A cultural cachet and unimpeachable literary value that drugstore romance lacks

The New York Times wonders why it took so long to adapt a 'mass-market romance book' such as Bridgerton.

But like it or not, romance novels sell, just not to film or television. “Hollywood would rather do the 48th “Pride and Prejudice,” Julia Quinn, the author of the Bridgerton novels, said. (“Don’t get me wrong,” she added. “I’m here for those.”) Canonized as classics, novels by Austen and the Brontë sisters have a cultural cachet and unimpeachable literary value that drugstore romance lacks. (Alexis Soloski)

Entertainment (Ireland) recommends 6 shows to watch after the ubiquitous Bridgerton, including

Jane Eyre

Moving back to costume dramas - and book adaptations - briefly, the 2011 version of 'Jane Eyre' is excellent. Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender give impressive performances as the literary icons of Jane Eyre and Rochester. Additionally, the direction of Cary Joji Fukunaga (who would go on to land the latest Jame Bond gig, 'No Time to Die') proves tense, taut and atmospheric. (Deirdre Molumby)

The Irish Times discusses 'The exceptionalism of daughters of the Irish clergymen'.

It is 30 years since the death of Thekla Beere, one of the outstanding women in 20th-century Ireland. It is 50 years since the establishment of the First Commission on the Status of Women which was chaired by Beere and which represented a giant step forward on the path to equality for women, beginning with equal pay for equal work. [...]

Three years after Beere’s death, Hilda Tweedy, in a letter to TK Whitaker, said that she might attempt a biography of Beere. She said, “I first met Thekla when I was 11 years old, just after she returned from America, having completed the Rockefeller scholarship. We shared the same background, we were both clergymen’s daughters, educated at Alexandra School and College.”

In the event Tweedy did not achieve that goal but a fine biography of Beere was written by Anna Bryson. The title No Coward Soul is drawn from Emily Bronte, herself the daughter of an Irish Anglican clergyman. (Finola Kennedy)

L'actualité (France) recommends some holiday reads including

Jane Eyre

Charlotte Brontë

Il y en a tellement ! Puisqu’il faut choisir, le roman Jane Eyre, de Charlotte Brontë. Je l’ai lu cent fois, en français et en anglais, et j’ai vu toutes les adaptations cinématographiques. Pour moi, c’est une des plus belles histoires d’amour de la littérature, et c’est aussi une ode à l’affirmation des femmes. (Marie-Hélène Proulx) (Translation)

Madras Courier discusses Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca and Alfred Hitchcock's adaptation.

Considered one of the most popular gothic classics, Rebecca is also presented to be a rewriting of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. The comparisons between the two novels are unavoidable. First: the second Mrs de Winter is haunted by Rebecca just as Jane is haunted by Bertha Rochester, differences notwithstanding. Second: the burning down of Manderley mirrors burning down of Thornfield Hall. Above all, the theme of jealousy and inadequacy, felt by the unnamed protagonist in Rebecca and Jane in Jane Eyre, is pervasive in both the novels. (Harshita Murarka)

El sol de Tampico (Mexico) interviews writer Paula Castiglioni.

¿Las escritoras de género policial leen y escriben historias de amor?

Yo creo que sí. Me viene a la mente María Inés Krimer, la reina del policial argentino. Sus protagonistas son mujeres fuertes que en medio de sus investigaciones, siempre se hacen un huequito para el amor. Y si no hay amor, no le hacen caso a un touch and go.

En mi caso, nunca fui lectora del género romántico-romántico, tipo Corín Tellado o sus nuevas versiones un poco más sofisticadas. Amo a las hermanas Brontë y a Jane Austen, sí. Las historias de Shannon Hale, como “Austenland” o “The actor and the housewife”, me parecen preciosas. Me gusta lo romántico como condimento de otro tipo de historia. (Juan Carlos Velarde) (Translation)

A contributor to Hawaii Tribune Herald read Wuthering Heights as sci-fi when young.

Some people love sci-fi, but I am not among them. During my early years in Hilo, when I had to read fiction such as “Little House on the Prairie” and “Wuthering Heights,” I saw these novels as science fiction because they revealed strange and alien worlds that I didn’t care to inhabit.

Ragusa News (Italy) provides options for what to wear on New Year's Eve. One of them is a 1,555 euro dress by Simone Rocha.

Lo stile appartiene alle protagoniste dei romanzi delle sorelle Bronte, reso personale e contestualizzato con i cambiamenti della società contemporanea. Ecco allora che il vestito proposto si contestualizza e si sposa perfettamente con il colletto di Melampo: orlo asimmetrico, di media lunghezza, presenta degli inserti trasparenti lungo tutto l'abito senza maniche, uno scollo rotondo e una chiusura con zip posteriore. Emily Brontë approved. (Translation)

We're sorry to say that Emily Brontë wouldn't remotely approve of spending 1,555 euros on a party dress.

The last treasure from the Brontë Parsonage of the year on The Sisters' Room is Anne Brontë's bloodstained handkerchief.