Broken hearts and mean girls

Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love, is a Brontëite. Or at least she seems to be when she speaks about her new book to The New York Times:

Consider the efforts that went into producing “The Signature of All Things.” Gilbert spent three and a half years on research alone. She hopscotched the globe, enlisted the aid of a dozen experts, then granted herself the right to run wild with the plot. The result is a rousing homage to the literary heroes she grew up reading. “I just wanted to play with the people I love the most — Dickens, the Brontës, Eliot, James,” Gilbert says. “I wanted to jump around in their world. It was fun as hell to set the bar that high.” (Steve Almond)

The New York Times also carries the story of an English professor who believes he has lighted upon the real name of Hannah Crafts, author of the first novel known to be written by an African-American, The Bondwoman’s Narrative.

Beyond simply identifying the author, the professor’s research offers insight into one of the central mysteries of the novel, believed to be semi-autobiographical: how a house slave with limited access to education and books was heavily influenced by the great literature of her time, like “Bleak House” and “Jane Eyre,” and how she managed to pull off a daring escape from servitude, disguised as a man. (Julie Bosman)

The Guardian reviews a book we mentioned a few days ago: The Novel Cure by Susan Elderkin and Ella Berthoud.

At the outset Berthoud and Elderkin make it clear that they are not going to make any distinction between emotional and physical pain; they are as interested in literature that will help you heal a broken leg (Cleave by Nikki Gemmell) as much as a broken heart (Jane Eyre). (Gavin Francis)

Sarah Reed has made it onto a list of '10 Mean Girls In Literature' compiled by Gill Hornby for The Huffington Post.

Sarah Reed in "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte
Mrs. Reed is neither Jane's friend nor her contemporary; she is her aunt by marriage, who finds herself having to adopt Jane against her own wishes. But she is undeniably mean, quite savagely spiteful, in spite or perhaps because of Jane's acute vulnerability. Tormenting the less-entitled of one's own gender? Yup, that counts. She's in.

About has an article on love in literature.

You may have been drawn to Romeo and Juliet, Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy, Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester--all the literary romances through time in literature. With their stories, writers tell us that love is pain, that it's ever-changing/evolving. Lost love causes the biggest heartache; but once found, it offer the greatest joys. That's why so many writers have written about love, romance, passion, connection, bliss, relationship(s)--all that is, or could be. (Esther Lombardi)

Open Source goes for a more practical aspect of the classics:

Could you image if current copyright terms existed two hundred years ago? Things like The Lizzie Bennet Diaries and The Autobiography of Jane Eyre (two modernized adaptations on YouTube) might not exist if the works they were based on never fell out of copyright. (Ginny Skalski)

The News and Star mourns the passing of an 18-year-old who loved reading and was about to start reading Wuthering Heights. Making the Write Connections shares a few thoughts after having read The Brontë Sisters: the Brief Lives of Charlotte, Emily and Anne by Catherine Reef. Screencaps from Jane Eyre 1944 shared by Lost in Time. Here's a Brontë-related cartoon by Donald Barthelme, published in the August 1971 issue of Harper’s as shown by Bibliokept. You can see Patrick Brontë's fob chain and an 1846 map of Haworth on the Brontë Parsonage Facebook page.