After penning her 1847 masterpiece, Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë’s novel becomes an overwhelming literary success, catapulting the shy and awkward young woman into the spotlight of London’s fashionable literary scene—and into the arms of her new publisher, George Smith. But another man comes calling—the quiet but determined curate Arthur Nicholls.
The event is co-sponsored by Rainy Day Books. The book will be available for sale.

Watermark Books

Wichita, Kansas
Thursday, April 29.
Juliet Gael reading & signing. 7:00 p.m.
The book blends fact and fiction to reveal the life and passions of Charlotte Brontë, author of Jane Eyre. As she and her sisters publish under pseudonyms, Charlotte sees her family is wracked with loses and is presented with one of the great choices of her life: accept an unexpected proposal that is less than the all-encompassing love she writes about, or live on as an unaccompanied spinster.
Romancing Miss Brontë will be available April 27. To pre-order or reserve
copies, please call (316) 682-1181.

Norcross, GABarnes & NobleThe Forum on Peachtree Parkway, 5141 Peachtree Parkway
Tuesday May 04, 2010 7:00 PM

Whether you've read her novels or not, the intriguing question still arises: were her characters made up or drawn from her real life? Come meet author Juliet Gael as she reads, discusses and signs her newest historical novel Romancing Miss Brontë.

Categories: Alert, Fiction, Talks

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"Catherine Earnshaw, I volunteer to give you a good slap"

Erica Wagner writes in The Times in praise of Jane Eyre and in detriment of Wuthering Heights:

The incidents are too coarse and disagreeable to be attractive, the very best being improbable, with a moral taint about them, and the villainy not leading to results sufficient to justify the elaborate pains taken in depicting it.”
So said The Spectator in 1847, when Wuthering Heights first appeared, and I am inclined to agree. I loathe Wuthering Heights. Every character is irritating to me; I can’t keep track of their names; and if you can pronounce “Thrushcross Grange” without spitting and lisping, I tip my hat to you. Catherine Earnshaw, I volunteer to give you a good slap. Just stop it already, all of you.
Jane Eyre is the book for me. Charlotte Brontë’s novel was published the same year, and had me riveted the first time that I read its famous opening sentence. Wuthering Heights begins with the tedious Mr Lockwood on a visit to his landlord: how dull is that? But here is Eyre’s voice, quick and vivid in your ear: “There was no possibility of taking a walk that day.” Aspiring writers, take note. If the beginning of your book immediately causes your reader to ask herself, why?, then you may well be on to something.
Move on to the whole first paragraph, there is so much in it. Not only Eyre’s character, not only a fine observation of weather and landscape, even a hint of Mrs Reed’s controlling nature. Here is a book to grab you and never let you go.
[...]
Wuthering Heights, I dare say, is much more of a period piece; a gothic novel in the truest sense. Fair enough to note that it is Jane Eyre, of course, that has the famous madwoman in the attic; the first Mrs Rochester has become a trope of both literature and literary criticism. But the shifting narrative of Wuthering Heights makes it too thickly woven, too opaque.
More than 150 years after Brontë’s novel was published, Jane Eyre’s voice still rings clear as a bell.

Jane Eyre is indeed still influential, as The TV Paige - a Chicago Sun-Times blog - review of ABC's Happy Town goes to show:

Be warned: "Happy Town" doesn't skimp on the grisly. Also, just about every scene seems to be inspired by another thriller ("Jane Eyre"! "Soylent Green"! "The Stepford Wives"! "Fargo"!). (Paige Wiser)

And this conversation between a grandfather and his grandson is quite representative too of its presence in literature lessons:

On a recent Friday when I picked up my 13-year-old grandson Robbie at school, the conversation in the car turned to his weekend homework.
Robbie said he’d be reading 80 pages “Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Bronte. My pal asked me if I ever read that book, which he said he was enjoying.
I told him that while I was not a great fan of the Bronte sisters, all three of them writers, I did recall Charlotte’s work about an orphan girl who became a governess in a mysterious household.
Robbie asked when I read it. I told him it was when I was still in high school, when my mind was full of baseball and football, and the book was required reading.
“You have a good memory, Grandpa” Robbie said. I laughed and said, “Maybe not as good as you think. ‘Jane Eyre’ became a movie in the 1940s with one of my favorite actors, Orson Welles, playing the lead. I’ve seen that film on Turner Classic Movies a couple of times.”
Back home I did some research and discovered that “Jane Eyre” was published in 1847, 10 years after Queen Victoria took her seat on the throne she was to keep for 65 years. (Ev Parker in The Napa Valley Register)

But theatre designer Emma Ryott is there to defend Wuthering Heights (sort of) in the Yorkshire Post:

Name your favourite Yorkshire book/author/artist/CD/performer.
Wuthering Heights, I guess. . .

And there's also the eternal debate between teachers and students, as reported by The Courier-Journal.

College is around the corner and this is what it’s like, Alison Grover told the seniors she student teaches.
So give “Wuthering Heights” a chance, will you? Instead, Grover said she was told, ‘”Not everybody is nerdy like you, Miss Grover.’” (Dale Moss)

The Sydney Morning Herald discusses Murder at Mansfield Park by Lynn Shepherd and brings up the subject of novels inspired by other novels, which includes a mention of Wide Sargasso Sea.

In literary circles this kind of writing doesn't garner much respect. There have certainly been esteemed novels directly responding to classic works, from Jean Rhys' reinterpretation of Jane Eyre in Wide Sargasso Sea to the popular reinvention of L. Frank Baum's Oz mythos in the Wicked series. For the most part, though, this appropriation only gets the wizened nod when it demonstrates a kind of critical superiority to its source material, acting either as clever parody or serious critique. It's not enough to simply imitate or try to re-create the original. (John Bailey)

And the Boston Globe reviews One If by Land, Late If by T by the Second City company. One of the segments features...

Dana Quercioli portraying Emily Brontë as novice stand-up comedian. This bit could fly anywhere — on “SNL’’ in its halcyon days, even. (Sandy MacDonald)

The Telegraph and Argus announces a good initiative to take place in Thornton in May:

“During May, South Square and BIASAN will run a workshop for asylum-seekers and refugees, which will enable them to explore the landscape and landmarks of Thornton village, including the Bronte birthplace and the viaduct.” (Jim Greenhalf)

The Brontë-Along continues as creative as ever: A Few Good Things writes about 'Heathcliff-ishness' and Flickr user lucy.loomis has created a few Wuthering Heights-inspired collages.

Categories: Brontëana, Emily Brontë, Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV, References, Theatre, Wide Sargasso Sea, Wuthering Heights

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Withering Looks in Portland

Withering Looks, the play by the British comic duo Lip Service (Maggie Fox and Sue Ryding), is now being performed in Portland, Oregon:

Cygnet Productions

Withering Looks: An Entertaining Evening With the Brontë Sisters

A Very Silly, Yet Quite Literate, Romp Through the Lives and Letters of the Authors of “Jane Eyre” and “Wuthering Heights”

Luisa SERMOL
Vana O’BRIEN
Directed by Louanne MOLDOVAN

Cygnet Theatre, Portland’s literary cabaret since 1992, presents Withering Looks, a frothy, irreverent homage to Charlotte and Emily Brontë, their eccentric family, their classic, beloved romantic novels, and the heather on the moors. Beginning April 22, this arch comedy asks—and answers—such questions as:

Who is the Brontës’ mysterious neighbor, Mr. Moorcock of Ravaged Heath House, and what does the maniacal laughter coming from his attic mean?
Is Anne Brontë really only 2’6” tall?
Who should Cathy marry, Heathcliff or David Niven?
Withering Looks was written by Maggie Fox and Sue Ryding of the Manchester, England Lip Service Theatre company. It won a Critics Award for Comedy at the Edinburgh Festival.

Withering Looks pairs two of Portland’s favorite actresses, long-time Cygnet company members Vana O’Brien and Luisa Sermol, and is directed by Louanne Moldovan, founder and artistic director of Cygnet. Comments Luisa Sermol: “I was an English lit major, and felt a kinship with the Brontës. With Withering Looks I get to bring my fascination full circle, I get to be playful with it—and I get to play with Vana!" Adds Vana O’Brien, “This is the silliest thing we’ve ever done, it’s very light-hearted. That droll British wit, y’know...good for the digestion of scones."

Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays 7:30 pm, April 22–May 9
TaborSpace Coffee House, 5441 SE Belmont
Suggested donation $15, or $8 for students and seniors
Reservations: 503-230-8827

Categories: Humour, Theatre

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A Total Joy

Sally Reeve, Martha in Jane Eyre 2011, has published on her website a picture in her Jane Eyre costume:

I’m currently filming Jane Eyre – directed by the wonderful Cary Fukunaga and produced by Ruby Films. Obviously as we’re in production I can’t say TOO much – apart from I’m having the most fun I’ve ever had on a film set. Just finished my first chunk of filming and it’s a total joy. There’s a wonderful company feel – no huge egos, no stress, just a group of people working together on an amazing script by Moira Buffini. I love everything about this job – it’s a dream! More details as they come and a sneek peak here of me in my costume….

Juliet Gael, author of Romancing Miss Brontë is a Wichita native and the local newspaper Wichita Eagle has an article on her and invites readers to a book signing next Thursday, April 29:

The Romantic period of English literature and romance itself figure into the title of the new novel "Romancing Miss Brontë" (Ballantine, 414 pages, $25) , says author Juliet Gael. She has taken the life of Charlotte Brontë — author of "Jane Eyre" — as a subject. The book is fiction, but based on the facts of Brontë's life: her tragic family life that included the loss of her mother and all of her siblings, her and her sisters' foray into writing and pseudonymous publishing, her later fame as an author, and, ultimately, her marriage to her father's curate at an age long past when she'd been considered an "old maid."
Gael, a Wichita native and North High graduate who now lives in Italy, studied literature at KU and went on to become a screenwriter. She turned to novels, she said in an e-mail, for two reasons: storytelling and control. "I'm a reader and I love words — I love the flow of words and language and I love storytelling." In Hollywood, she said, "I met a lot of screenwriters who never read novels."
And screenwriting is an inherently collaborative process, since ultimately it takes hundreds of people to produce a film. "But the work of a novel," she notes, "begins and ends with the writer. The novelist takes full responsibility for what ends up on the printed page."
"Romancing Miss Brontë" is her first foray into novel-writing, but the seed was planted nearly two decades ago when Gael visited Haworth, the Brontës' home village in the Yorkshire moors, in the course of a graduate seminar on the Brontë sisters. She found the story of Charlotte's life in particular fascinating, and kept the story of "Romancing Miss Brontë" very close to the events of Brontë's life. (...)
Gael said she's hoping readers of her book will rediscover "Jane Eyre" and other Brontë novels. "There are a lot of readers who will, hopefully, be drawn to read and discover the Brontë literature from reading about their lives and the creation of their work," she said. "'Jane Eyre' continually engages readers. Charlotte captured, in that little plain-Jane governess, the heart and soul of all passionate women who long to be seen and loved for qualities other than their appearance." (Lisa McLendon)

Reading and book-signing by Wichita native Juliet Gael, author of "Romancing Miss Bronte"
Watermark Books, 4701 E. Douglas When: 7 p.m. Thursday
Free For more information, call 316-682-1181.

The Telegraph thinks that Chris Morris, director of the upcoming film Four Lions, and Emily Brontë are twin souls:

The distance between Emily Brontë and Chris Morris is not as great as you might imagine.
If it really existed, Brontë’s much-filmed Wuthering Heights would be just up the road from the sharply realised Sheffield of Four Lions, Morris’s astonishing, soon-to-be-released comedy about terrorism. (I’d recommend leaving the M1 at junction 38, proceeding through Huddersfield and Halifax, turning left just before Keighley.)
And both stories deal with Yorkshire grit, bookending a long tradition of uncompromising movies set in God’s Own County. Here, in chronological order, is my top 10:
Wuthering Heights (1939)
In William Wyler’s Oscar-winner (for best black-and-white cinematography), Laurence Olivier plays Heathcliff opposite Merle Oberon’s Cathy. The original review in Variety complained: “Dramatic episodes are vividly etched, without benefit of lightness. It’s heavy fare throughout” – as if this was inappropriate! The recent success of the Twilight series of novels (and films) has apparently revived the popularity of Brontë’s tale, with the result that a new movie version is in the works. (Marc Lee)

Los Angeles Times's Jacket Copy talks about Meg Cabot's latest book:

She’s a geek -- she used to write "Star Trek" and "Jane Eyre" fan fiction. (Casey Chan)

On the Galveston County Daily News the English vs American "language war" is recalled:

Generations of Americans were intimidated by these haughty British claims, and many Americans conceded automatic superiority to anything English, especially in matters of speech and literature.
Americans slavishly looked up to Dickens, Matthew Arnold, Charlotte Brontë, Emily Brontë and Anne Brontë, while the British refused even to read American writers such as Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allan Poe and Herman Melville. (Harold Raley)

The Times publishes an article about Katharine Hepburn's affaire with Howard Hughes and a reference to her performing Jane Eyre in theatre crops up:

But she certainly wasn’t heartbroken, and threw herself into preparing for a starring role in a play based on Jane Eyre. It was now a year since her first encounter with Howard Hughes, and he was about to re-enter her life once more by descending from a clear blue sky. (...)
“He asked me if I could have dinner with him the next week. I told him I’d be in Boston, where I would be doing Jane Eyre. When I arrived in Boston, there were flowers from Howard, who had taken the largest suite at the Ritz, where I was staying. My room was so filled with flowers, there was hardly room for me. (Charlotte Chandler)

More mentions: A bookcase is not complete without Wuthering Heights according to the Times-Transcript, The Hindu publishes a belated review of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society:

What begins as a life saver soon becomes a life line and as Juliet soon discovers, the core members not only show an interest in Shakespeare, Seneca and the Brontës, but are also fiercely protective of one another. (Nirmala Lakshman)

Fantasy/Sci-Fi Lovin' Giveaways! gives away three copies of Sherri Browning Erwin's Jane Slayre (deadline: May 4); A Literary Fest reviews Wide Sargasso Sea; a little right reading posts another photo collage contribution to Brontë-Along!; you old chicken posts about Wuthering Heights and Chen's Blog about Jane Eyre.

Finally, bronteana1 has uploaded to YouTube several talks (well, just the first minutes of them) of the latest Brontë Society Conference (York, July-August 2009). So far Margaret Smith, Dudley Green, Miriam Bailin, Christine Alexander, Paul Edmonson and several students and a clip of the Brontë Books Exhibition can be found.

Categories: Fiction, Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV, References, Wide Sargasso Sea

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Chaslin's Wuthering Heights in Israel

Frédéric Chaslin's Wuthering Heights Overture will be performed again today, April 24 in Haifa, Israel:

The New Haifa Symphony Orchestra
Frederic Chaslin, Conductor and Piano

Chaslin: Wuthering Heights
Ravel: Piano Concerto in G
Brahms: Symphony no. 4

Sun 20:30 25/04/2010 Haifa Auditorium
Mon 20:30 26/04/2010 Haifa Auditorium

The concert is repeated again in Tel Aviv (April 28, 29). The overture for Wuthering Heights was also played recently in Bologna (Italy) by the Orchestra del Teatro Communale di Bologna:

17 april 2010, Teatro Manzone
Frédéric Chaslin
Les Hauts de Hurlevent (Cime tempestose)
Ouverture dall’opera

Categories: Music, Opera, Wuthering Heights

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Instant capitulation

Julia Keller, Chicago Tribune, has been seduced by Jude Morgan's prose in Charlotte and Emily: A Novel about the Brontës (aka The Taste of Sorrow):

My latest literary snap decision came apropos of Jude Morgan's "Charlotte and Emily: A Novel of the Brontes" (St. Martin's), a fictional biography of the sisters who wrote "Jane Eyre" and "Wuthering Heights." It was published in Britain last year, but had its American debut this month.
The novel opens with the death of poor Maria, mother of Charlotte and Emily and a passel of other big-eyed urchins as well. Morgan makes it excruciating, painting the scene with pain and dread, noting "the recurring cry that rises to a scream, just as the dry, loutish wind idles and grumbles about the house and then assaults it suddenly with a gust and a shriek." Sold. The rest of the novel fully justified my instant capitulation.

The Telegraph & Argus brings back from its archives some articles about the relation between Charlotte Brontë and Lothersdale:

In the summer of 1839 the young Charlotte Bronte was living at a grand country house near Lothersdale. The then 23-year-old was employed as a governess to the wealthy mill-owning Sidgwick family of Stone Gappe.
Charlotte, who would shortly write the classic novel, Jane Eyre, appeared to have liked Lothersdale, but not a life devoted to looking after children.
Indeed, in a letter to her younger sister, Emily, she described her young charges as “riotous” and “unmanageable cubs”.
However, she was kinder in her description of Mr Sidgwick, who appears to have born a striking resemblance to Edward Rochester – the employer and eventual husband of her fictional heroine Jane Eyre.
Mr Sidgwick, who Charlotte describes on a walk with the children, even had a Newfoundland dog – much like Mr Rochester’s large black and white dog, Pilot. (...)
Many years later, in 1907, the Craven Herald passed comment on the death of Charlotte’s husband, who had died a few weeks earlier at the age of 90. (...)
Mr Nicholls had bequeathed George Richmond’s famous portrait of Charlotte, painted in 1850, to the National Portrait Gallery, and in 1907 it had gone on public display for the first time.
The Craven Herald suggested that Charlotte, who wrote under the name of Currer Bell, might have got the name from one of two sources.
“It is supposed that she either took the name from Currer Hall, near Beamsley, or else, as it is more believable, from the Currers, who then lived at Kildwick Hall, the greater part of whose magnificent library is now at Eshton Hall.”
The year before he married Charlotte, the Rev Nicholls had attended the consecration of St Mary’s Church, Embsay.
Initially, Charlotte’s father, who reportedly had a vicious temper, would not hear of the match and, 10 days after his visit to Embsay, Mr Nicholls was forced to leave the area A one-time headmaster of Skipton Grammar School, Dr Cartman, was a great friend of Charlotte’s father, Patrick.
In a letter to her father written from London on June 7, 1851, she wrote: Dear Papa, I am very glad to hear that you continue in pretty good health, and that Mr Cartman came to help you on Sunday.”
The Rev Patrick Bronte died in June, 1861 and Dr Cartman was one of the pallbearers at his funeral in Haworth.
In July 1910, the Craven Herald again passed comment about Charlotte.
Ninety of her letters were to be sold at Sotheby’s in London and one of them had been to a friend, while Charlotte was again employed as a governess – her first job after leaving the Sidgwicks.
In her reply to her friend, who had invited her away for a weekend, she had described the response she had got from her employer on asking permission.
“As soon as I had read your note, I gathered up my spirits directly, and walked, on the impulse of the moment, into Mrs … presence, popped the question, and for two minutes received no answer.
“Will she refuse me when I work so hard for her, thought I. ‘Ye-es-es, drawled Madame, in a reluctant, cold tone. ‘Thank-you Madame’, said I, with extreme cordiality, and was walking from the room when she recalled me with, ‘you’d better go on Saturday afternoon then, when the children have holiday, and if you return in time for them to have all their lessons on Monday morning, I don’t see that much time will be lost.’ You’re a genuine Turk, thought I.”
The Craven Herald concluded that the lady in question was a Mrs White – based on the evidence of Anne Bronte’s diary of 1841.
In it, she wrote about Charlotte and her attempts to be a governess. “Charlotte has left Miss Wooler, been a governess at Mrs Sidgwick’s, left her and gone to Mrs White’s.”
The paper went on to comment that Mrs Sidgwick was the mother of a Mrs Cooper, of Skipton.

The Telegraph reviews Wild Romance: The True Story of a Victorian Scandal by Chloë Schama:

Bigamy was especially marketable to the era’s sensation-loving readers: Jane Eyre had blazed the way for two of the century’s biggest popular successes, East Lynne and Lady Audley’s Secret. (Miranda Seymour)

The Guardian interviews Helen Dunmore, who discusses mothership and authorship:

Dunmore hesitates for a long time, finally settling on a tangential, academic answer. "When I was a teenager, the women writers I admired were the Brontës, Jane Austen, Virginia Woolf. The message seemed to be that if you were a woman you might possibly write something fine – but that there was something disabling about the production of children. And I wondered, was this true? That you had to cut yourself off from the whole domestic, child-populated world?" (Sarah Crown)

The Boston Herald talks about the performances of the Second City sketch comedy company in Boston. Not the first time that their Emily Brontë routine is mentioned in a review:

The show’s finest moment featured [Dana] Quercioli performing stand-up as Emily Bronte, cracking jokes about “the haunted moors” and shooting death-stares at the drummer when he hit a rimshot. (Jenna Scherer)

The Miami Herald presents the film The Four-Faced Liar which will be shown at the Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival (April 28, 7:30 pm, Regal 17)

But then Molly catches her eye when the four meet at a Greenwich Village bar. Greg and Trip bond over sports. Molly and Bridget talk a lot about Wuthering Heights, which is obviously more sexy than sports, because soon enough they're having a fling. (Connie Ogle)

The Toronto Star presents The Long Song, the latest book by Andrea Levy who is presented like this:

Addressing her “reader,” our Jamaican Charlotte Brontë allows that her mythic birth was in fact rather more prosaic. (Nancy Wigston)

JoongAng Daily (India) talks with author Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni about her latest novel, One Amazing Thing:

In addition to The Canterbury Tales and “Wuthering Heights,” I was drawing on works such as “The Decameron,” “The Arabian Nights” and the Indian wise-animal tales “The Panchatantra,” which I particularly love because my grandfather used to tell me those stories when I was a child. (Reuters)

The Sydney Morning Herald talks about the curious case of David Andrews/David Morrisset:

Andrews the novelist quotes Rumi, and both Heathcliff and Cathy from Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights as he publishes snippets of novels inspired by his varied career.

La Voz de Asturias (Spain) reviews the essay Mentes prodigiosas a través del cine by Pilar de Castro y Campo which includes in its study Les Soeurs Brontë 1977.

Pero la presencia de superdotados o de protagonistas con altas capacidades en el cine es de lo más variada. Pilar de Castro une personajes reales y de ficción y habla de el agente 007, es decir, James Bond, Hércules Poirot, Pepe Carvalho, superhéroes como Spiderman, Superman o Batman, mujeres como las hermanas Bronte y Frida, o Will Hunting. (Google translation)

Revista 80 días (Spain) suggests a Wuthering Heights route in the Pennines and Brontë country. Público (Spain) does the same mentioning the Welcome to Yorkshire campaign: 1, 2, 3 al escondite inglés.

Heathcliffe (sic) y Catherine, los protagonistas de Cumbres Borrascosas, la inmortal novela de Emily Brontë, huyeron juntos al inmenso páramo de The Moors para vivir allí, alejados de todos y de todo, su apasionado amor. Eligieron precisamente este enclave, lleno de belleza y de suaves montículos, esperando a ser explorados.
Dales High Way nos ofrece una ruta con más de ciento veinte kilómetros de recorrido a través de la región, llena de increíbles parajes naturales. Y no debes perderte, ni la catedral de Bradford, con más de quinientos años de historia, ni el Brontë Parsonage Museum, la casa de las hermanas Brontë, en la que se gestaron algunas de las más románticas novelas de la literatura. (Google translation)

Vicente Valero remembers a visit to Haworth in el Diario de Ibiza (Spain):

En el pequeño y retirado pueblecito de Haworth, en el norte de Inglaterra, durante una visita a la casa de las hermanas Brönte, pude percibir por primera vez el aroma de la luz fría, nevada, de la prosa de ‘Jane Eyre’ o de ‘Cumbres borrascosas’. Desde aquella casa rectangular, por entre las lápidas del jardín de la iglesia, todo era llanura desnuda y desolada, bajo un sol que recuerdo muy blanco. (Google translation)

Of course this touristic Yorkshire is very far from the Yorkshire described in the Red Riding Quartet by David Peace (and in their TV adaptations) as can be read in Die Welt (Germany).

The Helsingborgs Dagblad (Sweden) talks about Anne Brontë's Agnes Grey (recently translated into Swedish):

"Vad skulle Anne Brontë ha varit utan sitt ryktbara efternamn? Alldeles okänd? Eller tvärtom, en prominent författare i egen rätt?
Ja, helt klart har Anne hamnat i skuggan av sina mer namnkunniga systrar Charlotte och Emily.
Men lika klart är hon en författare som förtjänar att läsas på egna litterära meriter, inte bara som fotnot till historien om en genialisk familj. Detta gör "Agnes Grey" mindre fängslande än uppföljaren "Främlingen på Wildfell Hall", en rasande skildring av en alkoholists väg till undergången och en kvinnas väg till frigörelse. Men det är fortfarande fråga om en stark berättelse om en ung kvinna som försöker skapa sig ett självständigt liv i en tid full av begränsningar, följsamt översatt av Maria Ekman.
Anne Brontë är en observatör av rang, en vass personporträttör och skarpsynt iakttagare av sociala seder – så har hon också jämförts med Jane Austen. Ja, stundvis är hon en blixtrande ironiker. Och hon skriver med ett lågande engagemang som är allt annat än skugglikt." (Ann Lingebrandt) (Google translation)

On La Presse (Canada) we read the following comment which made us smile:

Faut pas rêver: un séjour à la bibliothèque ne transforme pas un esprit dispersé de mon calibre en Charlotte Brontë 2.0. (Sylvie St-Jacques) (Google translation)

A local Board of Library Trustee and Brontëite in the Townsend Times; The Oregonian presents yet another production of Charles Ludlam's The Mystery of Irma Vep (May 11-29) by the Bag&Baggage Company in Hillsboro, OR; The Guardian defines as fluffy last year's Tamasha Wuthering Heights performances à la Bollywood; a library-restaurant in Ruabon (Rhiwabon) (Wales) where you can "peruse the works of the Brontës" in the Daily Post North Wales; Becky's Book Reviews doesn't like Wuthering Heights but Lit and Life participates in the Fizzy Thoughts Wuthering Heights read-along; The Enchanted Serenity of Period Drama discusses the Brontë-shifting in period adaptations; Restless Violet posts about Jane Eyre, which El Diario Vasco (Spain) considers "la heroína por antonomasia de la literatura femenina" (the quintessential heroine of women's literature); Milenio (Spain) puts the Brontës as one of the examples of 'travestism' in authorship.

A finally, the week's blunder. It comes from El Norte de Castilla (Spain) which attributes the authorship of Pride and Prejudice to Jane... Eyre.

Categories: Agnes Grey, Brontëites, Haworth,Humour, Jane Eyre, Music, References, Theatre, Wuthering Heights

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Great literature demands continual reinterpretation

The Times publishes an article about the Brontë movies in the making and includes a first picture of Mia Wasikowska as Jane Eyre. Credits: Laurie Sparham. Picture Source.

In 1847 a pair of extraordinary novels appeared two months apart, apparently written by brothers.
Jane Eyre proved an immediate success while Wuthering Heights was sneered at as “wild, confused, disjointed and improbable”. Today both are among the classics of English literature.(...)
Alison Owen, the producer of Jane Eyre (and mother of the singer Lily Allen), said: “There is something about the current situation that the world finds itself in where the Brontës more suit the mood of the moment [than Austen]. Jane Austen is a lighter cut than the Brontës, who are much more brooding and bleak.” (...)
Owen said she believed that Fukunaga can pull off the same trick that the Indian director Shekhar Kapur managed with her 1998 film Elizabeth. “He is someone who is outside the culture, so he can shake it up, [meaning] we don’t get the chocolate-box version that everyone is familiar with.”
Andrea Arnold, who is directing Wuthering Heights, is a former children’s TV presenter who is one of arthouse cinema’s favourite new auteurs. (...)
Although the directors are certain to bring an idiosyncratic vision to the novels, Brontë enthusiasts should not be alarmed just yet. Fukunaga told The Times: “We are not reinventing the wheel here.” Both projects are expected to stick faithfully to the books and have sent out early statements of intent by casting actors of roughly the right age to play the heroines, in contrast to many previous screen versions. (...)
Christine Langan, the head of BBC Films, acknowledged that revisiting classics is a fraught business. “There will be people saying, ‘Why the hell are they doing that all over again?’.” But the film industry is an uncertain place at the best of times and more than ever the search is on for stories with which audiences feel a familiar connection.
Six years ago 400 prominent women were asked which books had made the greatest difference to their lives. Wuthering Heights came second — just behind Jane Eyre. (Ben Hoyle)

The Times also makes a very interesting (and pertinent) comment on these new more 'social' approaches to the Brontë novels:

Philip Larkin said that he wrote poetry out of an impulse to preserve. Those who care about preserving English literature may feel apprehension at the prospect of film adaptations of the two best-known novels of the Brontë sisters. But while the directors may seem unlikely, a quiet anticipation of their interpretations would be justified.
Cary Fukunaga, who has directed a film about the travails of Mexican immigrants to the US, is to tackle Charlotte’s Jane Eyre for BBC Films. Andrea Arnold, who has made two films set on deprived housing estates, will direct Emily’s Wuthering Heights for Film4. Purists will note that Fukunaga had not read the book when he was approached to do the film, but admires the script.
Social realism and kitchen sink drama are movements distinctively of the 20th rather than the 19th century. But they are a legitimate prism through which to understand the Brontës’ work. Novels of the 18th and 19th centuries, especially those by women, have suffered from popular perception that they are primarily costume dramas about more refined times. Yet George Eliot wrote of the clash between country and industrialisation, and faith and scepticism. Jane Austen used irony to show how her heroines’ sensibilities became more ordered. And the Brontë sisters both exemplified and superseded the spirit of the Romantic movement.
Jane Eyre is torn by her wish for emotional fulfilment and her sense of spiritual obligation. Both Brontë novels are unusual for their times, in resisting an easy moralism and questioning what is expected of women. Great literature demands continual reinterpretation. Directors who come to the works afresh are amply qualified for the task.

Concerning Andrea Arnold's Wuthering Heights production, the UK Film Council has awarded the production £300,000 Lottery funding:

The UK Film Council is pleased to continue to support Andrea's inspirational career as one of Britain's most exciting female directors, after backing her previous award-winning filmsWasp, Red Road and Fish Tank. Wuthering Heights has received £300,000 Lottery funding from the UK Film Council, and is co-financed by Film4, Goldcrest and Screen Yorkshire. Artificial Eye acquired UK rights from HanWay Films who are responsible for worldwide sales.

Categories: Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV, Wuthering Heights

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Charlotte Brontë's Corset

A new Brontë Society Publication:

Charlotte Brontë's Corset
by Katrina Naomi
ISBN: 978-1-903007-12-9
Brontë Society Publications
19 April 2010
£4.99

Charlotte Brontë's Corset brings together a collection of Brontë-inspired poems written by the poet Katrina Naomi during her residency at the Brontë Parsonage Museum.

This new pamphlet will be available directly from the author as well as from the Brontë Parsonage Museum.

Categories: Brontë Society, Poetry

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Becoming Mrs Reed

Geeks of Doom gives Jane Slayre a 4.5 out of 5:

Overall, Erwin does a great job of mixing this supernatural twist into the classic piece of literature. I especially enjoyed Jane’s childhood and found the addition of zombies and werewolves very interesting and fun. There are a few moments when vampires are added to scenes in the story which don’t exactly fit and feel a little clunky, but that is rare in comparison to the rest of the book which it is very well done and actually very smoothly mixed in.
What this book does differently than other mash-ups I’ve enjoyed is that it follows a longer span of time and follows one person’s life rather than multiple characters’ perspectives of the supernatural events taking place. I felt as if the reader was watching Jane grow as a person as she got older.
Jane is a great character with a very interesting personality. What Erwin does well with this book is show how this twist of being a Slayre would effect Jane in her growth and personality. Jane is a very strong Independent woman as she was in Jane Eyre, but add this power of the Slayre blood to the equation and you have a whole other aspect of her strength. She will not be played for a fool and will not be treated as inferior. Jane is one of the strongest characters I have read in a long while and almost anyone can find something to enjoy in her and in her story.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of the original Jane Eyre or anybody who is at all interested in any kind of supernatural stories especially, if you are a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Pretty much if you are interested in a good story, pick this up. (Guy_Jen)

The New Zealand Herald reports that Sally Hawkins is about to begin playing the role of Mrs Reed in the now-filming Jane Eyre:

She leaves Auckland at the end of the week to work on Jane Eyre, due for release next year. (Jacqueline Smith)

Katrin Figge writes a love letter to books in The Jakarta Globe which includes:

“Wuthering Heights” had me galloping alongside Heathcliff and Cathy through the moors of Yorkshire.

And The Irish Independent reminds us of where the filming of the soap opera Emmerdale used to take place:

The opening titles of Emmerdale show the wonderful valley of Littondale, home to the tiny village of Arncliffe. For many years the show was filmed around the village of Esholt in Brontë country near Bradford, and the village is still home to a Woolpack Inn. Today, the soap is shot on a purpose-built set, but a few days touring the sights listed above, plus Otley and Ilkley, will reveal much that is familiar, including the famous Cow and Calf Rocks. (Tom Hall)

Finally, The World of Romance posts a review of Laura Joh Rowland's forthcoming Bedlam: The Further Secret Adventures of Charlotte Brontë. At BrontëBlog we will publish our review closer to the release date (May 13th), so stay tuned.

Categories: Books, Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV, Wuthering Heights

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