The madwoman doing Mr Rochester’s taxes in the attic

There's a debate going on in Australia about whether we should 'be setting students edgy contemporary texts or the classics'. ABC has a podcast discussion about it while The Conversation has an article.

Some are astounded their teens are still reading the same books they read at school.

One father of a Year 9 daughter wondered on Twitter last week, at the start of the 2023 school year, why she was assigned the “boring” Animal Farm, Romeo and Juliet and Wuthering Heights. (His original post was so flooded with responses, he became overwhelmed and deleted it.) (Alex Bacalja)

Literary Quicksand is looking forward to the 'Best Historical Fiction 2023' and one of them is

The Air Raid Book Club by Annie Lyons

Release date: July 11, 2023

London, 1938: The bookstore just doesn’t feel the same to Gertie Bingham ever since the death of her beloved husband Harry. Bingham Books was a dream they shared together, and without Harry, Gertie wonders if it’s time to take her faithful old lab, Hemingway, and retire to the seaside. But fate has other plans for Gertie.

In Germany, Hitler is on the rise, and Jewish families are making the heart-wrenching decision to send their children away from the growing turmoil. After a nudge from her dear friend Charles, Gertie decides to take in one of these refugees, a headstrong teenage girl named Hedy. Willful and fearless, Hedy reminds Gertie of herself at the same age, and shows her that she can’t give up just yet. With the terrible threat of war on the horizon, the world needs people like Gertie Bingham and her bookshop.

When the Blitz begins and bombs whistle overhead, Gertie and Hedy come up with the idea to start an air raid book club. Together with neighbors and bookstore customers, they hold lively discussions of everything from Winnie the Pooh to Wuthering Heights. After all, a good book can do wonders to bolster people’s spirits, even in the most trying times.

But even the best book can only provide a temporary escape, and as the tragic reality of the war hits home, the book club faces unimaginable losses. They will need all the strength of their stories and the bonds they’ve formed to see them through to brighter days. (Joli)

Vulture has a recap of season 3 episode 4 of All Creatures Great and Small. (Beware of spoilers!)

I guess we can account for Helen too, now that she lives in Skeldale House. Helen’s in the attic filling out forms for James. She is literally his attic wife. That’s the most Northanger Abbey–type attic wife reveal. Can you imagine if Jane Eyre crept into the attic, and there’s Bertha Mason doing Mr. Rochester’s taxes? (Alice Burton)

That would be incontestable proof of her madness.

'Charlotte Brontë And Her Winter Illnesses' on AnneBrontë.org.