Merlin is a magic-realist version of a 14-year-old’s geography field trip. This trainee-costume-drama, kid-lite show is to get them ready for a life of Sundays spent swooning over the Austen-Brontës. (AA Gill)Not such a bad thing in our humble opinion. Den of Geek, though, goes even further:
Therefore it’s easy to think that this is yet another excuse for the BBC to leverage its copious costume department, and while there is truth in that, we should perhaps rejoice that it’s not another rehash of one of Dickens', Bronte's or Jane Austen's works for the twentieth or more time. It’s a personal fantasy of mine that someone radical will head the organisation at some point and put a veto on all costume dramas that they’ve previously done, because I’ve seen more Taffeta, Crinoline, Bustles, Bonnets and Mr Darcys than you could reasonably fit in an Airbus 380. But I digress. (Mark Pickavance)We are quite sure that Mr Pickavance will be delighted to hear that there are new Wuthering Heights versions on the way.
Instead, she marries Alex, a man in his mid-50s, when she is in her late 30s. As Reyn writes, "It occurred to her that all those years of feeling unique, of thinking she was the only Russian immigrant to moon over Heathcliff from 'Wuthering Heights,' might have been slightly delusional." (Regis Behe)And as for blogs, Writer's Blog writes about Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice.
Charlotte Brontë enjoyed attending literary parties when she visited London but insisted on keeping up the pretense that she hadn't written "Jane Eyre" -- the only reason why she had been invited. (John Gross)Again, this way of condensing in a nutshell portrays things rather different than they actually were. Charlotte Brontë didn't exactly 'enjoy' attending these parties, and George Smith - her publisher - was quite okay with the fact that she attended incognito (which was a cover that didn't last that long anyway).
Fans of Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters will be in a familiar landscape reading "The Magicians and Mrs. Quent." (Robert Folsom)Bearing in mind that Jane Austen and the Brontë sisters don't actually share a familiar landscape we guess that's just becase on the fact that the book takes place when women wore longs skirts or something. But the publisher itself insists on the connection:
What if there was a fantastical cause underlying the social constraints and limited choices confronting a heroine in a novel by Jane Austen or Charlotte Brontë? Galen Beckett began writing The Magicians and Mrs. Quent to answer that question.Here's the synopsis, in case you are wondering:
In this enchanting debut novel, Galen Beckett weaves a dazzling spell of adventure and suspense, evoking a world of high magick and genteel society—a world where one young woman discovers that her modest life is far more extraordinary than she ever imagined.Another book reviewed is What Happened to Anna K., by Irina Reyn. From the Pittsburgh City Paper:
Of the three Lockwell sisters—romantic Lily, prophetic Rose, and studious Ivy—all agree that it’s the eldest, the book-loving Ivy, who has held the family together ever since their father’s retreat into his silent vigil in the library upstairs. Everyone blames Mr. Lockwell’s malady on his magickal studies, but Ivy alone still believes—both in magic and in its power to bring her father back.
But there are others in the world who believe in magick as well. Over the years, Ivy has glimpsed them—the strangers in black topcoats and hats who appear at the door, strangers of whom their mother will never speak. Ivy once thought them secret benefactors, but now she’s not so certain.
After tragedy strikes, Ivy takes a job with the reclusive Mr. Quent in a desperate effort to preserve her family. It’s only then that she discovers the fate she shares with a jaded young nobleman named Dashton Rafferdy, his ambitious friend Eldyn Garritt, and a secret society of highwaymen, revolutionaries, illusionists, and spies who populate the island nation of Altania.
For there is far more to Altania than meets the eye and more to magick than mere fashion. And in the act of saving her father, Ivy will determine whether the world faces a new dawn—or an everlasting night. . . .
Reyn's Anna K. is a Russian-Jewish immigrant who works in publishing. She has a history of Bronte-obsession and, generally, likes nice things -- good books, expensive clothing, New York food -- that serve only to catapult her wanting to eventually disastrous extremes. Anna's marriage to the bloodless Alex K. predictably detonates, leaving her with David Zuckerman (the new Vronsky), an adjunct writing instructor and enthusiast of Russian literature. This doesn't last, either. (Adam Colman)Author Kathy Lette, interviewed by Sky News, points out something we had overlooked about e-book readers.
On the negative side reading a book that relies on batteries or electrictiy has one fatal flaw, what if there's a blackout and you never get to find out if Jane Eyre marries Mr Rochester or if Lizzie Bennett discovers her altar ego with Mr Darcy or whodunnit in the whodunnit. It could be a case of creative intercourse interruptus.Ooh, scary (and we mean it).
Megan is more Baby Jane Holzer than Jane Eyre; she’s a lovely, refined Yale graduate who was raised in nearby Fort Lauderdale but seems quite at ease in high society. (Alessandra Stanley)A couple of blogs today: Reading, Writing, Working, Playing posts about the first episode of the miniseries The Brontës of Haworth. If you liked the article on Fritz Eichenberg that we linked to yesterday, you might be interested in seeing more of his work courtesy of Caustic Cover Critic.
One of the fascinating things about Angel Deverell is that, like the crime novelist in Swimming Pool, she actually isn't much cop as a writer. "No, she is not good," admits Ozon. "But it is easier to show someone who is not a genius, a bad painter rather than a Picasso. For me, it's not important that Angel is a poor writer. What's important is her energy, her will, her strength. I think Angel has a gift but her problem is she becomes popular when she is too young. It happens all the time. Barbara Cartland was a success with this shit that she writes, and she never changed. Maybe if she'd been a big flop she would have become Emily Brontë." He laughs at the idea. "Maybe not." (Ryan Gilbey)The Times Literary Supplement reviews Shadows of the Workhouse by Jennifer Worth:
In the voice of the social historian, Worth explains and tries to be fair to the workhouse system. It was “the first attempt at social welfare in this country”, but the poor feared it – with good reason. Entering the workhouse was akin to imprisonment: married couples and siblings were separated, food was inadequate, casual brutality the norm. And yet orphans who would have died of starvation on the streets were housed and educated in some measure. Frank not only survived but developed a successful business and was able to rescue and give a home to the fifteen-year-old sister torn from him as a three-year-old. The outcome (which should not be revealed) is either a fairy tale with a happy ending or an exposé of moral depravity. With the freedom of a novelist Worth tells us how people felt, what they intended and what they said. There are echoes of Jane Eyre, and the sentimental descriptions of Peggy and Frank are designed to lull us into condescension and then shocked compassion. The revelation is thrilling; all the more so when you unravel the parts and take stock of the elements that have been combined. (Norma Clarke)And The Christian Science Monitor reviews What Happened to Anna K by Irina Reyn:
Anna K., a romantic who read "Wuthering Heights" 14 times growing up, has always longed to be the main character of a novel – preferably a big 19th-century one by a literary giant. "She would imagine it was she who was the heroine, willing powerful lovers to prostrate themselves before her, allowing them to sob their love to her in the middle of a rainstorm, at balls, inside carriages." (Reyn has a great deal of fun with such jokes – on Page 5, for example, she announces that "ever since she was a little girl, Anna had loved trains.") (Yvonne Zip)The Almanac, from the South Hills of Pittsburgh, reports a curiously-named development:
The preliminary plan for the 54-home Wuthering Heights development was approved Aug. 14 by Peters Township Planning Commission. But the plan was contingent on modifications to township ordinances which had to be granted by council.For their own sake, we hope the 54 families that move into those homes won't be competing to see who ressembles Heathcliff the most :P
The modifications had to do with a road - Bronte Court - which was designed to connect with Clubview Drive at the "S" curve on that road. (Carla Valentine Myers)
VIRGO [August 23–September 22] "I have dreamed in my life dreams that have stayed with me ever after, and changed my ideas," wrote Emily Brontë in Wuthering Heights. "They have gone through and through me, like wine through water, and altered the color of my mind." One of your main assignments in the coming week, Virgo, is to identify a dream that can work that kind of magic on you. If there is no such dream currently seeded in your imagination, find a new one to plant there. (Rob Brezsny)As for blogs, Jane Austen Today posts an interesting review of Jane Eyre's Daughter
Jane Eyre’s Daughter is a pleasant read , a friendly coze in the mid-to-late- Nineteenth Century. It will not give the avid Jane Eyre fan much in the way of seeing Jane in later life, but young Janet becomes a strong and interesting heroine in her own right.Halsey's Hip Hype reviews Jane Eyre and the Livejournal community Picspammy has a good many screencaps from Wuthering Heights 1939.
The Telegraph & Argus gives the chance to see the results of Dominic Clare's work with the Parsonage's cyprus pine tree that was felled last January:The “black sheep” of the Bronte family was chosen as the unlikely subject for the latest piece of artwork to commemorate the literary family.A video can also be watched here.
Chainsaw artist Dominic Clare spent a day carving a sculpture of Branwell Bronte from a tree felled at the Bronte Parsonage Museum earlier this year.
Fascinated visitors to the Haworth museum were able to watch Mr Clare in action as he drew the outline of Branwell’s face onto the wood, then used a chainsaw to cut the lines.
The tree, which had become diseased, was one of a pair of Cypress pines believed to have been planted in the Parsonage garden by Charlotte Bronte and Arthur Bell Nicholls as part of their wedding celebrations.
A seedling from the tree was taken before it was felled and has been replanted in the same spot.
The sculpture of Branwell is set to be displayed at the museum throughout the summer.
An information panel inside the museum explains to visitors that Branwell is seen as the black sheep of the family. With that in mind, why was the artist so keen to make him the focus of his work?
“I was taken by the self-portrait that Branwell did and I used that for inspiration to carve a larger version onto the panel,” said Mr Clare, from Beddgelert, in North Wales.
“I just like the marks Branwell makes on the paper – he was an artist himself obviously,” added Mr Clare.
Jenna Holmes, arts officer at the museum, said: “It’s a fantastic thing for visitors to see. It’s quite a dramatic sight to see an artist working with a chainsaw.
“It was a tree that was believed to have been planted by Charlotte Bronte on her wedding day in 1854 and unfortunately it had to be felled this January because it had become diseased. We thought it would be a lovely way to commemorate the tree and create a fun event for visitors.
“A sapling was taken from the original tree so something will, hopefully, grow back in the same spot as the original.”
A description of Branwell, displayed on an information board near the museum entrance, said: “The popular story is that he was an alcoholic drug addict who wasted his talents and held his sisters back.
“As a young man, Branwell showed great promise as an artist and writer. His family were very proud of his talents. His poetry was admired by experts and was published five years before any of his sisters’ work. He also played an active part in Haworth life.
“Branwell did abuse drugs and alcohol in the last years of his life after a failed love affair. But Mrs Gaskell exaggerated Branwell’s downfall in her biography of Charlotte, and later writers have followed her lead.” (Will Kilner)
The raucous literary festival Litquake teams with ODC Theater for a slate of dancer-writer collaborations. On opening night, gymnastic stuntman Scott Wells teams with the spunky Michelle Tea; other matchups include Katie Faulkner and Tess Uriza Holthe, and Alejandro Murguia and Erika Shuch. The later nights of the festival present Los Angeles choreographer Rosanna Gamson's "Ravish," a dance-theater piece about the Bronte sisters. Oct. 8-12. Project Artaud Theater, 450 Florida St., San Francisco.The Times has an article about animal protagonists in adult literature. Sam Savage's Firmin appears:
His first meal is Finnegans Wake - the “big one”. Firmin subsequently develops (literally) a taste for high literature. Lettuce, he discovers, “tastes like Jane Eyre”. Flaubert is “salty and tart”. Firmin becomes subtle as Proust in the books he devours. (John Sutherland)TravelWeekly might push metaphors too far:
Of the many people I have got to know well in the travel industry, it’s a fair bet none would describe me as anything like a character from a classic English novel.More reviews of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight saga:
No, the stress of writing this column hasn’t tipped me over the edge. And no, I’m not about to start flouncing about like Keira Knightley.
But I do have an admission – I’m starting to feel a bit like Jane Eyre. You see, the trade has a nasty secret almost as shameful as having a mad relative locked up in the attic. (Julia Lo Blue-Said)
Although Meyer tries to portray this pair as a modern Romeo and Juliet or Heathcliff and Catherine (references to whom are glaringly frequent), Bella and Edward’s relationship is more like that of predator and prey. For one thing, the scent of Bella’s blood tortures Edward, who drinks animal blood to keep from killing humans. (Gina R. Dalfonzo in National Review)And of Irina Reyn's What Happened to Anna K.:
To others, Anna's blend of beauty, elegance and mystery embodies "the Russian soul." But Reyn shows that the romantic siren song of her favorite novel, "Wuthering Heights," explains her missteps as much as any Old Country mystique. After a few years, she will seek her Heathcliff in her cousin's former beau, David, a Queens College adjunct and aspiring novelist. (Dan Cryer in Newsday)The Book Smugglers interview author Susan Holloway Scott:
The Book Smugglers: Who (or what) are some of your influences? Any favorite authors?Categories: Books, Branwell Brontë, Brontë Parsonage Museum, Dance, Haworth, In the News
Susan: If we’re talking influences, I’d have to say all those grand old historical writers that I devoured as a teenager.(...) I also read tons of older books that weren’t strictly “historical”, but the contemporary novels of their time, like Anthony Trollope, Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Edith Wharton, Alexandre Dumas, the Brontes, and Henry Fielding (though as speedy a reader as I was, I didn’t finish any of those in a single day!)
Well, the remark is a bit misleading, as the school report was made when she was 8 years old. For the sake of completeness Charlotte Brontë's complete entry at the Cowan Bridge Clergy Daughters' School reads:Almost six in 10 schoolchildren believe they have to work harder now for A-levels and GCSEs than their parents did, a survey suggests.A similar number believe that news coverage of their results will be critical, regardless of how well they perform. (...)
And he added that history had shown that school performance is not necessarily the best indicator of future success.
"Churchill was a poor performer at school," Dr [David] Wright [,CIEA chief executive,] said.
"Einstein struggled with his school diploma, and Charlotte Bronte's school report in 1825 said that 'she knew nothing about grammar' and wrote 'indifferently'. So what's new?"
Charlotte Brontë 8 1824 August 10th Vaccinated H.The Washington Post publishes a positive review of Justine Picardie's Daphne:
Cough Reads tolerably - Writes indifferently -
Ciphers a little bit and works neatly. Knows nothing
of Grammar, Geography, History or Accomplishments. Left Schools
1825 June 1st Governess Altoghether clever of
her age but knows nothing systematically.
The Daphne of this novel's title is a novelist herself, Daphne du Maurier, the bestselling author of Rebecca (1938). Among her other books is a speculative biography, The Infernal World of Branwell Brontë (1960), for which she's less well known. Yet du Maurier was haunted by the figure of the Brontë brother, that hard-to-decipher and troubled boy who chronicled the world of Angria, an imaginary kingdom he and his sisters could shape. In minuscule script, he dreamed of adventure and conquest, calling himself the Earl of Northangerland; he may have furnished a template for Emily's Heathcliff or Charlotte's Mr. Rochester. When Branwell died at 31, in 1848, he left behind both thwarted ambition and -- with reference to who wrote what -- some mysteries unsolved. Was he an important talent or an artist subject to delusion; which manuscripts are genuine, which forged and when, for what reason, by whom?The London Free Press announces that the Theatre Nemesis's production of Wuthering Heights presented at the London Ontario Fringe Festival:
Justine Picardie's Daphne is a complicated tale-within-a-tale about literary detective work, the tangled web we weave when trying to make sense of earlier deception. The novel begins in 1957. Du Maurier is famous, 50 years old, unhappily married to an ex-soldier and anxious to prove her intellectual credentials to those who scorn her as merely successful. Compelled by the world of the Brontës, she makes contact with a reclusive editor of their work, buying (on her part, innocently) purloined memorabilia and seeking his advice. In real life, du Maurier did dedicate The Infernal World of Branwell Brontë to John Alexander Symington, a "now-forgotten Brontë scholar" to whom she wrote letters and from whom she received epistolary suggestions; their actual letters are reproduced here. In this fictional treatment of their encounter, the portrait of Symington is deftly drawn, and Picardie evokes the world of scholarship and how it can edge up to self-destructive obsession.
(...)In this novel's accomplished retelling, Picardie moves with ease from Daphne's memories of Barrie ("Uncle Jim) and Gertrude ("Gertie") Lawrence to her attempt to unravel the question of authorship of the Brontë siblings' poems and even, perhaps, the great prose.
Most of this sleuthing is performed by a contemporary narrator, a young woman living in London (near the du Maurier home and burial ground), as haunted by du Maurier as du Maurier was by Brontë. Orphaned, old-fashioned and working ineffectually on a Ph.D., she travels to Yorkshire and visits the Brontë manse, Haworth, then gets lost in the woods of Menabilly, du Maurier's retreat in Cornwall. Near action's end, she explains her compulsion: "I feel alive when I think of Daphne du Maurier; I feel that her life contains all kinds of clues and messages that might help me make sense of mine."
Less successful as a character is the narrator's husband Paul, a "Heathcliff and Mr. Rochester and Maxim de Winter" out of central casting. He may look the part of a romantic hero, but he's a middle-aged scholar of Henry James who still yearns for his first wife, Rachel. As the narrator observes, "I must say, there's nothing like being lectured on Henry James by one's husband to put you off both of them." Rachel, a seductive poet also fascinated by du Maurier and the Brontës, gets equally embroiled in the hunt for lost texts; there's a kind of Keystone Kop scramble for who will find which notebook first. Unfortunately, Picardie's mirroring stories grow not so much illuminating as repetitive, and we care less than do her characters about who first wrote what.
The narrator spells out the problem: "What right do I have to try to make connections between [du Maurier's] books and her life? It's dangerous territory -- like all those dated, sentimental Brontë biographies, spinning the myth about saintly Charlotte and spiritual Emily and bad Branwell and gentle Anne. Those kinds of books make me feel uncomfortable; it's the literary equivalent of catching butterflies, and then killing them, in order to pin them down and display them in a box."
But the reader need not be a devotée of Branwell Brontë or Daphne du Maurier or even the Gothic genre to take pleasure in this novel; the butterflies are brightly colored and the display well-lit. (Nicholas Delbanco)
A video of the production can also be seen.Four shows have won coveted spots on the Impresario Performance list at this year's Fringe fest.It means extra attention, and an added performance for each of the winners.
Open-call auditions for the first season at Farmers Alley Theatre will begin at 7 p.m. Aug. 17 and 18 in the Community Room of the City Center Building, 125 S. Kalamazoo Mall. Bring a current photo and a resume. Prepare your choice of a short song (no Jason Robert Brown), short monologue or both. An accompanist will be provided. (...)Ok, now you know...but, why is Jason Robert Brown off limits?
April 3-18: ``Jane Eyre,'' music and lyrics by Paul Gordon and book by John Caird.
The plot is closer to Jane Eyre than Drac-ula, with a heavy dose of Romeo and Juliet. And the series is carried along by an elastic sexual tension that one critic has characterised as “the erotics of abstinence”. (Tony-Allen Mills)The Charleston Post and Courier reviews an old BrontëBlog acquaintance: Margot Livesey's The House on Fortune Street:
If Livesey's novel is dense with parallels, it never feels as if the connections are forced. Each of the important characters is scathed by childhood trauma, and each builds a life over the scar. Each narrative also has its own literary mascot. Sean is drawn to Keats, Abigail to Dickens, Dara to Bronte's "Jane Eyre" and Cameron to Lewis Carroll. (Catherine Holmes)A Brontë reference introduced in a recreation of another well-known novel is a new kind of metafiction intertextuality. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reviews What Happened to Anna K by Irina Reyn. The K is for Karenina, of course:
As in Tolstoy's novel, Reyn tells two stories, one of Anna Roitman, who's about to marry Alex K., and the other, Lev Gavrilov, who has for years been quietly in love with Anna's cousin, Katia. (...)El País Semanal publishes a survey to 100 Spanish-speaking writers choosing the ten books which somehow changed their lives. There are a couple of Brontës: Jane Eyre is chosen by Nuria Amat and Wuthering Heights by Ana María Matute.
A veteran of 14 readings of "Wuthering Heights", Anna is a Romantic with a capital R. She longs more for intensity than for singing birds. When she encounters the hoped-for fiance of Katia, a young writer with his own literary illusions, Anna thinks she has met a soulmate. Even without reading Tolstoy's novel, we know where a romantic's heart wants to go, and Anna goes there. (Sherri Hallgren)
Eric Markle, 37, has trouble sleeping. He sits at a long table poring over a grand jury report on the biggest story in the city - the starvation death of 14-year-old Danieal Kelly. He is appalled and quotes a line from Jane Eyre: "Such dread as children only can feel." (Jennifer Lin in The Philadelphia Inquirer)On the blogosphere - several readers of Wuthering Heights: staticmatrix, Only a Novel:
Whoa! Emily Brontë, where did that come from?! As I was perusing this novel, I was just as intrigued by the person who wrote the story as by the novel itself. Who was this Emily Brontë who dared imagine and put into words this bold, brash, intense, in-your-face story? How courageous; how risky; how different; how honest. I like her.Pixiechick_sw has read The Tenant of Wildfell Hall:
Wow! That was one intense book! Anne is very ahead of her time. I can see why this book did terribly in the 1840s. It deals with the injustices of a woman's place in society, sex, infidelity, spousal abuse, alcoholism, and other addictions. This book was heavy, painful, redeeming and no matter in what century a person lives--EXACTLY RIGHT!Categories: Books, Brontëites, In the News, Jane Eyre, Music, References, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Theatre, Wuthering Heights
As we informed, last week artist Lesley Martin worked with Brontë Parsonage visitors to create a giant artwork on the Parsonage front lawn, made of natural materials. Keighley News reports the results (Picture source):Environmental artist Lesley Martin created the piece - based around the number 80 - entirely from flowers, ferns and leaves. (...)The cast for the upcoming Birmingham Repertory Theatre production of Wuthering Heigh
Brontë Parsonage arts officer Jenna Holmes said Monday's anniversary celebrations had been appreciated by all.
She said: "With the free entry offer, we had a lot of people come who perhaps haven't been for a long time, which is really nice.
"In it's 80th year the museum is doing really well, we have some really exciting projects - for example the Emily Brontë portrait from the National Portrait Gallery and we have the Gondal manuscripts too. It is just going from strength to strength."
The natural artwork was just one of a string of events planned for the Parsonage this month.
On August 22, chainsaw artist Dominic Clare will create a sculpture from a felled tree that Emily Brontë is said to have planted. (Lisa Campbell)
ts (with a new adaptation by April de Angelis) has been announced and brings surprises:Susannah York played Jane Eyre in Delbert Mann's 1970 TV movie.Heathcliff: Antony Byrne Lockwood: Simon Coates Edgar/Linton: Toby Dantzic Hindley/Hareton: Edmund Kingsley Cathy: Amanda Ryan Joseph/Old Mr Linton: David Whitworth Frances: Victoria Yeates Nellie Dean: Susannah York
Wycoller village, thought by some to be the inspiration for Ferndean Manor in Jane Eyre, is also a place of delights, with its crafts centre, willow sculptures and – best of all - no cars (the lane down to the village is accessible only on foot). And set above all this, amid the brooding moors which inspired the Brontë sisters, just off the road which runs up to Haworth where they were brought up, sits the Atom panopticon. Designed by Peter Meacock, Katarina Novometska and architects WCW the mighty bronze-coated egg is both viewpoint and shelter, offering views through its oval, panoptical apertures across the moors and to east Lancashire's most distinct piece of topography: Pendle Hill, where the witches roamed. Inside atom sits a large stainless steel sphere – representing the last remaining molecule in this particular atom. (Ian Herbert)The Independent (Ireland) interviews actress and singer Susannah de Wrixon:
Favourite book?Now for some Brontë mentions in several reviews: What Happened to Anna K. by Irina Reyn is reviewed again in the San Francisco Chronicle:
Wuthering Heights for the passion, or anything by Roger McGough for the humour.
But her real trouble is that she is a romantic. Her parents, happily nestled in their cozy Queens apartment, see in her their embodiment of the American dream: She will marry a successful Russian immigrant businessman, move to a good neighborhood in Manhattan, dress well, entertain, acquire. They grew up under communism, where such ways of measuring success were off limits to them. But Anna has been poisoned by a diet of "Wuthering Heights," old Woody Allen movies and those same French films Lev adores. Since childhood, she has always craved something beyond her reach. (Elizabeth Gold)Bookreporter reviews The Night Villa by Carol Goodman:
Goodman’s novels always radiate with the tradition of Gothic literature made famous by authors like Charlotte Bronte and Daphne du Maurier, and THE NIGHT VILLA continues this tradition in admirable style. (Ray Palen)And Newsday's review of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows happens to mention the Brontës again:
The novel's heroine is Juliet Ashton, author of a largely unread biography of Anne Brontë, who achieves a modicum of fame for her humorous newspaper columns depicting life in London during the war. As the book opens, Juliet is on a book tour to promote the collected columns, and she is casting about for a new book idea. (...)The Buffalo News reviews Sarah Gavron's film Brick Lane (more information on previous posts):
Among Juliet's new friends are Amelia Maugery, the local noblewoman, whose private library is virtually the only source for books on Guernsey; Isola Pribby, an ungainly young woman whose interests tend toward the occult and, thanks to the Literary Society, the Brontë sisters. (Erica Marcus)
Indian actor Satish Kaushik is simply marvelous as Chanu, a portly, relentlessly cheerful fellow, who is proud of his volumes of Bronte, Thackeray and Proust, and of his certificates from the university. He’s a clownish figure, setting off each day in his overcoat to look for work or to drive his taxi, bewildered at his daughters’ lack of respect for tradition, a lost soul who more than any of them does not feel at home in London. (Jean Westmoore)The Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2008 is full with comedy shows with Wuthering Heights mentions. Some days ago we posted about Watson and Oliver's sketch comedy. Now Chortle talks about some others:
Perhaps surprisingly, this is not the only Fringe act to feature a silly dance routine performed to Kate Bush's Wuthering Heights, as Patrick Monahan also does it. But, as their bumper sticker might read, The Grandees do it better… and not just to Wuthering Heights.raffyx posts sixty Jane Eyre 2006 icons. The Bigger Pictures reviews Wuthering Heights 1992. El Espejo Gótico translates to Spanish yet another poem by Emily Brontë, A Death-scene.
Fresh from its run in New York, GableStage director Joseph Adler seized the chance to produce New Yorker writer Packer's adaptation of his interviews with Iraqis who worked for the Americans, what they risked and endured. (...)And Irina Reyn's What Happened to Anna K? is reviewed on the Christian Science Monitor:
The single female interpreter, Intisar (Ceci Fernandez, whose expressive eyes tell the story), quotes Emily Bronte and dreams of being allowed to ride a bicycle through the streets like her brothers, without being punished for ''immodesty.'' (Eileen Spiegler)
Anna K., a romantic who read “Wuthering Heights” 14 times growing up, has always longed to be the main character of a novel – preferably a big 19th-century one by a literary giant. “She would imagine it was she who was the heroine, willing powerful lovers to prostrate themselves before her, allowing them to sob their love to her in the middle of a rainstorm, at balls, inside carriages.” (Yvonne Zipp)On the blogosphere, The Absurd Heroine makes the following question:
Does anyone else have the nagging suspicion that Charlotte Bronte added the whole story arc involving St. John in Jane Eyre just to subvert the whole romance that Jane Austen penned in Mansfield Park?And lovely gay_bear (sic) posts about a 1965 introduction to Wuthering Heights, by David Daiches.
Unless explicitly said
