A new latch

Keighley News shares a lovely story concerning Haworth's Old School Room.

A small piece of an historic Haworth building's heritage has been recreated, thanks to the expertise and generosity of a Keighley-based firm.
Trustees of the Brontë Spirit Charity, who are responsible for the Old School Room in Church Street, have paid tribute to Aire Valley Forge Ltd, which made a replica original door latch to replace the one damaged during an attempted burglary.
A spokesman for the charity said the trustees were "dismayed" to discover someone had tried to force their way into the Old School just before Christmas last year.
The raider was unable to get into the property, but severely damaged an original lock fitted to the building’s west door.
The door and its fittings were originally supplied for the 1871 extension to the Old School Room that was constructed in 1852 for the church when the Rev Patrick Brontë – father of the famous literary sisters Charlotte, Anne and Emily – was priest at Haworth Parish Church.
Averil Kenyon, chairman of The Brontë Spirit group, which is dedicated to restoring the building to its former glory, said: “It was really dispiriting to see something that had been part of the Victorian building smashed into pieces by vandals.”
But Aire Valley Forge came to the charity’s rescue by constructing a replica free-of-charge.
Mrs Kenyon added: “Their wonderful gesture has restored our faith in our community, and we'd like to thank them publicly.
"The recreation is a superb piece of work.”
The craftsmen at the firm were able to fashion the new latch by copying the design from the broken pieces of the original fitting.
Workers had to re-sculpt a rose, which had probably been made by a local blacksmith in 1871.
The new latch was fitted by one of the charity’s own trustees and volunteers – David Mahon, of Haworth.
David Atkins, the foreman at Aire Valley Forge, who oversaw the project, said: “After the break-in, we were approached by The Brontë Spirit to make replacement door fittings.
“We employed traditional methods and a bit of know-how to replace the damaged latch with one that had been given a suitably ‘aged’ appearance.
“As a goodwill gesture to Haworth and its heritage, we were happy to donate the latch to The Brontë Spirit and the Old School Room.
“The Haworth community often uses our specialist blacksmithing and metalwork skills to enhance properties in the area, so they can retain their recognised features in a time-honoured way.” (Miran Rahman)

E-teatr (Poland) reviews a performance of the Shanghai Ballet of China's take on Jane Eyre.

Jane Eyre
Ostatni wieczór festiwalowy (8 V 2016) należał do goszczącego po raz pierwszy w Polsce The Shanghai Ballet z Chin. Tancerze prezentowali adaptację jednej z najsłynniejszych XIX-wiecznych powieści "Dziwne losy Jane Eyre" Charlotte Brontë w choreografii Patricka de Bana. Zestawiane miniatury (m.in. Johna Dowlanda, Claude'a Debussy'ego, Edwarda Elgara, Benjamina Brittena, Samuela Barbera, Vladimira Martynova) stanowiły postmodernistyczne tło dla grupy tancerzy ukazujących rozterki tytułowej Jane Eyre (Qi Bmgxue) oraz atmosferę domu jej pracodawców, Edwarda Rochestera (Wu Husheng) i chorej psychicznie małżonki - Berthy (Fan Xiaofeng). To, co podziwialiśmy na scenie, zapowiedział passus zamieszczony w folderze Festiwalu: "Miłość może pokonać wszystko, ale godność jest nienaruszalna. Balet może odstąpić od tradycji, ale musi utrzymać estetyczną jakość". Ową jakość, wyrażającą się w plastyczności i precyzji kroków oraz gestów obrazujących różnorodne emocje, gwarantowała swoim nazwiskiem dyrektor baletu Xin Liii, Choć miejscami ilość ruchów wykonywanych przez tancerzy niejako przeładowana była względem warstwy muzycznej, to połączenie elementów tańca klasycznego i współczesnego, piękna scenografia i kostiumy (Jerome Kapłan), stworzyły niezwykle spójną adaptację powieści, dobrze przyjętą przez bydgoską publiczność. (Barbara Mielcarek-Krzyżanowska) (Translation)

Bergamo News (Italy) announces that this year's Festivaletteratura (7-11 September) will include a discussion on Jane Eyre by Lyndall Gordon and Stefania Bertola. We are as enthusiastic about Barbara Pym as the writer of this article in The Guardian so let us link the article here on the basis that it includes a quote from Barbara Pym's Excellent Women that mentions Jane Eyre. GuptaSaab Reviews posts about Villette. A Day in Bookland reviews Catherine Lowell's The Madwoman Upstairs. Laura's Reviews posts about Reader, I Married Him. 

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Stage Reading at the NPG and Marrying Him at the Hebden Bridge Festival

Tody, June 30, at the National Portrait Gallery, another chance to see the Live Literature Company stage reading of Douglas Verrall's Charlotte, Emily and Anne:

Charlotte, Emily and Anne
by Douglas Verrall
30 June 2016, 19:00
Ondaatje Wing Theatre, Floor -2
Tickets: £8 (£7 concessions and Gallery Supporters) Book online, or visit the Gallery in person.
Late Shift Performance

The Live Literature Company presents a staged reading of Douglas Verrall’s ensemble play to commemorate the bicentenary of Charlotte Brontë’s birth. Directed by Valerie Doulton, Founder and Artistic Director of The Live Literature Company.
Running time 1 hour 20 minutes, without interval.
Cast:
Louise Bangay  - Anne, Miss Scatcherd
Niamh Cusack - Charlotte
Robin Miller - Mrs. Bronte, Aunt Branwell, Teacher, Ellen Nussey, the ‘Old Man’
Wendy Morgan - Emily, Mrs. Gaskell, Catherine
Maeve O'Sullivan - Mary Taylor, Tabby, Singer, Miss Wooler 

Ham & High informs:

The play, written by the late Douglas Verrall, is being revived as a five-woman ensemble piece.
“The Brontës were an important part of our heritage,” says Valerie. “It’s a piece about women, and over the passage of time, it’s become very pertinent to show something so positive about women.” (Imogen Blake) 

And at the Hebden Bridge Arts Festival:

Tracy Chevalier & Salley Vickers
Thursday 30 June, Doors 7.30pm
Town Hall, Hebden Bridge HX7 7BY

200 years after her birth, Charlotte Brontë continues to delight and inspire both readers and writers. Join bestselling author of Girl with a Pearl Earring, Tracy Chevalier to hear about a collection of short stories Reader I Married Him inspired by Jane Eyre. Tracy will also be joined by one of the contributors, Salley Vickers.

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The Brontës knew so many words that their heads weighed more than their bodies

This reviewer from Leicestershire TV didn't seem to enjoy Chapterhouse Theatre's take on Wuthering Heights.

Due to the weather somewhat colouring my thoughts on the performance itself, I found it all to be somewhat average, or just below. The actors were average at best. They seemed to be shouting all their lines, there didn’t appear to be a quiet moment within the whole narrative because everyone appeared to be shouting all the time. The costumes were nice enough, I suppose, and the set was decent, but they don’t really add anything to a performance, especially when you’re performing in a fantastic location; and they absolutely add nothing to the performance if you think all the actors are pants. Which I do on this occasion, unfortunately. The staging was… fine. Nothing remarkable there either. I felt that much of the physical stuff was actually really poorly done. I’ve seen far better. For a professional production company… it all just seemed a bit like a cast of secondary school children who were veterans of acting at GCSE. All in all, the production was… below average. I don’t recommend catching this one, especially for the price of the tickets. And you know what I’ve just noticed, that amuses me a little, on their website? I’m sure it’s standard for any theatre, but still; tickets (at least to this particular performance) are non-refundable. I wonder why, eh?
But hey, at least I know the narrative of Wuthering Heights now. It’s a decent one. Though I probably won’t be reading the novel anytime soon. I’ve heard that it’s a slog too. (Jordan Smith)

Perhaps he needs to follow Elle's recommendations to 'sound sharper'.

In the spirit of the tiny geniuses—Anne, Emily, and Charlotte—who knew so many words that their heads weighed more than their bodies...do crosswords, throw black-tie Scrabble parties, read Jane Eyre, get Urban Dictionary's "Word of the Day" by e-mail, listen to Wuthering Heights on your iPod, write new words with your refrigerator magnets, and keep a word diary to record what happens when you employ your new vocab. (E. Jean)

Mirror lists some 'reasons to be cheerful' after 'Brexit economic misery'. One of them is 2016.

But it’s also a good year to feel proud of our British heritage - with the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, 200th anniversary of Charlotte Brontë’s birth and 150th anniversary of the birth of Beatrix Potter all being commemorated this year. (Amanda Killelea)

Le trégor (France) features Stéphane Labbe, author of Les sœurs Brontë à 20 ans.

Son attirance pour les sœurs Brontë est ancienne. C’est celle de l’adolescent qui lit Les Hauts de Hurle-Vent, « une grosse claque littéraire » qui l’a menée, avec Moby Dick de Melville, à enseigner les lettres.
Et celle du jeune homme fasciné par le film de Téchiné, Les sœurs Brontë, avec Adjani dans le rôle d’Emily Brontë. « Je me suis dit : un jour je ferai quelque chose sur elle. À l’époque, cela restait un personnage un peu mystérieux. » Il a patiemment attendu une année sabbatique en 2015 pour mener son envie à quai.
Être biographe des Brontë relève de la gageure. Pas d’événements vraiment marquants, d’aventures, de grandes histoires d’amour dans les « existences un peu ternes » de ces filles de pasteur anglican. « Mon problème, ça a été de traiter des trois sœurs. Au départ, j’ai soumis un Emily Brontë à l’éditeur mais leurs vies sont liées, m’a-t-il rappelé. J’ai donc décidé d’entrer dans le point de vue des trois. » [...]
« Je me suis documenté à la bibliothèque du musée, j’ai visité tous les lieux où elles ont vécu. Quand tu te retrouves à Haworth, sur cette lande balayée par les vents, aride, où les fermes sont totalement isolées, tu comprends la tonalité des romans, ce côté rude des Hauts de Hurle-Vent, la violence des rapports
humains. »
Avec émotion, il a pu feuilleter les petits carnets de jeunesse des sœurs, dans le vieux presbytère familial devenu musée… Car Stéphane Labbe est désormais membre de la Brontë Society, qui contribue à préserver l’héritage de la fratrie.
Par cette biographie, qui vient d’être traduite en chinois, il y apporte une jolie contribution. Qui donne une furieuse envie de relire Charlotte, Emily et Anne. (Philippe Gestin) (Translation)

CBA24N (Argentina) recalls the fire that destroyed Teatro Comedia 9 years ago before a premiere of Wuthering Heights.

En la madrugada del 28 de junio de 2007, el Teatro Comedia se preparaba una vez más para un estreno. En esa ocasión, el escenario estaba listo para recibir el musical Cumbres Borrascosas. La escenografía estaba montada, la planta de luces lista y todos los vestuarios estaban debidamente colgados en camarines. Sin embrago, otra tragedia, fuera del imaginario de la joven escritora Emily Brontë, estaba por ser escrita esa madrugada. (Translation)

B**p reviews Wuthering Heights. Haiku Tree shares a Brontë-inspired haiku. Simply by Arrangement has a post telling about the floral decorations at the Brontë Parsonage Museum for Charlotte's bicentenary.

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My Jane in Chester,MA

Opening today, June 29, in Chester, MA:

Chester Theatre Company presents
My Jane
Written by: Daniel Elihu Kramer
Directed by: Knud Adams

A struggle to survive. A romance with dark secrets. Two love affairs—Jane and Rochester, and Jane and her readers. The sweeping drama of Charlotte Brontë’s beloved novel Jane Eyre is given a contemporary twist as the story of Jane’s journey from Victorian hardship to independence and happiness works its magic on people today. A moving look at how deeply a book can affect readers nearly two centuries later.

Camila Canó-Flaviá – Jane
Alex Hanna – Mr. Rochester
Laura Ramadei – Narrator
Claire Siebers – Mrs. Fairfax, etc.

Chester Town Hall
June 29 – July 10, 2016.
Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday at 8 pm. Thursday, Friday, and Sunday at 2 pm.

Talkbacks follow our Thursday 2pm and Saturday 8pm shows.
Cast Conversations follow our Friday 2pm shows.
Panel Discussion follows our Sunday, July 3, 2pm show.

Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre, and their Readers

Our panelists will discuss Charlotte Brontë’s most famous creation: the character of Jane Eyre, and the deep connections readers have formed with her over the years.
Cornelia Pearsall, Professor and Chair of English, Smith College
Lara Ramsey, Supervising Teacher, Smith College Campus School
Lise Sanders, Associate Professor of English Literature & Cultural Studies, Hampshire College

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Celebrating Charlotte Brontë With Sue Newby

An alert from the Grassington Festival:

Food for Thought: Celebrating Charlotte Brontë With Sue Newby
29th June at 1pm
Venue: Games Room

The Brontë Society was founded in 1893, and is the oldest literary society in the English speaking world.  It is a charity and is responsible for the governance of the Brontë Parsonage Museum, world famous home of the Brontë family, set in the picturesque village of Haworth, West Yorkshire. The museum holds the biggest collection of Brontë manuscripts and artefacts and it is their mission for as wide an audience as possible to enjoy these and be inspired, through a changing programme of exhibitions, and innovative Contemporary Art and Learning programmes.

This year is the bi-centenary of Charlotte Brontë’s birth, so join us for lunch where we will be asking a question of this most fascinating and complex of writers… Just what made Charlotte Brontë tick?

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Don't repine

The Panoptic gives a 4.5 out of 5 to Norther Ballet's Jane Eyre.

The versatility and creativity of Kinmonth is seen in the use of a raised platform at the back of the stage; the front of the platform opens, creating an additional entry point for the dancers, albeit the gap is no larger than the crawlspace of a house. This exit is used most effectively in Victoria Sibson’s (Bertha Mason) incredible pas de deux with Javier Torres. Bertha – Rochester’s secret, mentally ill wife – sets fire to Thornfield in a fit of rage, and climbs onto the roof to kill herself. Bertha’s fierce, contemporary dance style is mirrored in her wild hair, torn clothes, and bare feet; indeed their final pas de deux resembles the fights of Kenneth MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet, but Sibson’s animalistic, at times chaotic, dancing adds a level of unpredictability to the performance which keeps the audience on the edge of their seats. Bertha is very much in charge here, and Rochester’s desperation to save her adds a sense of tragedy, leaving the audience stunned when Bertha flings herself off the roof, brilliantly portrayed by Sibson diving under the platform.
Javier Torres’ portrayal of the brooding, yet enigmatic Rochester is taken to another level by the undeniable chemistry between himself and Dreda Blow. Les pas de deux between the pair perfectly frame their love story, allowing for a well-paced development of their relationship. The first pas de deux is tentative, almost awkward (like two teenagers on their first date), owing to Blow’s deliberately stiff, guarded movements, and demonstrates Rochester’s intimidation of Jane. However, this soon gives way to a more classical dance style as the couple grow closer. At the end of the ballet they are reunited in a beautiful dénouement, repeating a motif from their first encounter in reversed roles, demonstrating Rochester’s dependence upon Jane. (Emily Baxter-Derrington)

Country Life recommends the exhibition featuring Charlotte Brontë at the National Portrait Gallery.

‘Celebrating Charlotte Brontë: 1816 – 1855’
National Portrait Gallery, London, until 14 August, 2016
2016 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of the eldest of the famous Brontë sisters, and author of the evocative Jane Eyre. The National Portrait Gallery brings together important items and artworks on loan from the Brontë Parsonage Museum, Haworth, such as letters, journals and even clothes, as well as first editions of Jane Eyre.
The display also includes the enigmatic group portrait of the three sisters by Patrick Branwell Brontë, as well as portraits of Charlotte’s own friends and associates like Elizabeth Gaskell, Lord Byron, and the Duke of Wellington. The exhibition presents an insight into the life, work, and relationships, of one of Britain’s most famous writers. (Nicholas Yiannitsaros)

This week's word at The Baltimore Sun is 'repine' and comes with a quotation from Jane Eyre.

We can regret, we can fret, we can yearn, we can repine.
To repine (pronounced ruh-PINE) is to be in low spirits generally, complaining or fretting. It can also mean to yearn for something.
It is a venerable English word, from the Middle English repinen, “to be aggrieved,” and the Old English pinian, “to cause to suffer.” Pinen is also the root of the verb pine, “to waste away from longing.”
You may have heard Orlando Gibbons’s “Do not repine, fair sun.” Or you may recall the widower Mr. Pecksniff: “ ‘Do not repine, my friends,’ said Mr. Pecksniff, tenderly. ‘Do not weep for me. It is chronic.’ ” Or Jane Eyre saying, “I wonder at the goodness of God; the generosity of my friends; the bounty of my lot. I do not repine.”
So don’t. (John E. McIntyre)

Frankfurter Allgemeine (Germany) discusses English literature and Brexit:

Charlotte Brontë (in deren Heimat Yorkshire die Arbeiterhaushalte klar für den Brexit votiert haben) verbannt die dunkelhäutige Fremde aus den britischen Kolonien in ihrem Roman „Jane Eyre“ zum lebenslangen Hausarrest auf den Speicher, wo sie, als Wahnsinnige deklariert, allen Blicken entzogen ist. (Paul Ingendaay) (Translation)

While Repubblica (Italy) looks at Brexit and the 'Erasmus generation'.

Marialuisa Di Simone, giornalista, ha vissuto nel 1997-98 con l’Erasmus a Swansea, una delle quattro sedi dell’Università del Galles. «Studiavo lingue, avevo una travolgente passione per la letteratura inglese dai Viaggi di Gulliver a Jane Eyre, così ho fatto il concorso per andare nel Regno Unito. E’ stata un’esperienza che mi ha aperto la mente. Ho seguito il corso Geoffrey Chauser [sic], l’autore dei Canterbury Tales, e la mia tesina era la traduzione dal Middle English in inglese moderno. Un altro corso si chiamava British policy and european integration: il professore ci ripeteva che la maggioranza dei britannici ci sta proprio a disagio in Europa». (Eugenio Occorsio) (Translation)

The Gazette-Virginian tells about the atmosphere at a recent Halifax Farmer’s Market:

The ladies cruising the aisles of vendor offerings at the Halifax Farmer’s Market Grand Opening Saturday morning were delighted, husbands, eyeing Victorian fans and bags of “literary teas” labeled “Jane Eyre” and “The Great Gatsby,” less so. (Kathy Millar)

Northern Soul tells about a visit to the Brontë Parsonage Museum. Write Out Loud features the Poetry at the Parsonage event. Kell Andrews describes her copy of Jane Eyre. She Reads Novels posts about Shirley. More on Villette and The Professor in Dutch on the Brussels Brontë Blog. AnneBrontë.org discusses the illnesses that affected Anne. On Facebook, photographer Mark Davis shared some pictures of the dismantling of the set for To Walk Invisible.

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Jane Eyre in Maidenhead

Tomorrow, June 29, in Maidenhead, Berkshire:

Jane Eyre
Adapted by Polly Teale

Presented by Maidenhead Drama Guild
Norden Farm Center for the Arts, Maidenhead

  Wed 29 Jun 19:45
  Thu 30 Jun 19:45
  Fri 1 Jul 19:45
  Sat 2 Jul 19:45

A bold and theatrically inventive adaptation of this well-loved literary classic

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Binge-watching Jane Eyre

Gazette Series lists the advantages of adding a blue plaque to your historic home.

Also recently relisted are seven buildings that witnessed the life of Charlotte Brontë.
These include Grade I listed Haworth Parsonage, where Charlotte and her sisters Emily and Anne grew up and where her novels were written, and Grade II* listed Norton Conyers, the property that inspired Charlotte’s most famous novel Jane Eyre.

USA Today's Happy Ever After asks several romance writers to recommend 'binge-worthy fantasy movies'.

Mel Sterling, author of Trueheart
[...] When I want a romantic but not purely fantasy film to watch over and over, I go for the 2011 adaptation of Jane Eyre starring Fassbender and Wasikowska. It’s gorgeous to look at, and its soundtrack makes me ache with its beauty. (Veronica Scott)

This columnist from the Irish Independent is glad there is so much to choose from when it comes to young adults novels. Apparently back in her day,

 there was a huge gap between my favourite childhood books and adult novels. There was Enid Blyton or the Brontës and little in between. (Justine Carbery)

Writer Madeleine Reiss is one of those who include Jane Eyre in the 'romantic' books section as she writes on Female First that

Romantic novels range from bodice rippers to Jane Eyre.

Business World Online makes a couple of connections to Wuthering Heights when discussing recent Brexit events.

But the day after the Brexit referendum, Nicola Sturgeon, Scottish First Minister [...] was a veritable Cathy standing over the moors of Wuthering Heights, with the winds against her face muffling her forlorn cries for her forbidden love, dark Heathcliff [...]
To the common man, the country’s labor and social services will be burdened by the free movements (immigration) under EU; subsidies will be suffered by the taxpayers for the underfunded pension funds and debts of the poorer and more profligate EU members. In Dicken’s Great Expectations, Pip came into unexpected wealth, and he squandered it. Heathcliff in Brontë’s Wuthering Heights was a foundling who became richer than his adoptive family was, but he could not lay aside venomous revenge for how they treated him in his young years.
Yes, there too could be the bigotry of social and economic status as in Victorian literature, for the UK is the fifth richest country in the world. . . (Amelia H. C. Ylagan)

Coincidentally, Luccia Gray looks at Jane Eyre from a Brexit point of view. Sarah J Wesson shares a short story inspired by 'the female characters in Jane Eyre and Rebecca'. Elysa Faith Ng posts about Wuthering Heights.

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(T)hornfield with candles

Another recent addition to the ebook collection of erotic exploitations of Jane Eyre:

Mr Rochester of Hornfield: An Erotic Jane Eyre Variation
by G Scott Gray (Author)
May 23, 2016

Jane Eyre is a naive but passionate young woman who finds work at Hornfield, the grand estate of the mysterious Mr Rochester.
Jane gets caught in the rain and takes shelter in the barn, removing her wet clothing. There she meets a mysterious stranger who also removes his wet clothing and shows her an excellent way to keep warm.
She discovers that the stranger is Mr Rochester himself.
But who makes the strange moans she hears late at night?
And why does Mr Rochester invite Jane to spend an evening with a mysterious woman? And why do she and Jane have erotic enjoyment with the candles?
Mr Rochester asks Jane to marry him but she discovers his terrible secret. She runs away from Hornfield but is drawn back by the memory of his powerful touch.
But who has burnt down the house. And where will Jane and Rochester now sleep? And will she still find use for the candles? 

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White Roses and Hamsters

Keighley News announces the first Poetry Festival at the Brontë Parsonage Museum:

A field behind the Brontë Parsonage Museum is the setting for Haworth's first-ever poetry festival.
Poetry at the Parsonage will bring dozens more than 100 poets and performers from across Yorkshire to Haworth on Saturday and Sunday, July 2 and 3.
The Word Club of Leeds has teamed up with the Brontë Society to organise a packed programme of readings and workshops.
The festival has been organised on behalf of the Brontë Parsonage Museum by Matthew Withey.
He said: “Poetry at the Parsonage will be the biggest gathering of poets anywhere in Britain this year.
“It is a free-to-enter festival with sets by more than 100 performers, all coming together on the edge of the moors that inspired some of the finest poetry in the English language.
“The weekend will be fabulous feast of words and we invite people to bring their families and share it with us.”
Helen Mort, one of the headliners, said events like the festival created a sense of community and encouraged poets to support one another.
“Yorkshire has a thriving poetry scene and it’s good to bring everyone together.”
Charlotte’s Stage, at the Old School Room next to the Brontë Parsonage Museum, will see performances by Mark Connors, Helen Mort and Alan Buckley on the Saturday, and Gaia Holmes, Clare Shaw, James Nash and Kate Fox on the Sunday.
The Saturday line-up for Emily’s Stage at nearby West Lane Baptist Centre includes Ilkley Young Writers and Lorna Faye Dunsire, who appeared as part of Charlotte’s bicentenary celebrations in Haworth in April.
Eddie Lawler, also known as the Bard of Saltaire, will headline Emily’s Stage on the Sunday. The event will be compered by Yorkshire favourites Craig Bradley, Geneviève L Walsh, Winston Plowes and Mark Connors of Word Club.
Performances will begin at noon each day. Visit bronte.org.uk/whats-on for further information and tickets. (David Knights)

Let's also congratulate the Parsonage for being one of the finalists in the White Rose Awards 2016:

Large Visitor Attraction
Brontë Parsonage Museum, Haworth
Cannon Hall Farm, Cawthorne
RSPB Bempton Cliffs
The Forbidden Corner, Coverham
The Wensleydale Creamery, Hawes
Tropical Butterfly House, Wildlife and Falconry Centre, Sheffield
Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield

The Daily Mail interviews the actor Brian Blessed, a passionate Brontëite:

My favourite book is Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. It has infinite depth and variety. (Jane Oddy)

Bustle wants to see more Shirleys being born:

 7. Shirley
As a child, I had a hamster named Shirley; my reasoning was that it just sounded nice. Like Clarence, "Shirley's" roots come from words for "bright" and "clear." It's also a gender crossover, turned female by an 1849 Charlotte Brontë novel by the same name. The late 1970s television series Laverne and Shirley didn't resuscitate the popularity of either name, but you sure can! (Pamela J. Hobart)

The Free Lance Star reviews The Lost Child by Caryl Phillips:

Don’t let the synopsis to “The Lost Child” dissuade you.
“A gripping and inventive reimagining of ‘Wuthering Heights’.”
Yuck.
It has been nearly 30 years since I read “Wuthering Heights” and the bits I remember from “Wuthering Heights” stem more from near-constant listening to the Kate Bush song of the same name in college than Emily Brontë’s classic. I liked the “Wuthering Heights,” but I don’t know that I would have dove into a “reimagining” at this point in life. Fortunately, I cracked “The Lost Child” and was engrossed before I flipped to the offending quote on the back cover.
“The Lost Child” touches upon Brontë’s Heathcliff as a child in bookend sections but they are not integral to the larger story that Phillips weaves about a mother’s descent into madness and the children who bear witness and are left to cope. Dangling the Wuthering Heights’ carrot is a misdirection that is not going to satisfy many readers—the fans or the haters. (Drew Gallagher)

 We rather think the opposite.

Vincennes Sun-Commercial has an article about the abuse of politically correctness in literature:

Among the many examples of this re-use, Jean Rhys would have been unable to write "The Wide Sargasso Sea" without Charlotte Brontë's "Jane Eyre;" there could have been no "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" unless Jane Austen had created the original without the zombies; and Jane Smiley would hardly have been inspired to write "A Thousand Acres" without Shakespeare's "King Lear." (Annette McMullen)

 Le Huffington Post (France) talks about the work of the writer Dorothy Bussy:

Quant aux influences littéraires perceptibles dans Olivia, elles sont doubles. Le souvenir de Villette, le roman de Charlotte Brontë, est sensible partout dans le roman. Et pour approfondir le jeu de miroirs, rappelons que Villette est inspiré de l'amour déçu de Charlotte Brontë pour son professeur de français bruxellois, Constantin Heger. (Jeannine Hayat) (Translation)

La Nación (Argentina) interviews Mariana Enríquez about her new book, Las Cosas que Perdimos en el Fuego:

Muchos cuentos que escribo, además de los disparadores de las cuestiones reales que hablábamos, son a partir de indicios que cuando no son reales son literarios, y suelen ser alguna frase que me dispara algo. Que quizás no tiene que ver con el cuento, pero sí con la narrativa total que en ese momento estoy trabajando. Este libro lo abro con una frase de Emily Brontë en Cumbres borrascosas: "Desearía volver a ser niña, mitad salvaje y fuerte, y libre". Yo lo asociaba mucho a esa liviandad que tiene ser niño, con esa cosa silvestre y esa libertad que tienen los chicos a los que se les perdona todo, aunque puedan ser muy crueles, y es una maldad encantadora e irrecuperable. Hay un clima como de nostalgia de eso en los cuentos. (Sofía Almiroty) (Translation)

Parutions briefly talks about the recent Henri Dutilleux CD which includes the  Trois Tableaux Symphoniques 1946.

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Shrunken Jane

This is a new book for children with Brontë content:

Shrunken Treasures
Literary Classics, Short, Sweet, and Silly
Author/Illustrator: Scott Nash
Candlewick Press
ISBN:  9780763669720

Can’t stomach all of Frankenstein? Lacking the strength to read The Odyssey? Don’t have 1,001 nights to get through Scheherazade’s ordeal? Never fear, Shrunken Treasures are here! Nine of the world’s best-known stories and books have been reduced, like slowly simmered cherries, to tart and tasty mouthfuls. Lighthearted verse turns Moby-Dick into a simple nursery song. Outrageous color makes even gloomy Hamlet seem like fun. Riotous images transform Jane Eyre’s ordeal into a whirlwind adventure. The Metamorphosis, Remembrance of Things Past, Don Quixote, and others have all been delivered from dense duty to delightful ditty in Scott Nash’s collection of hallowed classics, featuring notes about the original texts at the end.
Nine weighty literary classics are transformed into delectable morsels with Scott Nash’s playful versification and whimsical illustration.

The Jane Eyre illustration (via Scott Nash's MECA portfolio):

Apparently Jane Eyre goes with the tune of Three Blind  Mice.

EDIT: St Louis Post-Dispatch reviews the book:

And if catching up on the classics is on your summer to-do list, Scott Nash sums up great works including “The Odyssey,” “Jane Eyre” and “Hamlet,” in“Shrunken Treasures” (Candlewick Press, 40 pages, $15.99; ages 5-8). (...) Adults likely will appreciate Nash’s ability to condense the famous tales more than kids, but any reader will love the silly, colorful illustrations. (Jody Mitori)

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Getting Fun on Horrible Histories

The Stage has a chronicle of some of the theatre plays seen at the Birmingham European Festival (a festival that has suddenly become a sad oxymoron):

After dinner, the UK’s Publick Transport change the mood completely with half an hour of straight-faced knockabout fun in We Are Brontë. Essentially a kind of National Theatre of Brent for the devising generation, the show ruthlessly skewers trope after physical theatre trope. No theatremaker will ever be able to animate a book as a bird in a devised piece again. Thank God. (Andrew Haydon)

Chortle announces that the Brontës will be present on the next Horrible Histories special episode:

Horrible Histories is to return for another one-off special, with Mel Giedroyc returning as a guest star.
The team are making a show about Staggering Storytellers to mark the BBC's #Lovetoread campaign.
Tom Stourton, Jess Ransome and Jalaal Hartley also star in the CBBC show, which will air on July 11.
Stories covered include how DH Lawrence would climb mulberry trees in the nude to stimulate his imagination, how a party at Lord Byron's house led to the writing of Frankenstein, and how Charles Dickens was 'the Harry Styles of his day'.
Viewers will also meet The Brontë Sisters trying to get a book deal, Roald Dahl entering the Great British Bake Off with a worm cake and Malorie Blackman, Enid Blyton, Jacqueline Wilson and Beatrix Potter in Little Mix-style sketch.

John Sutherland in The Times mentions Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights in an article on how getting the most out of literature means having fun.

The Irish Times recommends some books for the summer:

The Woman Who Ran
By Sam Baker (Harper, £7.99) When a mysterious woman called Helen Graham moves into Wildfell, a long-abandoned house at the edge of a Yorkshire village, even Gil Markham, a cynical retired journalist, is intrigued by the new arrival. The local gossips go wild, but Helen, a former war photographer, just wants to be left alone. As the names of both the characters and Helen’s new home suggest, Sam Baker’s novel is inspired by Anne Brontë’s criminally underrated The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. Like the heroine of that novel, Baker’s Helen has fled an abusive relationship. Just a few weeks ago she fled from her burning Paris flat, leaving behind her estranged husband’s body. But what really happened in Paris? And is Yorkshire really a safe refuge? An original and gripping thriller. (Anna Carey)

The Telegraph & Argus celebrates the new vintage bus linking Haworth station and the Parsonage:

This means that the stations are not located in the centre of the villages that we serve, which is very apparent at Haworth, meaning our passengers have to battle with the hill from the station to Main Street and the Brontë Parsonage, which is an almost insurmountable challenge for some visitors.
I'm very pleased to report that we have a solution to this, thanks to our partnership with the Brontë Parsonage Museum. The railway and the parsonage are jointly funding the operation of a vintage bus service that links Haworth Station with the village, operating seven days a week from July 11 until September 4, and it's free to Railway Rover ticket holders. (David Knights)

WWD talks about the Sébastien Meunier's Men's Spring 2017 collection for Ann Demeulemeester:

When he didn’t go punk, Meunier channeled a “Wuthering Heights” romanticism, with billowing silk shirts and military jackets cinched with wide obi belts. (Joelle Diderich)

Ralph Nader attacks the two-party de facto US system in The Hill, with a curious Wuthering Heights reference:

Get real, indeed, with the cyclical redundancy of Wuthering Heights — a national legislature, ossified by safe gerrymandered districts, and fluctuation between complacent gridlock or sadistically conceived proposals such as cutting the IRS budget to aid-and-abet $300 billion in uncollected taxes per year, or starving enforcement budgets against massive fraud on Medicare, Medicaid, or the Pentagon, which brings in between $10 and $20 in revenue for every $1 in enforcement funds.

The Huffington Post on sex and censorship in classical Hollywood films:

In one of the greatest love stories on film, “Wuthering Heights,” Merle Oberon and Lawrence Olivier kept their clothes on all the way to the end with Kathy’s heartbreaking death, Heathcliff at her side. (Babette Hughes)

The Herald Sun interviews Chloe Shorten, the wife of the Labor candidate for the upcoming Australian federal election:

“My mum was a university lecturer so I grew up playing in the university library in Queensland,” she says. “That’s where I’d go after school and I’d do my homework there. I was eight and all these law students were there. I wasn’t reading any of the law books, I was reading my own books, lots of Enid Blyton, Famous Five, the Anne of Green Gables series, then the Brontës. (Blanche Clark)

A model, a goat, a picture and The Age to talk about it:

Whenever Age photographer Simon Schluter calls and says "I've got a good story", I know I won't be disappointed. This one was about loneliness, Wuthering Heights, and being alone on a mountaintop, he told me. "With a goat". Say no more. (Tom McKendrick)

Le Figaro (France) has an article on the actress Chloë Grace Moretz

Ses essentiels de l’été (...)
Dans sa valise : « J’emporte des produits de soin pour le visage et de protection contre le soleil. Et les Hauts de Hurlevent : j’adore ce livre. » (Isabelle Girard) (Translation)

Galdar al Día (Spain) recommends Stefan Bollmann's Women Who Read.

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Jane Eyre's Fairtyale Legacy at Home and Abroad. A Review

Jane Eyre's Fairytale Legacy at Home and Abroad
Constructions and Deconstructions of National Identity
Abigail Heiniger
Routledge (February 26, 2016)
ISBN-13: 978-1472468611

In the preface of Abigail  Heiniger's Jane Eyre's Fairytale Legacy at Home and Abroad, the author explains why her research began and how it shifted towards a new unexplored avenue which, in the end, reveal itself more interesting than the initial one:

This study began with an avid interest in Charlotte Brontë's distinctive use of fairy tales and fairy lore, but it evolved into an analysis of the nationalistic stakes inherent in fairy tale readings of Jane Eyre (1847) and her transatlantic progeny. After publishing an article on the amalgamation of ''Beauty and the Beast" with regional Haworth fairy lore, I wrote a paper challenging some common assumptions inherent in Cinderella readings of Brontë's novel. This second article encountered fierce criticism, including a reader who, after a bout of name calling, claimed I had no right to challenge Jane Eyre's status as a Cinderella tale. With this critique, my interest shifted from exploring whether Jane Eyre could be classified as a Cinderella tale to analyzing why readers were invested in this particular reading. This critic was clearly more invested in my article than I had ever been; the emotional response suggested to me that Cinderella readings of Brontë's novel carry personal significance that far exceeds academic interest. Thus, this analysis uses a diverse range of texts to explore the cultural investment in fairy tale readings and reworkings of Brontë's novel.

That first article was published in 2003 and in Brontë Studies in 2006 (The Faery and the Beast, Vol 31 (1) p.23-29) and was lately expanded into an M.A. dissertation in 2007, from which emerged what was to become the main central point of this book: the challenging of the Cinderella reading of Jane Eyre. The realization that this reading has become correlated with a national response to the novel crystallized in her 2013 thesis, Jane Eyre And Her Transatlantic Literary Descendants: The Heroic Female Bildungsroman And Constructions Of National Identity. The present book is a reworking of this final thesis.

The influence of fairy tales (or the fairy lore as Heiniger insists on clearly distinguish) on Jane Eyre has been studied sporadically in the last decades of literary criticism. The author of the present book provides a good account of several previous contributions in the Introduction: Paula Sullivan, Fairy Tale Elements in Jane Eyre, The Journal of Popular Culture, Volume 12 (1), pages 61–74, 1978;   Karen E. Rowe, “‘Fairy-born and human-bred’: Jane Eyre’s Education in Romance,” in The Voyage In: Fictions of Female Development, 1983; Maria Tatar's Secrets Beyond The Door (2004), Heta Pyrhönen, Bluebeard Gothic: Jane Eyre and its Progeny (2012)⁽¹⁾...

The starting point of the research, as we hinted to at the beginning of this review, is to firmly establish the pre-Victorian fairy lore motifs which can be seen in Jane Eyre and their breeding together with some fairy tale more 'conventional' tropes like The Beauty and the Beast in Charlotte Brontë's narrative. Abigail Heiniger develops this idea convincingly, emphasising the 'changeling' characteristics of Jane Eyre ⁽²⁾ and the pre-patriarchal innuendos of local fairy tales. The author tries to trace the possible sources of this knowledge: objective ones like the issues of The Blackwood Magazine or more speculative ones like the Irish fairy-lore through Patrick Brontë or Tabby's tales to the children probably filled with local folklore merged with Christian motives. Being as it is a well-researched part of the study, the conclusions are hardly surprising or new.

The next chapters address the most interesting questions, in our opinion. There follows an exploration of Jane Eyre's European 'progeny' through the analysis of Julia Kavanagh's Nathalie (1851), Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Aurora Leigh (1856) and Charlotte Brontë's own final novel Villette (1853), These last two works share a notion of international consciousness, of 'Victorian cosmopolitanism' which contrast with the American responses to Jane Eyre. Furthermore, in the words of the author:

A profusion of mythic and supernatural allusions circulate through Nathalie, Villette and Aurora Leigh, but John Milton's Paradise lost 81667) is the touchstone for both of these texts. The new Eve's in Kavanagh, Brontë, and Barrett Browning emerge from a haze of Victorian supernaturl stereotypes, replacing Brontë's changeling with a new mythic paradigm. These reimagined first mothers usher readers into a new world open to diverse possibilities for women, implicitly creating an alternative to Jane Eyre's fairytale retirement in a domestic happily-ever-after.

The analysis of the American Jane Eyre descendants is circumscribed to The Wide, Wide World (1850) by Susan Warner, Anne of  Green Gables (1908) by Lucy Maud Montgomery and The Bondwoman's Narrative by Hannah Craft (1853-61?). These novels, particularly the first two, define a new Jane Eyre paradigm heavily influenced by reading it as a Cinderella tale. The author challenges this interpretation and associates its almost dogmatic assumption in US academia with a nationalistic undertone: the self-rise Capitalist ethic of the American Cinderella stories.

The rise tale remains a vague assumption in these interpretations. They are attempting to fit Jane Eyre into the simplified rise of the American Cinderella. Critics' failure to recognize that the simple rise tale is distinctly American suggests they are not aware they are working withing a specific American tradition. (...)
These critical responses that interpret Jane Eyre as a Cinderella tale are a testament to the naturalized power of the American Cinderella's nationalistic message.

At the end, Jane Eyre's Fairytale Legacy at Home and Abroad goes far beyond its initial premise of studying fairy tale motifs and innuendos in Jane Eyre. It explores a quite slippery ground in literary criticism, full of subjective bias and that literary criticism (and Brontë studies in particular) hardly ever dare to go: how particular critical approaches are outfitted to serve ideological or nationalist agendas consciously or, most of the times, unconsciously. Jane Eyre, as Abigail Heiniger shows, is a perfect case for study and Jane Eyre's Fairytale Legacy at Home and Abroad an excellent starting point to explore it⁽³⁾

Notes

(1) Nevertheless we miss several important ones like Elizabeth Imlay's Charlotte Brontë and the Mysteries of Love: Myth and Allegory in Jane Eyre (1989) or the very influential, Introduction to Jane Eyre by Angela Carter (London: Virago, 1990)
(2) Although the insistence on reading the changeling nature of Jane Eyre quite literally is, in our opinion, going quite too far.
(3) Expanding the post-colonial approaches of Jane Eyre under this prism could be an interesting follow-up as the author briefly sketches in the conclusion.

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Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell had the last laugh

The Weekly Standard reviews Claire Harman's biography of Charlotte Brontë.

While Harman draws on letters that were unavailable to her predecessors, we don't come away with a fresh understanding of her subject. Unlike Barker's book at double the length, Harman provides more of a neat retelling and distilling rather than a radical overhaul. However, for readers looking for a comprehensive study of the most successful Brontë​—​as opposed to an exhaustive history of the whole beleaguered family​—​Harman's book will prove deeply rewarding. (Malcolm Forbes)

For some reason, Bustle considers having to choose a pseudonym as 'having a last laugh' on the part of authors.

4. When A Ton Of Female Authors Used Male Pseudonyms
Historically and frustratingly, it hasn't been easy for female authors to get their work to be taken seriously — so many simply adopted male pseudonyms and kept on writing anyway. The Brontë sisters, Louisa May Alcott, Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin, and Mary Ann Evans all wrote under male pseudonyms, and even Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling adopted the "J.K." in order to appeal to young male readers. Since she didn't have a middle name, she chose "Kathleen" as a tribute to her grandmother. (Julia Seales)

Bustle also recommends '23 Books In Translation By Women Writers' and one of them is

15. A True Novel by Minae Mizumura (Japan)
Heathcliff becomes Taro, a Japanese immigrant trying to make his way in postwar New York, in A True Novel: Minae Mizumura's retelling of Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights. (Kristian Wilson)

Wonderland Magazine praises Andrea Arnold's take on Wuthering Heights in an article on her new film American Honey:

When a movie comes along that stars not just full-time Wonder-crush Shia Le Bouf, but also one of our cover babes from The Summer Issue, Sasha Lane in her breakout role, we sit up and take notice. That effect is doubled when the woman behind the camera is none other than Andrea Arnold: the British director who re-invigorated literary classic Wuthering Heights with an untamed rawness and the brilliant casting of black actor James Howson in the time-worn role of Heathcliffe (sic)– cleverly emphasising the character’s distinct otherness and winning plenty of praise in the process.

Madison Magazine reports what writer Alex Hancock is currently working on:

Hancock’s been around the writing block a few times—he wrote stage plays in the 1970s, dabbled in Hollywood screenwriting for more than a decade, and published a novel, Into the Light, in 1985. He’s already working on another page-to-stage adaptation: Miss Eyre and Mrs. Rochester, a spin on the Charlotte Brontë classic in which Jane discovers the history behind the book’s creepy woman in the attic on her own accord, rather than having it explained to her.
(Hey, maybe we just revealed Fermat’s 2017 production. You never know.) (Aaron R. Conklin)

The Irish Times features writer Maggie O'Farrell:

What’s the first book you ever loved? Probably The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I read it lots of times. Her books are kind of like the Brontës for kids.

Writing for The Guardian, Emma Brockes seems somewhat daunted by summer in New York City.

This past week in New York has felt like the start of the knock-down, drag-out, height-of-summer heatwave when, in children’s parks across the city, sprinklers fall on asphalt and evaporate a moment later. Everyone I know in England is complaining of a chilly, grey June, but there is something deathly about the baldness of a New York summer sky. Perhaps it’s the lack of variation, or the closeness of the air, or perhaps I am just projecting from all the bad news at the moment. But stepping out this morning, I was reminded of that bit in Wide Sargasso Sea, when Jean Rhys wrote of a Caribbean summer wherein, in spite of the fact that “it is hot and blue and there are no clouds, the sky can have a very black look”.

The latest edition of Big Brother in the UK has a contestant named Bronte. Here's how she introduced herself to fellow contestants, as told by Yahoo! TV.

 In the opening moments, squeaky-voiced Bronte generously tried to give the other house-guests an easy way to remember her name. Did she say something like, “Just think of the author of Wuthering Heights!” Nope: She said brightly, “Think of the dinosaur, brontosaurus.” Too bad, Bronte — from now on, in my mind you’re always going to be “Jane Eyre-Head.” (Ken Tucker)

WPSU considers that Bat For Lashes new music album, The Bride,

and its subject matter, are a spiritual sister to the high drama of Kate Bush's "Wuthering Heights," which also explores star-crossed love and its fallout. Similarities between Bush and Khan extend in particular to a shared wavering, piercing upper register that Khan has deployed on earlier records, but never allowed to sour for dramatic effect. (Katie Presley)

Observer also uses Kate Bush's Wuthering Heights to describe I, Gemini by Let’s Eat Grandma.

Maybe I, Gemini sounds like Lorde if she was murdered in a forest by the Propaganda-era Cure and set off on an Icelandic ice floe; or perhaps Let’s Eat Grandma sound like Hermione Granger if she was raised by someone who read her Der Struwwelpeter three times a day while constantly playing her Kate Bush’s “Wuthering Heights” and “The Eternal” by Joy Division; or, (try this) imagine if Robert Smith and Diane Arbus had acid-damaged twin daughters and they used their toys to make SMiLE. (Tim Sommer)

USA Today's Happy Ever After has some romance reads for the summer. One of them is The Billionaire’s Secrets by Meadow Taylor which is apparently 'Reminiscent of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre'. The Yorkshire Evening Post recommends a visit to the Red House (former home of Mary Taylor) and its garden. Psychonerds writes about Jane Eyre and Amanda Center vlogs about the novel. Chicchi di pensieri posts in Italian about Villette. The Brussels Brontë Blog posts the first installment of a discussion of Villette and The Professor in Dutch.

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Lincoln, Haworth and Kirklees

Several Brontë alerts for today, January 24:

In Lincoln, UK:

Friday 24 Jun 2016   12:00pm
Literature Talk: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
Lincoln Drill Hall

Tiny Charlotte longed for a life where she would be recognised and in the character of the already married Rochester, she created the sort of hero she wanted for herself. In many ways the plot is the archetypal ‘Mills and Boon’: poor plain girl gets rich handsome man, and blossoms in the process. But it is so much more than its plot.
Film: Jane Eyre (1944, PG, 93mins)
Directed by Robert Stevenson and starring Joan Fontaine and Orson Welles
Tickets: Talk only £6.50 / Talk & Film £10
Both talk and film will take place in the auditorium

In Haworth:

Parsonage Unwrapped: Us Two
Charlotte and her brother Branwell
24/06/16 07:30PM
Brontë Parsonage Museum

We continue our series of exclusive evening events designed to delve deeper into the Museum and its collection. To mark the anniversary of Branwell's birth on 26 June 1817, 'Us Two' will explore the close creative relationship between Charlotte and her younger brother.
Tickets £15 / £12 concessions and Brontë Society members (proof of membership required) - includes a glass of wine. Tickets should be booked in advance by clicking the link to the left of the screen, or by calling 01535 640192.

In Kirklees: Brontë 200 events:

Brontë 200 - Kirklees

Brontë Summer Fair and Fun DayFriday  24 June  2016  11:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Organised by Better Future for the Blind and Age UK --- The fair will be opened by the Mayor of Kirklees at 11.30am.
Event includes lots of activities and games, quiz, stalls, refreshments, tombola, raffle, Information.
A 200th celebration Birthday cake for all to enjoy!!
Free Entry All Welcome
For Further details contact: Joy Armitage: 07736246505

The Last Journey of Anne BrontëFriday  24 June  2016  7:30 PM
Screening of the film 'The Last Journey of Anne Bronte' with a Q & A session with Ann Dinsdale - The Collections Manager of the Brontë Parsonage Museum.
£5 including refreshments.
Tickets available on the door - or telephone 07840 395096

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Morbid sofa

What's On gives 3 stars to Chapterhouse Theatre's take on Wuthering Heights.

With a cast of just six, it's necessary for some amongst them to take on multiple parts. While it's always clear who's who, there's not always quite enough distinction between these doubled-up performances to really bring the characters to life. Nevertheless, in general, the cast perform with admirable commitment. Both of the Catherines and Heathcliff are well played, the performers capturing the fiery, headstrong spirit that defines the characters. Isabella and Nelly are also strong.
There may be something in the fact that Cannon Hill Park's little amphitheatre doesn't quite evoke the atmospheric, wide open space of Cathy's beloved moors, but ultimately, though things pick up towards the end, it's the uneven pacing and structure of this play that really let things down, undermining its dramatic and emotional resonance. On one hand, the play gets off to a slow start, but later, scenes such as Frances' childbirth, performed on stage, are over almost comically quickly. It's a shame, since Wuthering Heights is story that ought to be well-suited to the great outdoors – one can't help but feel that there's real potential here that hasn't quite been fully exploited. (Heather Kincaid)

Dance Tabs gives 4 stars out of 5 to Northern Ballet's Jane Eyre.

Jane Eyre has been a huge success for Northern and Cathy Marston, selling out in most places on tour. I look forward to it returning – certainly one of the best new dramatic works I’ve seen in ages. (Bruce Marriott)

Demon Online is also enthusiastic about the production.

Brontë Country is one of '10 of the best literary breaks' selected by TravelWeekly.

A visit to the windswept, heather-cloaked moors that link the West Yorkshire and East Lancashire Pennines leaves little doubt as to why the region inspired the Brontë sisters to write such classics as Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.
Brontë Country, as the area is now known, includes the village of Haworth, where Emily, Charlotte and Anne lived; Top Withens, the crumbling farmhouse and supposed setting of Wuthering Heights; and Thornton, on the outskirts of Bradford, where the Brontë sisters were born.
The most popular literary attraction in the area is the Brontë Parsonage Museum, where the sisters once lived and wrote. The museum is still furnished as it was when the family lived there and includes the mahogany dining room table where the sisters used to sit and write and, albeit rather morbidly, the green sofa upon which Emily died. (Aby Dunsby)

Sara Zelda Mazzini writes in Italian about a trip to Haworth. Päiväunien salainen elämä posts in Finnish about Jane Eyre. Brussels Brontë Blog explores some Italian translations and reprints of The Professor.

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Midsummer at Eyre Hall

The final novel of the Luccia Gray's Eyre Hall trilogy has been published:

Midsummer at Eyre Hall: Book Three Eyre Hall Trilogy
by Luccia Gray
Publication Date: June 21, 2016

Midsummer at Eyre Hall is the third and final volume of The Eyre Hall Trilogy, which chronicles the lives of the residents of Eyre Hall from the beginning to the height of the Victorian era.
Following the death of her second husband, Richard Mason, Jane is finally engaged to the man she loves. However, her oldest son, John Rochester, will do everything in his power to stop the wedding and take over Eyre Hall and the Rochester Estate, with devastating consequences for Jane.
Romance, mystery and excitement will unfold, based on the lives of the original characters, and bringing to life new and intriguing ones, spinning a unique and absorbing narrative, which will move the action from the Yorkshire countryside to Victorian London, and magical Cornwall.

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Print the (Brontë) legend

Both Charlotte and Anne Brontë appear on this list of '10 Bestselling Authors Who You Had No Idea Wrote More Than One Novel' compiled by Bustle.

3. Charlotte Brontë
I spent most of my life assuming that Jane Eyre was the only novel Charlotte Brontë ever published. However, she actually published two more books during her lifetime: Villette, the tale of an English woman who becomes a teacher in a French boarding school, and Shirley, a story about a wealthy, land-owning woman living in a town threatened by the unrest of its unemployed working class.
4. Anne Brontë
Ok, yes, thanks to Emily Brontë and Wuthering Heights I assumed that all three of the Brontë sisters only published a novel apiece. Once again, I was wrong. Besides The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Anne also published Agnes Grey, which focuses on a young woman who becomes a governess for a number of wealthy families and falls in love with the new parson. While Agnes Grey was published around the same time as Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre, Anne wouldn't find literary fame until the publications of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. (Shaun Fitzpatrick)

Le Monde (France) asks Augustin Trapenard - of Emily Brontë's devoirs fame around these parts - to describe himself as a false rumour:

Vous êtes un complot ou une fausse rumeur…
Ce n’est pas Emily Brontë qui a écrit  Les Hauts de Hurlevent mais son frère poète, alcoolique et dépravé Branwell Brontë. (Marie Godfrain) (Translation)

Imola Oggi (Italy) seems to quote from Oriana e Firenze by Riccardo Nencini but still this is a blunder:

Riccardo Nencini -  il suo ultimo libro: ‘Il fuoco dentro’ -  non è solo un protagonista della politica toscana e un apprezzato scrittore, ma è soprattutto l’amico di Oriana che le fu accanto fino alla morte. Ricordate? “Sono alla fine, Riccardo, e voglio morire a Firenze. Ed ora ci siamo. Ma morirò in piedi, come Emily Brontë”. (Translation)

Weird as she famously (though perhaps not truthfully) died on the sofa at the Parsonage.

Writer Marcela Serrano picks her favourite authors for Economía y Negocios (Chile).

2 Las hermanas Brontë. Me excuso por ponerlas juntas, ya que sus respectivas obras son tan diferentes: Emily es loca y fantástica, Charlotte es la testigo de su tiempo. Sus mejores obras: "Jane Eyre" y "Cumbres borrascosas". (Translation)

El Progreso (Spain) has a long article on Charlotte Brontë and a print-the-legend account of her letters to Heger. Oberon Design writes about her too. E Is for Emma reviews Northern Ballet's Jane Eyre. The Brontë Parsonage Blog tells about a Brontë quiz Night with questions compiled by Eggheads' Barry Simmons. Matthew's Library posts shortly about Tracy Chevalier's Reader, I Married Him. The Brussels Brontë Blog has a post on Italian translations and reprints of Villette.

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Celebrating Brontë 200 in North Kirklees

Several Brontë events to celebrate the 200th birthday of Charlotte Bronte, this week in North Kirklees:

Friday, June 24th,  from 11am to 3pm
Dewsbury Town Hall

Charity fair featuring music and costumed guests from the Victorian period.
Funds raised will go to the Better Future for the Blind group and Age UK Calderdale and Kirklees.
There will be stalls, games and a giant birthday cake, Brontë memorabilia, a special quiz and talks about the famous literary family among other attractions
The new Mayor and Mayoress of Kirklees to attend at 11.30AM
Free Entry

Friday, 24th June, 7.30 PM
St Mary's Parish Church, Church Lane, Mirfield

Screening of the film 'The Last Journey of Anne Brontë' with a Q & A session with Ann Dinsdale - The Collections Manager of the Brontë Parsonage Museum.
Brontë books and DVD will be on sale and a raffle
£5 including refreshments.Tickets available on the door - or telephone 07840 395096 (Ruth)

Wednesday 29th June
Oakwell Hall, Birstall,  3.30pm to 7.15pm
Charlotte's Picnic celebrating the date Charlotte Brontë married in Haworth.

Free for people to bring their own picnic.
There is to be a copy of Charlotte Brontë's dress on show.
With balloons to make to create animals and flowers, flowers to be made, a tombola and a raffle. One of the prizes wll be a family ticket to Oakwell Hall for the year.
To be held in the top end of Oakwell Hall, Birstall, from 3.30pm to 7.15pm where there is a car park and play area for children, also a Rangers hut with toilet
Children attending must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
Organised by the newly-formed Kirklees and Calderdale Brontë group. All are welcome to enjoy a nice afternoon.
Charlotte Brontë wrote the novel Shirley and she set part of the story at Oakwell Hall. In the 1920s a silent film was made of Shirley at the Hall but no copies seem to be extant.

From Imelda Marsden, Life member of the Brontë Society.

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Leggings for Heathcliff and Mr Rochester

According to Bustle, Wuthering Heights is one of 10 books about 'falling in love with your best friend'.

Perhaps the most classic of cautionary tales about the pitfalls of falling in love with your best friend, in Wuthering Heights everything that could possibly go wrong between childhood best friends and love-interests Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff does. If you’ve only seen the MTV adaptation (ultimate guilty pleasure) then this novel about miscommunications, unrequited love, and violent revenge is definitely a must-read — especially if you’re looking for any excuse to fall out of love with your BFF. (E. Ce Miller)

Writer Aliyyah Eniath is interviewed by Livemint and a fan of the novel too:

You’ve done your BA in English literature at the University of the West Indies. Did any of the authors you read there influence you? It’s been 7 or 8 years since that. But I was definitely influenced by some of the work that I studied. When I first read V.S. Naipaul’s A House for Mr Biswas, what it showed me is that you can be from a tiny island like Trinidad, and yet write a book with international appeal. That thought had never occurred to me before. And then, when we studied (Charles) Dickens, Great Expectations was the first book I read that made me envious of the writer. I was really, really envious. I wanted to have been the one who wrote that book (laughs). And then (Emily Bronte’s) Wuthering Heights was just my favourite. You can probably tell that there’s a little of Wuthering Heights in there too. (Vangmayi Parkala)

Carlyle Observer mentions the song It's All Coming Back To Me Now in a column about religion.

Jim Steinman said he based the lyrics to “It’s All Coming Back To Me” on Wuthering Heights. He was attempting, he said, “to write the most passionate love song”. (Ken Rolheiser)

MercatorNet asked readers to suggest their favourite 'crime reads for the beach' and one of them is

As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust, by Alan Bradley. A unique protagonist, silly to hear but delightful to experience – 12-year-old (post WWII) Flavia de Luce combines the innocent charm of Nancy Drew with the suffer-no-fools savvy of Jane Eyre. Flavia is “banished” to a boarding school in Toronto after her antics in the previous novel, and soon discovers a murder, symbolic and long hidden. The killer is someone she knows, but not everyone (indeed, no-one) is who they appear to be. (Harley Sims, Ottawa, Canada) (Carolyn Moynihan)

Glamour gives 16 reasons why Labyrinth is 'the best film ever'.

Bowie made leggings look rudely sexy and that bulge. He was an amalgamation of Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights, a Brothers Grimm fairytale and Mr Rochester from Jane Eyre all at the same time. Hot. (Ella Alexander)

HeyUGuys seems to have a broad understanding of what 'recently' means because apparently,

fan fiction has had a long and surprisingly illustrious history, with the Brontë sisters having recently been revealed to have dabbled in the medium themselves, populating their own fantastical worlds with characters from then-contemporary fiction and current affairs (Steven Neish)

The Hairpin has a lovely article on a columnist's dad being introduced to classic novels such as Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights.The Telegraph and Argus puts emphasis on the fact that 'Bradford district is tourist hotspot', partly due to its Brontë-related attractions. A Chronical of Creighton's Adventures writes shortly about a trip to Haworth. Jezebel's Pictorial has an article on Charlotte's-dress-which-wasn't-a-mistake-after-all. The Telegraph has an obituary on soprano Phyllis Curtin, who 'created the role of Catherine Earnshaw in Floyd’s Wuthering Heights with Santa Fe Opera'. Both Amy Reads Classics and Entre Letras (in Spanish) post about Wuthering Heights. Seeing Dance reviews Northern Ballet's Jane Eyre. Quite Irregular has read Wide Sargasso Sea. En lisant en voyageant writes in French about The Professor. Ranty Runt of a Reader posts about Agnes Grey. Art Eyewitness reviews the National Portrait Gallery's exhibition on Charlotte Brontë's bicentenary while on the other side of the pond, Victorian Musings looks forward to the similar exhibition which will open at The Morgan Library in New York in September.

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Blind Heights

The latest album by the Italian singer Chiara Graspo contains a cover of Kate Bush's Wuthering Heights:

Blind
Chiara Graspo
Baraonda (CD)

Chiara Grispo ha 19 anni, è cresciuta nella provincia vicentina, ha frequentato il liceo musicale, suona pianoforte e chitarra e compone le sue canzoni sia in italiano che in lingua inglese. La ragazza è stata tra i concorrenti di punta di Amici 15 e nella fase finale del programma ha firmato un contratto discografico con Baraonda (la stessa etichetta dei Modà, per i quali aprirà i concerti allo stadio San Siro di Milano). Ora, esce il primo frutto di questo contratto, che è anche il suo primo lavoro: "Blind". Il disco è prodotto da Diego Calvetti (già collaboratore di Patty Pravo, Noemi) e contiene 10 tracce tra cui "Come on", la canzone con la quale Chiara si è fatta conoscere dal pubblico di Amici (il video conta oltre 2 milioni di visualizzazioni su YouTube).

"Come on" è uno dei due inediti del disco: l'altro è "Spirito fisico", che Chiara ha inciso in duetto con Nek (suo coach durante il serale di Amici, insieme a J-Ax). Le altre 8 canzoni che compongono la tracklist di "Blind" sono le versioni da studio delle cover che Chiara ha eseguito nelle varie puntate di Amici: c'è "Wuthering heights" di Kate Bush, ad esempio, oppure "La mia storia tra le dita" (qui presente in versione solista - ad Amici l'aveva cantata in duetto con Grignani). E poi ancora "Price tag" di Jessie J, "One" degli U2, "Bella", "Next to me" di Emelie Sandé. A chiudere la tracklist c'è "Albachiara": chissà che Chiara non si riveda un po' nella ragazza che diventava rossa se qualcuno la guardava, che vestiva svogliatamente, assorta nei suoi pensieri...

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Every day is the Brontës' day

Die Welt (Germany) reviews the German translation of Hilary Mantel's early novel Every Day is Mother's Day.

Kennengelernt haben die beiden sich in einem Schreibkurs für Erwachsene, dessen Leiterin erklärt, jeder Mensch trage ein Buch in sich: "Wir mögen ja denken, dass wir zu gewöhnliche Leben leben, doch glauben Sie mir, genau diese Gewöhnlichkeit ist der Stoff der größten Bücher aller Zeiten. Denken Sie nur an Jane Eyre."
Die Erwähnung des Romans von Charlotte Brontë ist ein Wink. Die von ihrem Ehemann auf dem Dachboden gefangen gehaltene, geisteskranke Bertha Mason gab der berühmten Studie "The Madwoman in the Attic" von Sandra Gilbert und Susan Gubar den Titel, einer bahnbrechenden Studie feministischer Literaturwissenschaft. "The Madwoman" erschien 1979, Mantels Roman ist auch eine durchaus anklägerisch-sozialkritisch gemeinte Aktualisierung des Themas. "The Madwoman" ist hier allerdings nicht nur Muriel. (Richard Kämmerlings) (Translation)

AnneBrontë.org explores Haworth and its inhabitants in the 1840s. Eric Ruijssenaars has selected several covers of differente editions of Villette for the Brussels Brontë Blog.

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