A tough read, but necessary

The Cornishman reviews the Lincoln's Chapterhouse Theatre Company open-air production of Wuthering Heights as performed in Penzance:

It takes courage to even think of staging a version of it in the open air, and all credit to Chapterhouse Theatre Company for not only thinking about it but also doing it.
However, adapted by Laura Turner, and directed by Rebecca Gadsby, and played on an itsy-bitsy set, on which the only thing worth noting was the tree inscribed with the names Catherine and Heathcliff, and performed within barely a couple of hours by eight actors, it left a lot to be desired. (...)
Although the members of the cast worked hard, the condensing of such a huge novel meant that there was no time for anything such as character development, or even childbirth or mourning, a shortage which led to certain scenes coming dangerously close to being comic rather than melodramatic. (Frank Ruhrmund)

Skegness Standard announces an upcoming performance (July 5) of the production in Gunby Hall. The Herald does the same with the Hopetoun House performance on July 13.

The Haworth Parish Church roof project is again in the news. In Keighley News:

A major restoration scheme to renovate the roof of Haworth Parish Church could be in line for Heritage Lottery cash.
The church has received initial support from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for its North Roofs restoration project. The HLF has endorsed the scheme's outline proposals.
The initiative, which aims to repair and refurbish the north-facing roofs of the historic Victorian building, now has up to two years to submit full proposals to compete for a firm award at a later date.
The roofs are in urgent need of repair to make the building waterproof again. It is hoped that the restoration can be carried out during the spring of 2015. (...)
The Rev Peter Mayo-Smith, priest-in-charge at the church, said: “We’re delighted that the Heritage Lottery Fund has given us this support.
"The church building has been at the centre of village life and it’s still important to Haworth not only as a place of worship but as a centre for community activities and entertainment. It’s great to know that we are a step closer to preserving it for another century.”

The Michigan Daily reviews the film Belle:

The ending is predictable, but the journey is not. Intelligent dialogue and sensitive direction entertain to the very end. If you love Brontë and Austen, you must see this film. If you don’t, check it out anyway — you might find yourself surprised at its palatability. (Jacob Rich)

The Street recommends 12 books you must read in your lifetime:

Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
The first and only published novel written by Emily Brontë, sister to Anne and Charlotte, this story follows the doomed love and lives of Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, set upon the lonely moors of the farmhouse Wuthering Heights.
It's a dark romance of star-crossed lovers which puts Twilight to shame. This is the original story of destructive love, a stranger tall, dark and handsome, and how jealousy and infatuation can shatter lives. A tough read, but necessary. (Keris Alison Lahiff)

Victoria Advocate reviews the novel Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline:

One day, in an act of stupidity and bookish passion we can all sympathize with, she is caught stealing a small, tattered copy of "Jane Eyre" from the library. This act gives her two choices: juvenile detention or community service.

Sarah Parry remembers in The Guardian how it was to be raised by strict Baptists:

Aside from the odd humiliation at school (asked which film star I fancied most, I remembered seeing Where Eagles Dare at an uncle's house and said, "Clint Eastwood") I don't remember feeling deprived. Because beside the Pre-Raphaelite prints that were my celebrity posters, and the Debussy that was my Oasis, there were books – such books, and in such quantities! Largely content to read what would please my parents, I turned my back on modernity and lost myself to Hardy and Dickens, Brontë and Austen, Shakespeare, Eliot and Bunyan.

The Belfast Telegraph talks about Bryony Gordon's book The Wrong Knickers:

There have always been novels and memoirs about a girl's amorous adventures in the years when she shops around for a mate. In its own way, Jane Eyre is such a story, as are the works of Jane Austen. Bridget Jones has famously emblemised this narrative, but that's nearly two decades ago now. Bridget Jones counting cigarettes and calories is a little pale next to Bryony's controversial account of "a decade of debauchery". (Mary Kenny)

The Times-Union and a local production of The Mystery of Irma Vep:

The play both satirizes and celebrates gothic horror, Victorian melodrama, farce and more, all the while incorporating references from Shakespeare, "Wuthering Heights," Hitchcock films and others. (Steve Barnes)

Music and literature on LA Music Examiner:

“Wuthering Heights”—Kate Bush: The song takes its name and sense of melodrama from Emily Brontë’s 1847 novel Wuthering Heights. It was released in 1978 as her debut single. She was 19 when she first recorded it. The first it appeared on an album would be in 1986 when it was remixed and added to 1986 greatest hits compilation The Whole Story. (William Phoenix)

Story by Modcloth gives reasons why we still love the Brontës; the Brussels Brontë Blog posts about the recent The Brontës in Brussels by Helen MacEwan book lunch at the Brussels Waterstones; Lost my muchness, have I? prepares a Brontë summer; Ready for my closeup Mr Demille is immersed in a Jane Eyre obsession; A Quick Succession of Busy Nothings reviews April Lindner's Jane; Los Angeles Times talks about the recent article in the Harvard Gazette about the Brontë little books which are part of the of the collection at the Houghton Library at Harvard University going online.