The Brontës on Pen stylus

Keighley News reports the local concerns about the application for the building of a barn near Ponden Kirk:

Opposition is mounting to plans to build a livestock building on a scenic spot outside Stanbury.
More than 50 objections have been submitted to the application for the new barn and access track at Ponden Kirk, Ponden Lane. (...)
Christine Went, trustee of the Brontë Society, comments: "This structure's excessive size, which is out of scale with existing buildings in the area, and the materials from which it would be fabricated, would render it highly and inappropriately visible in a landscape valued for its literary and historical associations.
"The building would be situated midway between Ponden Hall, a grade two listed building, and the natural feature known as Ponden Kirk, both of which have long-standing associations with the Brontë family and their works."

Dursley Gazette talks about the upcoming Brontë season by the Butterfly Psyche Theatre & Livewire Theatre:

Whether you're a hard-core Brontë fan or if you've never had the pleasure, these fresh new adaptations of Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, by West Country theatre companies Butterfly Psyche Theatre & Livewire Theatre are sure to invigorate, inspire and melt hearts around the South West this autumn.
Performed in rep, with only one and two actors, there's a chance to mix-and-match an old favourite along with a new acquaintance, as well as the chance to see all three in omnibus performances at most venues.(Jayne Bennett)

The Telegraph celebrates the 200th anniversary of the birth of Sheridan LeFanu and reminds us of the possible influence that one of his stories might have had on Charlotte Brontë:

His story A Chapter in the History of a Tyrone Family (1839), the tale of a madwoman in the attic who attempts to kill her husband’s new bride, may have guided the hand of Charlotte Brontë.  (Matthew Sweet)

You can read it here and judge for yourself.

Digital Spy, Pocket-Lint and others talks about a curious initiative by Microsoft to promote the release of its new Surface Pro 3 tablet:

To celebrate the launch of its Surface Pro 3 tablet, Microsoft commissioned renowned ballpoint pen artist James Mylne to recreate three of the famous paintings hanging in the National Portrait Gallery in London, using just the tablet and its included Pen stylus.
He chose to render The Brontë Sisters [in the video -->] by Patrick Branwell Brontë, Dame Christabel Pankhurst by Ethel Wright, and William Shakespeare, associated with John Taylor. All three are iconic works, and Mylne opted to reproduce them in black and white on the Microsoft slate. (Rik Henderson)

The Independent (Ireland) mentions a curious side effect of climate change. What about weather-inspired literature:

From the cold, wet and foggy streets of Dickensian London in Oliver Twist, symbolic of the underbelly of crime in the city, to the classic Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, the weather is a constant and pervading feature.
I wonder would this tragic love story be as compelling if not set amidst the misty, dark, desolate and bleak Yorkshire Moors?

Connecticut Post talks about Susan Elizabeth Phillips's novel, Heroes Are My Weakness:

With her new book, the author has attempted an homage to the stories she loved as a young reader.
"It's my take on the gothic, Daphne DuMaurier. `Jane Eyre.' Remember those book covers with the house on the cliff and the heroine in her nightgown running away? I wanted to use all of those elements," the novelist said. (Joe Meyers)

Now Daily has some facts about Kate Bush's career:

She wrote the song Wuthering Heights as a tribute to the best novel ever...
...(no, we're not debating it) and the chorus goes, ‘Heathcliff - it's me Cathy. I've come home. I'm so cold. Let me in-a-the window.' Genius. (Obviously this topped the charts.) (Jo Usmar)

Le Nouvel Observateur (France) is devoting a series of articles to famous siblings. Now is the Brontës' turn:

 Noël 1827. Dans le presbytère de Haworth, sur cette lande écossaise et venteuse qui échauffera bientôt leurs âmes romanesques et solitaires, sont assises au coin du feu Charlotte, Emily et Anne Brontë. Elles ont entre 11 et 7 ans.
Il y a là aussi leur frère Branwell, moins choyé par la postérité mais qui n'en fut pas moins influent dans la construction d'un univers commun. Le garçon s'ennuie. Charlotte, dont l'esprit gambade sans cesse, a une idée: «Supposons que chacun ait une île à soi.» Immédiatement, le fertile quartette entre dans un jeu de rôle. Ce n'est pas leur premier. Les mondes qu'ils imaginent à quatre, pleins de magie et de surnaturel, sont une échappatoire à un contexte funèbre. (Read more) (Translation) (Anne Crignon)

We have to point something out, however. Patrick Brontë was not 'un méthodiste austère et autodidacte'. No doubt Methodism was a strong influence on Patrick Brontë's background but he was loyal to the Church of England all his life.

Libération (France) reviews Madame by Jean-Marie Chevrier:

De vieilles anglaises, se dit-on, à égrener les phrases de Madame. Comme dans «éducation anglaise», une tendance au fouet et au corset, un manoir genre Hurlevent ou Rebecca. (Eric Loret, Claire Devarrieux and Thomas Stélandre) (Translation)

Buxton Advertiser talks about the upcoming Wuthering Heights performances of the ChapterHouse Theatre Company at the Buxton Pavilion Arts Centre; Dictionopolis reviews Wide Sargasso Sea.