Shockingly electric

 The Yorkshire Post reviews Jane Hair as seen in The Studio at Hull Truck Theatre:

What a treat this hour long three–hander was, which inevitably included a lot of ‘in jokes‘ for Brontë fans to spot – this was definitely The Brontës Restyled, making it most accessible and appealing.
Anne’s blog for example was called ‘Wildfeller‘ and Charlotte’s biographer Elizabeth Gaskell became ‘Lizzie G‘.
Stephanie Rutherford played Anne Brontë, Joelle Brabban took on the role of Emily Brontë, and Keeley Lane played Charlotte Brontë and all gave sparky individual performances, as well as highly entertaining ensemble scenes too. (...)

Written by Kirsty Smith and Kat Rose-Martin, produced by Buglight Theatre and directed by Chantell Walker, this was a no nonsense, fast paced, entertaining and innovative play.

I particularly liked the dramatic use of music and lighting used to break up the action on stage. (Julia Pattison)

A young reviewer publishes a review of Emma Rice's Wuthering Heights adaptation on This is London:

Despite the melodrama of some of the action, this production was self-aware without being self-conscious, acknowledging the confusing source text and the exhausting nature of the constantly heightened emotion. At the beginning, Rice held the audiences’ hands as we got to grips with the play, using placards to explain the family tree, and having characters reexplain family history to the narrator. The comedic explanation scene does not take away from the dark nature of the novel, as Rice uses tonal shifts both to provide relief and build sympathy for characters that otherwise would have served purely to be mocked.

Whether it is in spite of its’ quirks or due to them, it is up to you, as this production is a must-see adaptation of a must-read novel. Brilliantly unique, shockingly electric, and backed by a charismatic cast, Wuthering Heights at the National Theatre did not disappoint. (Hannah Steinback)

You can add a new Emily Brontë interpretation to the never-ending list of projections of the current social trends over her persona. Asperger, lesbian, asexual, anorexic.., and now, according to the Neue Bürcher Zeitung (Switzerland) you can add non-binary, gender fluid;

Der einengenden Diktatur des Geschlechts bot auch Rosa Bonheurs Zeitgenossin Emily Brontë die Stirn. Auch sie nahm in der Kunst den Versuch einer Geschlechtsumwandlung vor. Die Hauptfigur von «Sturmhöhe» (1847), Heathcliff, zeichnet dieselbe männlich-animalische Muskelkraft aus, von der Rosa Bonheurs exzessives Pferde-Bild bestimmt ist. Heathcliff ist Emily Brontës Alter-Ego-Figur – eine Frau, die an der Enge der ihr auferlegten Geschlechterrolle zugrunde ging. Sie starb im Alter von 30 Jahren, ein Jahr nach Veröffentlichung ihres einzigen Romans unter dem männlichen Pseudonym Ellis Bell.

Wenn Emily Brontë ihrer Romanheldin Catherine, die mit Heathcliff eine inzestuöse Allianz vereint, die Worte in den Mund legt: «Ich bin Heathcliff», gründet dieses Liebesgeständnis nicht auf geschlechtlicher Differenz, sondern auf einer Identifikation asexueller Natur. Catherine hat dasselbe Temperament in ihrer Brust wie Heathcliff, wird getrieben von Rachegedanken und Wutausbrüchen – ein hitziges Mädchen, düster, grüblerisch, androgyn, das sich gerne prügelt und sich lieber eine Peitsche statt einer Puppe zum Geburtstag schenken lässt.

Dieses Paar hat sich Emily Brontë als eine einzige Person imaginiert, hermaphroditisch, ein hybrides Wesen mit zweifachem Geschlecht, aber ein und derselben Seele. Diese Konstellation ist indes tragisch, denn sie kollidiert mit den Gesetzen der Gesellschaft. «Sturmhöhe» ist der Roman einer zum Scheitern verurteilten Auflehnung. (Philipp Meier) (Translation)

ABC8News lists some novels you should definitely read:

 Jane Eyre

– Author: Charlotte Brontë

– Date published: 1847

Literary critic Daniel S. Burt has called Charlotte Brontë “the first historian of the private consciousness” thanks to her novel “Jane Eyre,” the first to focus on a lead character’s moral and spiritual development. Well ahead of its time, this romantic novel follows the titular Jane Eyre through a rough childhood, as a student and teacher at a school, and then—in what readers remember best about the novel—as she accepts a job as governess and slowly begins to fall for her mysterious employer, Mr. Rochester.

The Young Folks reviews Being Mary Bennet by JC Peterson:

Marnie Barnes is the type of girl who wants to spend her birthday alone in the library. She prefers to spend her life buried in the classics. She carries around worn copies of Jane Eyre or Anne of Green Gables to read over and over again. Most of all, she is right in the middle of five sisters, the least remarkable of the bunch, with a mother who has always judged her at every turn. (Abby Petree)

Books+Publishing reviews Daisy & Woolf by Michelle Cahill:

Michelle Cahill’s debut novel tells the story of a struggling writer, Mina, as she expands upon the often disregarded character Daisy Simmons from Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway. Daisy & Woolf follows in the tradition of Jean Rhys’s exploration of Charlotte Brontë’s Bertha in Wide Sargasso Sea. (Marina Sano)

L'Éveil de La Haute-Loire (France) talks about the writer Tiphaine Mora:

Depuis, des éditions Les Roses bleues suivies de parutions chez NUM éditeur, elle enchaîne les succès. Influencée par les œuvres d’Emily Brontë, Daphné du Maurier ou encore Lana Del Rey, elle s’inspire aussi fortement de l’actualité, à l’instar de ce nouveau roman… (Translation)

RockHard (Germany) mentions a video clip by DARKHER, The Buried Storm:

Der Song stammt von DARKHERs Album "The Buried Storm", das am 15. April auf den Markt kommt. Das Schwarzweiß-Video zu 'Love's Sudden Death' wurde in der Umgebung des Long-Dike-Moors in West Yorkshire, UK gefilmt - ganz in der Nähe des Moorlands Top Withens, das die Romane und Gedichte der Brontë-Schwestern inspirierte. (Translation)

The University of Gent (Belgium) shares a nice exhibition where Professor Marysa Demoor chooses the most influential books in her life: Even door het leven lopen in 21 invloedrijke boeken:

Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre (1847)

Ook deze roman voert een opstandig meisje als hoofdfiguur op. Ik las dit boek toen ik elf was, in vertaling. Het fascineerde me: de vreselijke school waar arme domineedochters heen werden gestuurd en onmenselijk werden behandeld, de gekke vrouw op de zolder van het kasteel, de principiële heldin die haar geliefde niet huwt omdat het oneerbaar zou zijn, de donkere held met zijn ongekende verleden, de fanatieke dominee en het einde waarbij de heldin trouwt met de held ook al is hij dan blind. 

In januari van dit jaar citeerde de Mail on Sunday de woordvoerder van Salford University omdat die de studenten had gewaarschuwd : “Only read Jane Eyre if you dare”, dit was een zgn. trigger warning om het mentale welzijn van studenten te beschermen. Monty Don, nu bekend als tuinspecialist, begon zijn academische carrière ook als student Engelse literatuur en vindt Jane Eyre één van de “great books in English literature”. Waarom zouden jonge mensen nu overstuur zijn bij het lezen van dit boek? Ik was elf.

Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights

Dit boek van de jongere zus van Charlotte, is veel gewelddadiger dan Jane Eyre en heeft toelichting nodig om correct geïnterpreteerd te worden. Ik las dit boek in het secundair onderwijs maar de verschillende interpretatielagen werden pas duidelijk toen ik het herlas als studente aan de RUG. Het boek is ronduit geniaal en zou verplichte lectuur moeten zijn voor elke student van Engelstalige literatuur. De uitdaging bij het lezen van dit verhaal is methodologisch – er zijn verschillende vertelinstanties – maar evenzeer inhoudelijk wie van de personages is slecht, wie is goed? Wat is de rol van de dood in dit verhaal? En wat betekent de drukkende troosteloosheid van het landschap? De antwoorden zitten in het verhaal. (Translation)

La Sicilia (Italy) talks about William Hurt's role as Rochester in Jane Eyre 1996:

Nel 1996 William Hurt viene scelto da Franco Zeffirelli per uno dei suoi più ambiziosi progetti internazionali: è il disperato Signor Rochester di «Jane Eyre» dal romanzo di Charlotte Brontë: anche grazie alla sua prova maiuscola quel testo, spesso visto come tanti melodrammi vittoriani nell’ottica di vuoti ed eleganti ritratti in costume, trova la forza originale della scrittrice e il crudo realismo di un’epoca tra luci e ombre. (Translation)

Some English teachers taking a Jane Eyre quiz in Uzbekistan in Правда Востока. A mention of Cathy and Heathcliff in El Espectador (Colombia). Bits & Pieces posts about Jane Eyre. The Brontë Babe Blog shares a poem, A Walk Around Haworth in Bloom.