Ten Brontë pounds for Branwell Brontë

First of all, a happy birthday to Branwell Brontë, born on a day like today in 1817.

We wonder what he would make of the fact that one of his sisters might appear on a £10 note. The Guardian thinks it should be Jane Austen on the new bank notes, as she created the character of Elinor Dashwood. Emily Brontë is a strong contender, though:

Surely someone like Emily Brontë, whose stock market investments on her family's behalf belie her unworldly image, or George Eliot, with her appetite for large advances and interest in Germany, might be a more business-friendly choice of novelist? 

But then again, if that's what were are judging, Charlotte Brontë created Jane Eyre, who had a windfall of £20,000 pounds. That could rub off a little.

A young commenter on CBBC's Newsround thinks it should be the Brontë sisters:

"I think the Brontë sisters should be on a note because they wrote a lot of very popular books and they are great role models for women."
Ciara, Bristol, England

However, it does look like (also here) it will be Jane Austen after all.

Ian Brady, known as the Moors murderer, has now broken his silence of nearly 50 years and has mentioned Wuthering Heights. We have been unable to find his actual words as there seem to be three versions:

From the Guardian:

"Why are we still talking about Jack the Ripper over a century on? Because of the dramatic background: the fog, the cobbled streets … it fascinates them. With the Moors it's the same: Wuthering Heights, Hound of the Baskervilles, that sort of thing." (Helen Pidd)

From Express:

Referring to his notoriety, Brady said: "Why are they [the public] still talking about Jack the Ripper, after a century? Because of the dramatic background, the fog, cobbled streets.
"Mine's the same... Wuthering Heights, Hound Of The Baskervilles." (Owen Bennett)

And from the Sydney Morning Herald:

"I can go into the reasons, they're somewhat theatrical, why they're still talking about it. Jack the Ripper, after a century, it fascinates them because of the dramatic background; capes, cobbled streets - the moors is the same thing. Wuthering Heights and all that, The Hound of the Baskervilles." (Gordon Rayner)

Way to soil the novel.

Diario de Mendoza (Argentina) also makes a strange statement:

Las jóvenes, frescas y vírgenes, constituían una fuente de tentaciones: eran, por el sólo hecho de serlo, una provocación para los hombres de todas las edades. Y la literatura lo reflejó a través de las novelas de Balzac, Proust y las hermanas Brontë, entre otras. (Patricia Rodón) (Translation)

What? It sounds as if the Brontës wrote Lolita.

Cool Age reviews The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.