Tales of Love and Self-Discovery

Fox17 West Michigan announces the performances of a new Jane Eyre ballet in Grand Rapids, MI:

For the first time ever the enthralling story of Jane Eyre is being brought to the Grand Rapids stage in ballet form.

Deos Contemporary Ballet offers a 3-show run of this evening-length adaptation of Charlotte Brontë’s tale of love, and self-discovery this weekend, October 18-20.

“We are thrilled to create this extraordinary new production for our dedicated Grand Rapids audience base,” said Sinke. “The work honors Brontë’s timeless narrative while showcasing the power of dance to convey complex emotions and themes. This ballet will offer a unique and immersive experience that will resonate with both longtime fans of the novel and new audiences alike.” (Chris Bovia)

Global Comment talks about Wuthering Heights adaptations and focuses on Wuthering Heights 2009: 

Often described as one of the greatest love stories of all time, Wuthering Heights follows the story of Catherine and Heathcliff through a turbulent love affair, which turns into an epic tale of revenge. (...)

I’m not sure it reads well as a love story. Both Catherine and Heathcliff are in many ways awful characters and their behaviour is rarely truly loving; in some ways they have more in common with vampires – not the sexy modern kind, but the traditional kind who suck everything dry and drain the life from everything around them.

I think it’s perhaps easier to understand the story as an inversion of a love story, despite the love at the centre of it. Luckily the younger generation of the two families provides some hope and contrast so that while there’s plenty of tragedy and cruelty to go around, there’s also hope at the end. (...)

Wuthering Heights has been adapted many times for both film and TV, and for our purposes today I’ll be focusing on the 2009 TV adaptation which has an all-star cast including Sarah Lancashire, Tom Hardy and Andrew Lincoln.

One of the things I love about the adaptation is how it tells the story in chronological order (except for a few minutes at the beginning, which effectively function as a prologue); the novel has a format and structure which works for a novel but which wouldn’t work so well on-screen.

The acting is brilliant – Tom Hardy makes a compelling Heathcliff who has flashes of humanity even when at his most cruel, while Charlotte Riley is excellent as Catherine, with all of her spoiled impetuosity and selfishness. (As an interesting aside, they are now married and apparently this is where they met). Sarah Lancashire is always good, whatever she’s in, and I think she gets the balance of Nelly just right, and Andrew Lincoln makes Edgar Linton into a sympathetic and more rounded character than we see in the book. The cast in general were great and the set and costume design in particular really help to bring the story to life. (Kate Lillie)

Northern Soul interviews the writer Liz Flanagan:

When I talk to Flanagan, she is about to appear at the Brontë Festival of Women’s Writing to delve into the theme of Webs of Childhood. As we chat, she acknowledges how lucky she is to live in Yorkshire. The county’s natural world is key throughout Flanagan’s work, from her YA fiction to her middle and lower-grade books. There are obvious parallels with the Brontës and their deep connection with the awe-inspiring landscape that surrounds the Parsonage. (...)

Finally, I have to ask the question. Does she have a favourite Brontë sibling and a favourite Brontë novel?

It turns out that Flanagan is Team Charlotte. She lights up when we talk about Jane Eyre, at which point I brandish my Jane Eyre mug at the camera with the kind of fervour that only comes with being an unofficial Brontë correspondent.

A few days after we speak, I hear Flanagan in conversation at the Webs of Childhood Brontë Festival of Women’s Writing, a hybrid festival which offers a fantastic series of events for all ages, from magical story workshops for children to feminist invoicing, yoga and poetry and a guided walk to the Brontë waterfall. Dame Jacqueline Wilson, Lucy Mangan and Clare Wallace of Darley Anderson Literary Agency were just a few names appearing at the festival. Their collective wisdom and wit left me feeling energised and optimistic. Thank you, Brontë Society.  (Amy Stone)

Gothic films in the Philippine Daily Enquirer. Among them:

“Jane Eyre” (2011)
While tame compared to the rest of the gothic romances on this list, the 2011 film adaptation of “Jane Eyre” doesn’t shy away from the intense drama, passionate romance, and eerie atmosphere. The movie follows the titular orphaned protagonist (Mia Wasikowska) suffering abuse at the hands of her cruel aunt before working as a governess at the strange estate of Mr. Rochester (portrayed by a dashing, tortured Michael Fassbender). Sensual, dark, and a little creepy, this is a great starter for those just getting into the genre. (Denise Fernandez)

The film is aired today (15.30h) on Paramount Network (Spain). 

The controversy around the casting if the upcoming Emerald Fennell's Wuthering Heights adaptation is again discussed in Prestige, but no new arguments are added. 

The Rutland Herald interviews Randal Smathers, director of the Rutland Free Library:

Please share some of your favorite authors or book recommendations.
“Foe,” by J.M. Coetzee, and “Wide Sargasso Sea,” by Jean Rhys, which featured in my favorite class in grad school, on writing back to the canon.

Clarín (Argentina) explores female horror writers:

 En paralelo, geográfica y temporalmente, estaba Ann Radcliffe, que en 1789 publicó la lúgubre y épica The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne. No tuvo mucha repercusión en el público ni en la crítica. Pero es fundacional y, con su estilo, marcó el pulso de todo el terror: la ambigüedad a la hora de lo sobrenatural, lo ominoso como geografía.

Influenció a muchos autores y autoras. La abadía de Northanger, debut literario en 1817 de Jane Austen, es un homenaje a The Mysteries of Udolpho, la cuarta y más famosa novela de Radcliffe, de 1794. Cuenta las desventuras de Emily St. Aubert, huérfana y joven encerrada en un castillo sombrío por el Signor Montoni, probablemente acosada por algo sobrenatural, pero también por el peligro tangible del tutor y bandido italiano. De ahí se nutren las hermanas Brontë, sobre todo Charlotte, en Jane Eyre, pero también Emily en Cumbres borrascosas, ambas publicadas en 1847: aunque no sean consideradas de terror, son terroríficas a su modo y llevan en su ADN el mapeo del gótico. (Daniela Pasik) (Translation)

La Opinión de A Coruña (Spain) interviews the writer Lucía Lago:

 ¿Cuáles son sus referentes a la hora de escribir?

Me encantan las autoras inglesas victorianas, las historias de las hermanas Brontë, de Jane Austen, pero más actual, una inspiración para mí es Kate Morton, que es una maestra a la hora de trazar este tipo de historias narradas en dos tiempos, con misterios familiares. (Translation)

The Brontë Sisters YoutTube channel visits Thornton, the Old Bell Chapel, and the Brontë Birthplace.