Forgiveness and Liberty

More newspapers discuss the VisitEngland literary tourism survey. The Teesside Gazette says:

Yorkshire has been named as the top county for holidays with a literary link.
According to new figures from VisitEngland, 20% of literary tourism trips were to Yorkshire, home of the Brontës, Herriot country, and Whitby Abbey, which inspired Bram Stoker’s Dracula. (...)
The top five literary locations in Yorkshire are:
1. Brontë Country - Haworth
Wuthering Heights, the immortal tale that was Emily Brontë's only novel, is set against a backdrop of the moors around Haworth.
Early on, Mr Lockwood, the narrator, writes in his journal, "This is certainly a beautiful country! In all England, I do not believe that I could have fixed on a situation so completely removed from the stir of society." (Laura Love)

Langley Times presents a new production of Jane Eyre The Musical at the Trinity Western University School of the Arts in Lnagley, Canada:

Replete with deep and honest characterizations, this is not a typical musical. It is, however, a must-see for anyone who loves gorgeous music and great singing — as well as historical dramas with strong, unconventional heroines, brooding heroes, romance, intrigue and a touch of comedy.
“The story is about people who are trapped in some way: by societal expectations, by hatred, by money or class,” explained TWU theatre major, Kate Nundal, who plays Jane’s guardian, Mrs. Reed.
“We follow Jane as she struggles to overcome these ‘cages’ to find herself and her freedom.”
“There are strong themes of forgiveness and liberty in the script,” said director Kate Muchmore Woo, who is also assistant professor of theatre at TWU.
“The chance to direct a musical that is this dark and haunting—but also beautiful and full of truth—is not something that happens often.”

The Daily Mail continues ignoring facts and is still in its mumbling narcolepsy saying:

It comes just a week after the BBC aired To Walk Invisible, a one-off drama telling the story of the Bronte sisters, Charlotte, Emily and Anne and their brother Branwell.
Complaints flooded Twitter about the drama, with one Twitter user saying: 'So disappointed by #ToWalkInvisible spoiled by bad sound quality. Visually beautiful and well-acted but much was muffled drowned by soundtrack.' (Ekin Karasin)

Flooded Twitter? Come on, do not mistake your Internet bubble with reality.

Stevie Davies reviews Idaho by Emily Ruskovich in The Guardian:

Idaho is a world of vivid particularity, a collection of evanescent traces and tracks, stains and remnants. Ruskovich presents a landscape of aftermaths and mnemonics: cryptic remains of indeterminate presence. I was reminded of Heathcliff’s speech in Wuthering Heights: “The entire world is a dreadful collection of memoranda that she did exist, and that I have lost her.” People vanish, like a boy Ann once taught who left a smudge on piano keys, a fingerprint on a window. The motif of loss recurs in the poetry of the simplest sentences: “The mountain’s gone.”

Also in The Guardian a review of the film Viceroy's House:

When the house comes to be divided along the same lines as the country, Chadha finds poignant absurdity in the divvying up of its contents; from cutlery (knives and forks separated) to musical instruments (a tuba for India, a french horn for Pakistan) to books (“we’re taking Wuthering Heights and all of Austen!”). Elsewhere, the phrase “it’s worse than Glasgow on a Saturday night” is deployed to crowd-pleasing effect. (Mark Kermode)

The Times presents From the Heart by Susan Hill:

Her latest book, From the Heart, is billed as “a devastating coming-of-age story”. Novels about growing up have changed dramatically in the past 200 years. The typical Victorian Bildungs­roman (David Copperfield, Jane Eyre) took a hero or heroine from childhood to ­maturity, narrating every detail of their ­pilgrimage, from fighting for survival to marital fulfilment. (David Grylls)

Books are more than words. DNA (India) dixit:

Why is it then that the world draws expressions of concern, ardently believing that the teenage mind will erase a force this essential to their existence? It sounds almost like the struggle of Jane Eyre: dignified books enduring the brutal teenage gaze. But unlike Brocklehurst (one of Eyre’s many antagonists), the villain in this narrative is grossly misunderstood. (Vedika Kanchan)

Star2 (Malaysia) is wondering what the books you read say about you. The columnist is clearly not a Brontëite:

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (Bantam Classics, 1981): A few months ago, my cousin asked me for help with her literature studies. Ever up for a chance to analyse books, I said yes – only to discover that one of her compulsory novels is Wuthering Heights.
If there’s ever a book of acclaim that I’d gladly never read again, it’s probably this one, with its moody atmosphere, unlikable characters, and depressing plot. And yet here I am, trying to get through it, a few pages at a time, without falling into despair. (Sharmilla Ganesan)

The Vindicator (Youngstown, OH) publishes the obituary of Jacqueline (Gibson) Gazella, who was a life member of the Brontë Society.

The Blackmoore Vale Magazine announces the launch of the Literary Trail by the Historic Houses Association (HHA). The trail is connected with the Brontës through Norton Conyers.

La Repubblica (Italy) talks about a charity auction in Italy which includes an original Charlotte Brontë doll by Roberta Botticella from the Etsy Shop Cromaticamente.

According to Vogue (Spain):

Las chicas para las que diseña Phoebe Philo están por encima de lugares y circunstancias, sino que pertenecen a un club cuyas coordenadas son más abstractas y mucho más interesantes: ellas viven por y para la cultura en el sentido más amplio de la palabra. Adoran la literatura (leen con la misma voracidad a Emily Brontë y a Raymond Carver), el arte (se mueren igual por ver una exposición de Mark Ryden o de Richard Serra) y la arquitectura (sueñan con vivir en una casa proyectada por Norman Foster y a los 5 minutos prefieren una de Le Corbusier). (Cecilia Casero) (Translation)

The author Şebnem Şenyener has an article on the literary gardens of dreams on Tr24 (Turkey):

Nitekim İngiliz yazar Charlotte Brontë’nin Jane Eyre’i bu huzursuzlardan biridir. Yaz ortası akşamına özgün tatlı saatlerde cennet gibi bahçede yasemin, akşam sefası pembe ve kırmızı içinde mis gibi havayı, pis bir puro kokusu sayesinde bir türlü huzurla içine çekemez. (Translation)

CDM (Montenegro) announces a production of Wuthering Heights to be performed in this summer's Barski ljetopis festival:

 Za sada je izvjesno da će Festival ove godine realizovati predstavu „Orkanski visovi”. Šta je presudno uticalo da se baš odlučite za ovaj poznati roman Emili Brontë?
“Osim što je u pitanju atraktivni naslov koji nikada nije postavljen na Balkanu, a koji je doživio više produkcija u inostranstvu, „Orkanske visove” smo odabrali zato što vjerujemo da je priča o gorštacima, čiji su međusobni odnosi veoma surovi i lišeni nježnosti, i o njihovom surovom odnosu prema napuštenom djetetu, tema koju crnogorska publika može shvatiti i sa njom se poistovjetiti. Predstavu radimo u koprodukciji sa „Zetskim domom“, a premijera je planirana za 20. jul”. (Translation)

La Opinión de Málaga (Spain) has a bizarre statement:

Y peor aún es la suerte de las mujeres de esa edad, que se ven condenadas a una existencia estéril, trabajando en silencio en la cocina o cosiendo en un rincón. Ya no pueden aspirar a nada más. Chéjov se apiadaba de ellas, y creo que es el primer escritor varón que lo hace. En cambio, antes que él sí se habían apiadado de las mujeres ancianas las pocas escritoras femeninas que había, como Jane Austen o Emily Brontë o nuestra Emilia Pardo Bazán. (Eduardo Jordá) (Translation)

Mujer Hoy (Spain) interviews Ariadna Gil who is playing Jane Eyre in a Barcelona production of the novel:

Mujerhoy ¿Qué ha descubierto de su último personaje, Jane Eyre? (Elena Castello)
Ariadna Gil Es una mujer fiel a sus principios por encima de todo, aunque eso la lleve a perder. Es de una integridad, de una inteligencia, de una sensibilidad, de una ironía... Y tiene muchísimo de su autora, Charlotte Brontë, de ese mundo en el que vivían aisladas ella y sus hermanas. Me ha permitido, además, descubrir la Inglaterra de esa época, esa familia, las cartas que escribían, ese feminismo natural, el hecho de que no quisieran que se las tomara de forma diferente por ser mujeres a la hora de escribir. Está siendo una experiencia fantástica, muy intensa. (Translation)

Corse-Matin (France) interviews Frédéric Delage, author of Kate Bush, Le Temps du Rêve:

 La danse est un domaine essentiel dans son univers. Mais la littérature également. Est-ce que la richesse de ses textes a forgé votre intérêt pour son travail ? (Eric Buggea)
Oui et non. Je pense que le génie de Kate Bush tient d’abord dans sa musique, et qu’il n’est pas indispensable de comprendre toutes ses paroles pour être touché par son art. Après, sans tout dévoiler ou tout décortiquer, j’explique dans mon livre le sens général et l’inspiration de la plupart des textes. La littérature a effectivement constitué pour elle une source d’inspiration (Les hauts de Hurlevent d’Emily Brontë pour Wuthering Heights ou Ulysse de James Joyce pour The Sensual World, par exemple) mais elle a aussi été influencée, peut-être même plus fréquemment, par le cinéma, par des films de Truffaut, de Jacques Tourneur, de Michael Powell… (Translation)

Süddeutsche Zeitung and Osnabrücker Zeitung(Germany) reviews the film Mal de Pierres:

Erster Schauplatz: die Lavendelfelder, vom Gesumme der Bienen erfüllt. Mittendrin in dieser Traumlandschaft steht ein einzelnes Gehöft. Hier begegnen wir der mädchenhaften Gabrielle, gespielt von Marion Cotillard, die sich in die Lektüre von Emily Brontës "Sturmhöhe" vertieft. (Rainer Gansera) (Translation)

Frankreich, irgendwo in der Provence nach dem Ende des Zweiten Weltkriegs. Die Lavendelfelder blühen im schönsten Lila, die Spätsommersonne gibt ihr Bestes, und passend zur flirrenden Hitze erwacht eine bedingungslose Leidenschaft in der jungen Gabrielle ( Marion Cotillard ), die ihr beinahe zum Verhängnis werden soll. Als sie vom Dorflehrer Emily Brontës tragische Romanze „Sturmhöhe“ ausgeliehen bekommt, deutet sie die Zeichen falsch. Auf einem Fest auf dem Anwesen ihrer Eltern sorgt sie für einen handfesten Eklat. (Ralf Geisenhanslüke) (Translation)

Amy Minola and Brooke's Books posts about Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights respectively.