A Daphne Award for The Jane Eyre Chronicles

The winners of the Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense have been announced and Joanne Cambpell Slan's The Jane Eyre Chronicles: Death of a Schoolgirl is the winner in the Historical Romance category:

Historical Romantic Mystery/Suspense
Finalist: Anna Lee Huber for The Anatomist's Wife
Finalist: Andrea Penrose for Recipe For Treason
Finalist: Jillian Stone for A Dangerous Liaison with Detective Lewis
Finalist: Jillian Stone for An Affair with Mr. Kennedy
WINNER: Joanna Campbell Slan for Death of a Schoolgirl: The Jane Eyre Chronicles

Crime Fiction Examiner asks the author about the award and the novel:

As the winner of the 2013 Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence, Slan has proven herself. That has not, however, changed the way she sees her writing. “The Daphne is like this huge blessing from an unseen hand. I approached writing historical romance on my knees in fear, trembling and quaking. I kid you not . . . From the moment I conceived the project, I knew I was treading on sacred soil. Brontë was a genius.” The award has, however, affirmed for Slan her status as a writer. “I feel a warm glow inside. A little voice keeps doing a happy dance and yelling, ‘I did it!’ I hope she never settles down.”  (Terry Ambrose)

And J.K. Rowling's nom de plume is still in the news:

When Joanne Rowling found a company to publish her tale of the unique orphan with a lightning scar, they suggested she use her initials to fool readers into believing she was a male writer. Without a middle name, she chose “K” from the other letters in the alphabet to complete her penname, and Joanne joined the ranks of the Brontë sisters, Louisa May Alcott and Mary Ann Evans by masking her gender to hide the fact that she was a female author. (Brittany Taman in Florida Flambeau News)

The Huffington Post publishes a top ten of best book-to-movie adaptations. Andrea Arnold's Wuthering Heights is chosen:

Directed by British realist, Andrea Arnold, whose previous two films were set on rundown housing estates in Glasgow and London, this 2011 adaptation is as much a departure from Brontë's classic novel as it is from Arnold's previous work.
Omitting the second half of the book, like the previous 1939 adaptation, and eschewing the prominence of Nelly Dean, Arnold's unique take on the romantic drama is brought to life by some powerful performances drawn from a cast of relative newcomers, as well as highly evocative and beautiful cinematography of the bleak and billowing landscape.

Svenska Dagbladet (Sweden) asks local writers for forgotten or not so well-known novels. Ellen Mattson chooses Villette and publishes an enthusiastic vindication:

Vill man sammanfatta det centrala temat i ”Villette” är det just tillvarons uppdelning i skuggvarelser och solskensbarn, en grym ordning som Lucy hanterar på det enda sätt som är möjligt för en fattig, oskön och ensam kvinna i hennes situation och med hennes moraliska resning: genom att acceptera den, genom att applådera den. Tappert ser hon sig själv i spegeln och erkänner att skuggorna passar henne bättre. Hon vet att varje försök att överträda gränsen skulle leda till katastrof – och ändå, när möjligheten erbjuds tar hon den. (...)
Man kan säga att ”Villette” är den osminkade versionen av ”Jane Eyre”, den ocensurerade, sanna versionen. Och om ”Jane Eyre” har en lyskraft som aldrig falnat har ”Villette” något annat, ett mörker så kompakt att det lyser omvänt. Denna höghalsade och långärmade 1800-talsroman är helt enkelt den naknaste bekännelsebok jag någonsin läst. Den är så självutlämnande att det gör ont. Följaktligen har den inte blivit älskad så som den förtjänar och medan den som lever tillräckligt länge säkert kommer att få se ytterligare 17 filmatiseringar av ”Jane Eyre” har ”Villette” bara filmats en enda gång, år 1970. (Translation)

Film1 announces the Dutch TV premiere of Wuthering Heights 2011:

wo 24 juli 20.30 uur - 22.33 uur
do 25 juli 10.25 uur - 12.28 uur
zo 28 juli 11.30 uur - 13.33 uur

Book View Cafe talks about his love for Jane Eyre and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (but not for Wuthering Heights); Come pass the borders of what´s real (in Polish) reviews Agnes Grey.