Killer Jane

The Independent kick-starts the week with an article on literature's 'killer females' such as Lyndsay Faye's Jane Eyre-inspired creation Jane Steele.

In Lyndsey [sic] Faye’s new historical crime novel, Jane Steele, her titular heroine follows a narrative similar to that of her fictional favourite, Jane Eyre.
Like Eyre, she’s abused by her cousin and boarding-school headmaster, and a mysterious housekeeper is a malevolent presence. But there’s an important difference: Jane Steele murders her adversaries.
In her “Historical Afterword”, Faye acknowledges the “ridiculousness” in portraying a Jane Eyre-ish murderess.
But “its ridiculousness is based in both truth and fiction”: Steele attends Lowan Bridge school, based on Jane Eyre’s Lowood, in turn based on Cowan Bridge, the school that destroyed Charlotte Brontë’s sisters, Maria and Elizabeth. Jane Steele herself stresses: “I was not a fictional orphan but a real one, however.”
The gap between the real and the fictional is exploited by authors depicting murderesses to a degree, and with an ingenuity, that few other imagined figures enjoy. (Lesley McDowell)

USA Today's Happy Ever After features the same novel and shares an excerpt.

Lyndsay Faye’s Jane Steele is a bold and imaginative undertaking — wickedly entertaining and exquisitely unique in its execution. The novel introduces us to Jane Steele, an orphan — and serial killer — whose life mirrors her literary heroine, Jane Eyre. Jane’s story unravels in 19th-century England, when she’s sent to the stringent Lowan Bridge School by her vindictive Aunt Patience. From the very beginning, circumstance and fate pit her against those she finds antagonistic, and so the kills begin to accrue.
With thrills, mystery and romance, the story is striking and imaginative as we see how Brontë’s Jane Eyre gives meaning to Jane’s acts. Dark, satirical humor coupled with sharp dialogue make this a novel that’s refreshingly compelling.

NNZ-Online (Germany) reviews another recent release: Jolien Janzing's German translation of De Meester.

 Schweren Herzens folgt sie ihrer Schwester zurück nach England. Diese Leidensgeschichte spiegelt sich auch in ihren Romanen wider, die bis heute nichts an Aktualität verloren haben.
„Die geheime Liebe der Charlotte Brontë“ gewährt dem Leser einen spannenden Einblick in das Leben einer eigenwilligen Frau. (Mario Bartsch) (Translation)

Mujer Hoy (Spain) reviews a biography of Karen Blixen and wonders about the fascination caused by the lives of writers.

¿Por qué nos interesa tanto la vida de algunos escritores? Tal vez pensamos que en ella reside la fuente de su talento y de su imaginación. Hay figuras, como Charlotte Brontë o Fernando Pessoa, que tuvieron una vida discreta; y otras, como Karen Blixen, cuya agitada existencia se convirtió en literatura. (Mara Malibrán) (Translation)

BuzzFeed after analyzing Donald Trump's tweets (a task we do not envy, by the way) has deduced how Mr Trump would describe Wuthering Heights:

Worthless "gentleman" Heathcliff has nasty manners and sees ghosts in the room. Not the sort of person you want as a landlord. Sad!

AnneBrontë.org discusses 'The Suppression Of The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall'. About Education posts about "Individuality and Self-Worth: Feminist Accomplishment in Jane Eyre".