Elizabeth Hardwick didn't believe Jane Eyre

Digital Spy reports that at the moment, the film Emily has a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. But a contributor to Roger Ebert may be the first dissenting voice:

True biographical information about Wuthering Heights author Emily Brontë is notoriously sparse. Much of what has been written about her comes from the point of view of her sister, and fellow writer, Charlotte, author of Jane Eyre. Given the unknowability of the true nature of Emily, writer/director Frances O’Connor injects her history with pure conjecture in her messy feature film debut entitled “Emily,” starring Emma Mackey in the title role. 

On principle, this take on the mysterious literary figure isn’t necessarily bad. Unfortunately O’Connor’s execution is. While there's some fire under Mackey’s sullen expression, much of her direction seems to have been to make her eyes as wide as possible and to keep her mouth always in a somber pout. Worse, O’Connor anchors Emily’s artistic coming-of-age to a rote romance with a hunky curate who also tutors her in French. Sure, we’re in the age of “insert historical figure here who f*cks” style of storytelling, but plays here more like bad fan fiction, especially when compared with the depths of human emotion Emily’s masterwork reaches. 

Along with saddling her with a truly run-of-the-mill bodice ripping bad romance, O’Connor throws both Charlotte, and especially Anne, out with the bath water. Every chance the film gets, Charlotte is pitted artistically—and at one point, romantically—against her sister. While Anne is relegated to about three or four scenes, forever the forgotten Brontë. (Side note: do read her novel Agnes Grey if you ever get a chance.) Their brother Branwell fares much better, and this is perhaps the most you’ll ever see of him in a film about the Brontës. O’Connor seems to suggest the incest themes found in Wuthering Heights may have a familial root. (Marya E. Gates)

Women and Hollywood interviews director Frances O'Connor.

W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.

FO: In the depths of Yorkshire, a young, reclusive artist struggles to become her true self, finally triumphing over destructive forces to create her masterpiece.

W&H: What drew you to this story?

FO: Emily Bronte has always been a touchstone for me in my life. She was someone who was so authentically herself and I wanted to tell a story that would bring her into consciousness for young women now.

W&H: What do you want people to think about after they watch the film?

FO: They can think whatever they want to! Maybe simply, it’s okay to just be yourself, whoever that is.

W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?

FO: Negotiating the remote locations on the Yorkshire dales through adverse weather conditions, which was physically demanding for the cast and crew, and time was limited.

And also the edit, as I was learning this process for the first time and it’s a steep learning curve, but through all the challenges, I still loved every minute of it. (Laura Berger)

Author Elizabeth Hardwick doesn't seem to have enjoyed Jane Eyre at least not from what's said in this article in The New Yorker.

She hadn’t been in the mood for Castine social life that summer. Those days, she did little but read: “I start ‘War and Peace’ in the morning and I’m finished by five o’clock.” She’d enjoyed one evening alone with Mary, when they had started talking about Jane Eyre. “Mary says she doesn’t believe her,” she told me. “Neither do I.” (Darryl Pinckney)

Writer Emma Straub reminisces about her father, Peter Straub, on Vulture.

He did help get me my first agent, a smart, funny woman my age who — go figure — could not find a publisher for my messy, terrible first-attempt novel that was a modernized Wuthering Heights with a smattering of Flowers in the Attic, which was very much not her fault. I didn’t publish a novel for another ten years.

Geek Girl Authority comments briefly on the book Reluctant Immortals by Gwendolyn Kiste:

The story takes place in 1967 San Francisco and follows Lucy Westenra, a victim in Bram Stoker‘s Dracula and Bertha Mason, the first wife of Edward Rochester from Charlotte Brontë‘s Jane Eyre. The two women are now immortals and have banded together to combat the toxic men bent on destroying their lives. (Julia Roth)

The Scarborough News features the local exhibition Warming the Pot.

The exhibition is a collaboration between friends bookshop owner Leslie Stones and designer Angela Knipe. Jeweller and artists Chantal Anderton has also played a huge part in organising the event.

Both Angela and Chantal have work on display. Angela’s work includes tea cosy – one featuring Anne Brontë, the other Edith Sitwell. (Sue Wilkinson)

IndieHoy (Spain) recommends Jane Eyre 2011 while Jane Eyre 1983 has made it onto a list of 'Top 20 British period dramas to binge-watch this autumn' compiled by BT.