Too Victorian indeed

The New York Times highlights these covers for new editions of classics, such as Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights.

Teenagers are still reading the classics. They just don’t want them to look so, well, classic.
That is the theory of publishers who are wrapping books like “Emma” and “Jane Eyre” in new covers: provocative, modern jackets in bold shades of scarlet and lime green that are explicitly aimed at teenagers raised on “Twilight” and “The Hunger Games.”
The new versions are cutting edge replacements for the traditional (read: stuffy, boring) covers that have been a trademark of the classics for decades, those familiar, dour depictions of women wearing frilly clothing. In their place are images like the one of Romeo in stubble and a tight white tank top on a new Penguin edition of “Romeo and Juliet.” [...]
After the “Twilight” books by Stephenie Meyer became a sensation, paranormal romances boomed. In the last several years, the “Hunger Games” trilogy has inspired dozens of dystopian novels.
Some of the redesigned jackets are clearly inspired by the “Twilight” series. HarperCollins released a cover for “Wuthering Heights” with a stark black background, a close-up of a red rose and an inscription that reads, “Bella & Edward’s favorite book.” (Critics sneered that it was a “Twilight” rip-off.) [...]
Sales of some young-adult versions have been strong. The HarperCollins edition of “Wuthering Heights” has sold 125,000 copies since it was released in 2009, an extraordinary number that sent the book back to the best-seller lists.[...]
Now the new versions of the classics are fighting for space on the young-adult shelves of bookstores. In a Barnes & Noble in Manhattan last week, a display featured four new editions of novels by Jane Austen and the Brontë sisters alongside more contemporary offerings of paranormal romances. (Upstairs in the adult-fiction section, more traditional versions of the classics were lined up on the shelves.)
At the Book Revue bookstore in Huntington, N.Y., new versions of the classics have sold briskly, surprising the store’s owner, Julie Klein.
“I wasn’t sure they would sell at all, to be honest,” she said. “As a bookseller, I appreciate the classics and I love when I can sell them to a new generation. Anything that gets kids to look at them.”
In March, Splinter, an imprint of Sterling Publishing, began releasing its Classic Lines series, paperback editions of classic novels with French flaps and delicate illustrations on the jackets that have the appearance of watercolors. For the artwork, the publisher hired Sara Singh, a Manhattan-based fashion illustrator.
“My challenge was to make something that’s classic look appealing to tweens,” she said. Referring to the covers, she added, “We wanted to make them fashionable and beautiful, with bright colors and handwritten text.”
Alli Brydon, the editor of the series, dismissed more traditional covers as too “Victorian” and “old-fashioned” for teenagers. On the jacket of a classic edition of “Jane Eyre” in Barnes & Noble, for instance, a woman is staring mournfully into the distance, her skin nearly the same yellowish hue as the wall behind her, a black coat hiding her neck.
“It doesn’t show her brazen qualities, and it doesn’t show her bravery,” said Ms. Brydon, who oversaw a Classic Lines cover for the novel featuring a bright purple sketch of the book’s heroine with her chin held up jauntily. “A lot of the old covers don’t convey some of the feminist ideas that the books hold.” [...]
Tess Jagger-Wells, a 15-year-old high school sophomore from San Rafael, Calif., said she counted “Jane Eyre” among her favorite books, a story she loved for its old-fashioned, “charming” moments that “you had to wait for — they weren’t just handed to you.”
For classics like that and “Pride and Prejudice,” Tess said she preferred her hardcover editions with their flowery covers to the more modern versions.
“It’s fun to have the originals in your house to look at and show people,” she said. “It kind of goes with the feeling of the classic as something that’s treasured, something that you want to keep. The new covers make the books look like cheap romance novels.” (Julie Bosman)

We actually like these covers, but while generally - well - on the 'classic' side, there have been a few bold covers of the Brontë novels in recent years such as Rubén Toledo's Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights or Dame Darcy's Jane Eyre.

Regardless of its cover, OpEdNews recommends Shirley and sees its relevance today:

Charlotte Brontë's novel Shirley is a must read for people interested in the topics of: economic justice; Occupy Wall Street ideas; women's social history; feminism; war and peace; and charity. Brontë's second published book, coming on the heels of the success of her Jane Eyre, is another masterpiece, full of drama and surprises, with some radical politics, and an extra heroine thrown into the mix.
Why haven't many people heard of this book? One set of reasons can be traced to the structure of the book, while another set of reasons relates to suppression due to the political climate of the 1840's, when it was published, through to today. [...]
Another political tension with this book, is that it explores, in a thoughtful and layered way, the battle between the businesspeople of the industrial revolution versus the Luddites and the Frame-Breakers. Luddites (some of whom were Frame-Breakers) rejected the new technology of the industrial revolution. Frame-Breakers broke the machinery of the mills as part of their rebellion.
By exploring this historical crisis and moral, the book could become a handbook for people immersed in struggle. It explores strategic and moral questions such as: Is violence justified in political struggle? Which group, class, or government entity should be responsible for taking care of the poor in times of economic upheaval? Should the rich help the poor, and why?  Should church people involve themselves in the politics of justice? What are important communication and public relations strategies for groups in struggle?
In addition to these wider social and political plot lines, there are also heartfelt, people-centered plot lines. There is a family with roots in Belgium who tries to assimilate (or not) into English culture. There are Yorkshire characters from every background and class. And, the story contains many sets of lovers. Brontë even shares old love stories, played out until death, that arise from the many character sketches in the book.
The book truly has "something for everyone", as it includes romance, politics, business, war, and personal struggle. And, if you are a devotee of Jane Eyre, it seems only fair to give Charlotte Brontë a second chance to win you over with a good book. Charlotte Brontë's Shirley is truly an overlooked masterpiece, full of wisdom, fascinating characters, and dramatic entertainment. (Kimberly Wilder)

More on the Brontëiteness of folk singer Emily Jane White in SF Weekly.

White grew up in Ft. Bragg, a small town in Northern California. She didn't have Internet access, and the family owned no television. This isolation allowed her to develop her own singular style when she started writing lyrics. "I read a lot of books and poetry growing up: Edna St. Vincent Millay, Edgar Allan Poe, Emily Jane Brontë, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Toni Morrison. Lyrically, I'm not influenced by songwriters and musicians, but by poets and authors. I was writing my own piano songs in high school, but I was very shy. I didn't perform any of my own songs, even for my friends, until I was in college. [...]" (J. Poet)

In an article on writing about Africa for The Huffington Post, Malla Nunn reminisces about her mother's reading:

My mother, a former English teacher, was thrilled to have an author daughter. Books had transported her from a mud-brick shack in Swaziland to Mark Twain's Mississippi River and Emily Brontë's Yorkshire Moors.

PJ media editor Bridget Johnson discusses Fifty Shades of Grey on NPR:

Johnson: Well, you know, I think a lot of it goes to the draw that women have towards stories about two tormented souls finding each other, because it actually nudges on a deeper level that life, including the picture-perfect family, isn't always so picture-perfect. But, you know, what was really interesting was that in this Washington Post review of this book it kind of likened it to "Jane Eyre." But, you know, Jane Eyre had a really strong pro-woman theme that, you know, transcended, you know, all the S&M stuff, you know, where Mr. Rochester was really only worthy of her love until he atoned for his sins of the past and their passion was actually rooted in tenderness and forgiveness. So I don't know if it's a matter of, you know, being drawn to this sort of tormented theme but then kind of going off course to something that doesn't have any meaning.

Jean De Wolf writes about this year's AGM on the Brussels Brontë Blog. Jane Eyre is reviewed by A Tub of Jelly Beans and goodbookscents while The Northman Business writes in Portuguese about the 2011 adaptation. Movie Classics discusses Wuthering Heights 1939 and Filmoteca ámbar writes in Spanish about Wuthering Heights 2011.