Classic book, not classic behaviour

Jane Eyre makes it onto Holly Bourne's 'top 10 love stories with a twist' in the Guardian's children's books section.

10) Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
You've got to end on a classic, and it doesn't get more classic than Jane Eyre. But, really, Brontë's isn't a typical romance story. A plain protagonist (God forbid), an unlikeable hero, a boring backdrop - and of course the crazy wife larking about in the attic. Jane's character, and the way she behaves throughout her love affair with Mr Rochester was pretty revolutionary for the time it was written. She's determined to be her own person, demanding to stay his employee and governess after their marriage. And she chooses conscience over passion - refusing to be his mistress when Bertha is unearthed. Classic book, not classic behaviour, and you gotta love it for that.

The Mirror looks into the influence of Grimms' fairy tales as today, September 20th, marks the 150th anniversary of Jacob Grimm's death.

There are fairy tale elements in some of the great Victorian novels, for example Jane Eyre and Great Expectations, not to mention darker works such as Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, The Picture of Dorian Gray and Dracula itself. (Bill Gray)

The Boston Globe focuses on bullying in literature:

The novels of Dickens and Charlotte Brontë are full of bullying, both societal and personal. Even Jane Austen, in her delicate way, gives us a painful small instance of how a good person can momentarily turn bully, when her highborn heroine Emma is publicly snide to Miss Bates, a poor spinster. Sometimes the bully is an untrammeled monster; and sometimes the bully is heedless and thoughtless. (Joan Wickersham)

The Virginian-Pilot features a local teacher.

Jane Eyre taught Carrie Gantt to love travel.
The heroine who roamed England’s moors, finding her own way in the world through Charlotte Brontë’s novel, had such independence – Gantt wanted to be just like that. But she was just a kid, so she satisfied her wanderlust by reading.
Today, travel and books are two of Gantt’s passions. The third is teaching. (Elisabeth Hulette)

The Palestine Herald (Texas) has a story on a local mural in the works:

After fleshing out some details — including expanding the mural’s theme to incorporate 100 classic literature titles and involving local art students — Sloan said she starting approaching key supporters with the idea.
“The club was delighted when I brought it before them, the mall manager was delighted, the city was delighted — everyone has been extremely supportive,” she said.
Sloan said Slattery compiled the list of books which includes popular tales by Charles Dickens, Charlotte and Emily Brontë, Sir Walter Scott, Jane Austen, Rudyard Kipling, Anna Sewell, Jules Verne and, yes, Twain, too. Sloan said efforts were made to choose books that would appeal to both girls and boys.
“Our project strongly encourages students to actually read these books,” Sloan said. “We certainly want to get them interested in the classics, but more importantly we want to inspire them to read.” (Cheril Vernon)

Soy Chai Bookshelf posts about Villette. Ink Pellet reviews the performances of Ilkley Playhouse's Wuthering Heights at the Minack Theatre.

The Brontë Parsonage Facebook page reports a recent visit of Jamie Cullum to the museum:

Last night (September 18th) we had a special visit from BBC Radio 4 and jazz pianist Jamie Cullum. He’s currently travelling the country for his new radio programme Jamie’s Piano Pilgrimage about the history of piano playing. Jamie swung by to find out about the Brontës’ love of music and the importance of the piano in the lives of Victorian women. The Brontë piano was thought to have been originally bought on the request of Branwell Brontë by his father Patrick, but it was Anne and especially Emily who loved to play it.
Brontë Society Executive Director Ann Sumner even presented Jamie with a beautiful copy of Wuthering Heights and one of the lovely T-shirts that are available from our museum shop.

The Brontë Parsonage Facebook page also shows Patrick Brontë's glasses.