A poster in a Manor House

Blake Morrison writes in The Guardian about country houses in English literature:

[N]ovels with an English country house setting are among the most acclaimed written in recent years. (...) And what they confirm is the continuing attraction of the English country house to the literary imagination. (...)
That tradition is reflected in the number of classics with houses as their title – Howards End, Waverley, Wuthering Heights, Mansfield Park, Northanger Abbey, The Spoils of Poynton – not to mention the fictional houses made so memorable that they rank with real ones – Pemberley (home to Mr Darcy), Manderley (home to Max de Winter) Thornfield (home to Mr Rochester), Baskerville Hall, and so on. (...)
In Fielding's novels, the handsome but lowly heroes end up owning country estates. The footman Joseph Andrews has the patronage of Mr Booby to thank and the foundling Tom Jones turns out to be of noble birth; because they're essentially good men, despite some rough and tumble, they merit their good fortune. Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights has no such entitlement, either by birth (he's a "gypsy brat" from Liverpool) or through his behaviour, but he revenges himself on his betters by becoming the owner of both Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange – a troubling outcome for 19th-century readers and reviewers. (...)
For every surprise possession of a country house, there must also be a dispossession, and fiction is full of these, too. At the start of Sense and Sensibility, John Dashwood succeeds to the Norland estate and defies his father's dying wishes by failing to provide for his three half-sisters and their mother, who're forced to move out and rent the "defective" if charming Barton Cottage. The romantic twists that follow – is Edward a suitable match for Elinor? Will Marianne end up with Willoughby or Colonel Brandon? – include many references to property, to what these men do and don't own. Austen heroines aren't so vulgar as to gossip about wealth; they leave that to others ("His woods! I have not seen such timber any where in Dorsetshire!"). But come the denouement, it's unthinkable that their circumstances should be reduced. The same goes for Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre: "Reader I married him" – and lived happily ever after in a manor-house.

Tanya Gold writes in The Guardian about the SlutWalks and a Brontë reference is compulsory:

I count the sluts. There are only 30 so far. Surely more will march against the pervasiveness of rape than for the right to kill foxes? And, as I wonder if the UK SlutWalk will die in childbirth, I watch a slut munch her first victim. He is a Christian preacher in a tracksuit, wearing the sort of microphone that Cheryl Cole dribbles on. He is St John Rivers plus Sean Combs.

The Huddersfield Examiner lists a series of activities going on at Colne Valley district:

Pat Osborne spoke at the St James’ Parish Church (Slaithwaite) Saturday afternoon tea and talk, when she revealed the lives of the Brontës and said Howarth (sic) was not the pretty place it is today. Many people died of cholera and there were as many as 12 funerals a day – many young people. Even so, Patrick Brontë lived into his mid- 80s but mainly as a recluse. Pat gave a very in-depth insight into the Brontë sisters and, after a spellbinding afternoon, is booked to return later in the year. A cream tea was served afterwards and delicious home made cakes were on sale. About 50 people attended and almost £200 raised for church funds. (Yvette Smith)

The Queens Courier covers another talk with Brontë mentions in Bayside High School (NY):

Adriana Trigiani, former writer for "The Cosby Show," and author of the critically acclaimed Big Stone Gap series, as well as her young adult novel Viola in Reel Life, visited Bayside High School on Thursday, May 19. (...) She also spoke about the influence of Harper Lee on her life, as well as the novel Jane Eyre, which resonated with the students, having read both Jane Eyre and To Kill a Mockingbird.

The Weekly Standard vindicates George Gissing, the forgotten Victorian. The article begins with a reference to those critical days when the only relevant 19th-century novelist was Dickens:

Not so long ago, Charles Dickens was the 19th-century British novelist. The others—Austen, the Brontë sisters, Eliot, Thackeray, Trollope, Hardy—were his contemporaries and predecessors and successors and rivals. They were judged against him and considered in his light. In the view of Edmund Wilson, Dickens was “the greatest writer of his time.” (Jonathan Leaf)

Ahlan! reviews Jane Eyre 2011:

This isn’t your average period romance. If you’re thinking Pride and Prejudice or The Duchess, you’d be mistaken. And while you may know the story of Jane Eyre inside out ­– read the book, watched the TV movies and studied every page of Charlotte Brontë’s classic – I’m sure you’ve never experienced the story quite like this. (...)
From the hauntingly beautiful setting of the rainy English countryside, to the stunning costumes worn to perfection by each character, the film picks you out of your seat and draws you deep into the heart of Jane and Rochester’s love affair. And with each character playing their part in Oscar-worthy style, I’d be surprised and, well, heart-broken if it doesn’t get the recognition it deserves. (Dana Nodjoumi)

The Pennsylvania Sentinel adds:

[I]t's definitely a movie worth checking out, especially if you're a fan of British period pieces. Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender deliver some of the better performances I've seen this year and capture the characters much better than some previous versions of "Jane Eyre." (Naomi Creason)

Alert reader Jill has sent us a link with the all the Jane Eyre 2011 posters up to date. We had seen the Russian, Korean and British ones, but the Israeli one is quite new to us (the film opens in Israel next June 30).

The Princetown Beacon talks about the book Meggie Brooks by Daphne Woods who says:

  ”It evokes for me memories of Maggie in ‘The Mill on the Floss’ as it chronicles the development of a little girl into a young woman. Nobody would read that and say it was a young adult novel. For that matter, ‘Jane Eyre,’ ‘David Copperfield’ and ‘The Thornbirds’ are all novels that start out with children and childhood and move the characters into young adulthood. My intent was to write a novel that defies categories and transcends boundaries,” she explained. (Linda Seida)

The Express Tribune (Pakistan) reacts to the Naipaul boutade:

Sure, male writers out do the female writers when it comes to numbers, but not when it comes to the quality of work being written. Jane Austen, the Brontë sisters, George Eliot, Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Plath, Maya Angelou, Emily Dickinson are women whose writings are among the best written in their times, and without who’s contributions a great chasm would be created in world literature. (Sana Hussain)

Daemon's Books reviews The School of Night by Louis Bayard:

I love a book where I can fall into the language and just enjoy it for that. Anne Rice is another author who has wonderful words (although her last few books, story-wise, left something to be desired.) Perhaps that is why I go back and read Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, Evelyn Waugh and Patrick O’Brian.

Slate reviews the film The Trip:

On a vaguely defined assignment for a newspaper, Coogan has been sent to the picturesque Lake District to review six high-end restaurants. When his girlfriend backs out at the last minute, Coogan invites Brydon instead, making it clear that he tried and failed to get several other friends to come along first. And so the two men, who inhabit a limbo somewhere between friends, colleagues, and rivals, set out in Coogan's Range Rover to explore the land of Romantic poets and the Brontë sisters. (Dana Stevens)

Well, the Lake District was visited by Charlotte Brontë but it is not the land of the Brontë sisters at all.

Speaking of the Lake District, The Times has an article on Ambleside where the journalist saw:

displays explaining the town’s links with Beatrix Potter, Charlotte Brontë, ThomasCarlyle, the 19th-century social reformer, Harriet Martineau and Woodrow Wilson, the US president — Ambleside seems to have attracted all sorts over the years. (Tom Chesshyre)

The Huffington Post believes that Jane Eyre is the most popular and the best book of Charlotte Brontë:

Of course, there are plenty of cases where an author's masterpiece deserves the top billing it gets in the author's canon. Among the many examples of this are Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre[.] (Dave Astor)

La Rioja (Spain) reviews a local production of Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap:

«Para presentar a un público actual una obra de referencias tan clásicas -explica el director- había que plantearse el estilo y el lenguaje teatral con el que queríamos volver a contar esta historia. Para ello hemos vuelto a los referentes románticos con los que el público identifica este tipo de historias y el mundo visual en el que se desarrollan».
Los referentes a los que se refiere son principalmente cinematográficos: películas clásicas basadas en novelas de la autora (Muerte en el Nilo, Asesinato en el Orient Express.) y otros thrillers románticos (Rebeca, Cumbres borrascosas) que han pintado nuestro subconsciente romántico. (J. Sainz) (Translation)

Paperblog (Italy) reviews The Sky is Everywhere:

Lennie era felice della sua vita pigramente perfetta: i bagni al fiume, la lettura e rilettura di Cime tempestose, l’ammirazione smodata per la sorella, il suo clarinetto e la musiche. (Giulie) (Translation)

Wiadomości24 reviews a Polish translation of Soulless by Gail Carrigan:

"Bezduszna" stylizowana jest na wzór angielskich powieści właśnie z tego okresu. Językiem, opisywanymi sytuacjami, zachowaniami bohaterów czy wreszcie nastrojem, przypomina nieco te najpopularniejsze - jak powieści Charlotte Brontë czy Jane Austen. (Judyta Rykowska) (Translation)

The Paperback Swap Blog asks writer Emery Lee about her writing influences:

I have always loved the 18th and 19th century classics (Dickens, Thackeray, Austen, the Brontë sisters and … of course Henry Fielding) and fell in love with the historical romances of Georgette Heyer as I was growing up. I believe this combination of authors most influenced me. (Jerelyn)

Klassekampen (Norway) interviews A.S. Byatt who says:

- Kvinnekampen på 1960- og 70-tallet handlet i for stor grad om hvordan kvinnelige forfattere ble holdt nede av menn. Det har aldri vært sant i England, sier Byatt.
De politiske rettighetene til kvinnelige forfattere har nok manglet, vedgår Byatt. Men Brontë-søstrene, George Elliott og Jane Austen ble lest og likt av menn. Byatt, som ser på seg selv som en politisk feminist, mener at doktrinen om at det «personlige er politisk» ble tatt for langt, og har ført til at vi i dag mangler sterke kvinnelige stemmer innenfor litteraturen. (Ida Karine Gullvik) (Translation)

Beccaelizabeth continues discussing aspects of Jane Eyre while Caramel Screen posts about the 2011 adaptation of the novel. Apollodoro (Italy) discusses the ongoing British Library exhibition with Brontë juvenilia.

Categories: Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV, References