Moody, repressed writers?

Forbes features writer Helena Rho.

Rho has always loved reading. When she was six years old, her South Korean family moved to Uganda, where she remembers reading a copy of Jane Eyre left behind by the previous British tenant of their Kampala house. (Joan MacDonald)

Harper's Bazaar features Japanese Breakfast frontwoman Michelle Zauner.

 “When I think of a melancholy brunette, I think of a Brontë or something. And I was really sick the past few years, and, you know, like a moody writer, curmudgeonly trudging through the world. I just felt like it was really indicative of that type of person, and that’s how I felt for the past few years.” (Dani Maher)

Hastings Tribune interviews singer-songwriter Lucy Dacus.

Mikael Wood: Leonard and Sabrina aside, who are your bards of desire?

L.D.: James Baldwin. Garth Greenwell. Jeanette Winterson. I've been reading the Brontë sisters one by one.

M.W.: Why?

L.D.:  Boygenius went to the Brontë museum [in England], and I was in the middle of "Jane Eyre" during that. Then I read "Wuthering Heights" recently, and I'm gonna read "Agnes Grey" next. They were repressed and wanting romance, and even though it's a much different world now, I think a lot of people are feeling repressed and wanting romance. Wanting a mystical, cosmic love to come your way, or the idea that you love someone so undeniably and inexplicably that they could be the villain of the story and you still have to love them — that interests me.

Gulf News lists '5 brilliant book openings that captivated UAE readers: The magic of the first line and how it sets the stage' and one of them is

There was no possibility of taking a walk that day

---Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë

Dubai-based Anjalie Rathore, a homemaker and avid bookwoom believes that while it gives you an insight into an author’s writing style, it’s also the first impression that invites your curiosity. Some lines seem so ordinary and plain and yet, you want to read on. “I think, it’s the gift of a remarkable author to start with the simplest of lines, and still set the tone of the rest of the book,” she says.

Rathore quotes Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte, which starts with the simple words: “There was no possibility of taking a walk that day.”  These words carry the weight of quiet, sullen disappointment, describing a sense of hopelessness that pervades through the first few pages, delving into the ill-treatment of the protagonist Jane, at the hands of her aunt and siblings [sic]. (Lakshana N Palat)

Berkeley High Jacket discusses 'The madwoman archetype in literature'.

For instance, in Charlotte Brontë’s “Jane Eyre,” the character Bertha Mason coined the term “madwoman in the attic.” Mason, who played an antagonist role, was portrayed as “mad,” and a threat to the book’s main character, Jane Eyre, who often struggled with being defiant throughout her adulthood.

While some of Bertha Mason’s actions were questionable, including inflicting physical harm on others, the source of her supposed “madness” can be linked to the fact that her husband locked her up and isolated her. Bertha Mason’s actions were a result of her husband’s suppression, and act as a great contrast to the book’s leading lady. Jane, a character with a tragic childhood, grapples throughout the novel with balancing her independence and the constrictions of society. “Crazy” Bertha Mason, a character who despite having little physical agency lives with more freedom to behave recklessly, juxtaposes Jane seamlessly.

Many popular pieces of modern feminist literature depict women similar to Bertha Mason, in that they are not entirely stable, but  in the light of a main character as opposed to the antagonist. Not only do these novels push back against the restrictive ways women have been portrayed in the past, they also embrace the idea that female characters can be morally grey; that female characters and women in real life can be loud, aggressive, passionate and imperfect and still be human and be worthy of recognition. (Cecilia Tiles)

Michael Fassbender recalls an anecdote from the filming of Jane Eyre 2011 for Entertainment Weekly:

For fans of Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, Michael Fassbender's interpretation of Edward Rochester was enough to make anyone swoon.

And apparently that extended to his equine costar on the film, Prince. While sharing memories of his experiences across his filmography, Fassbender recalls that his horse had a stimulating reaction to his presence.

"What comes to mind is a horse called Prince with an erection as I was sitting on his back," Fassbender shares.

The actor later reunited with the horse on 2015's Macbeth, in which he played the titular Scottish king. But apparently the horse was more a Rochester type than a Shakespeare fan. "Weather conditions were brutal," Fassbender remembers. "It was literally horizontal rain, cold locations in Scotland, and reuniting with Prince the horse that had an erection on Jane Eyre. I don’t think I gave him an erection this time though." (Maureen Lee Lenker)

Halifax Courier shares some pictures of the historic village of Luddenden.

St Mary's Church and The Lord Nelson Inn are both Grade II listed.

The pub was also said to be a drinking haunt of Branwell Brontë, brother of the famous Brontë sisters, while he worked as a station master in nearby Luddenden Foot. (Abigail Kellett)

The Behind the Glass podcast is returning:

Series two returns with our first guest of 2025, the Rev. Oli Preston of Haworth Parish Church. 

We discuss 19th-century medicine, looking after ourselves and the environment, and what it's like stepping into Patrick Brontë's shoes in the parish he cared for.