For the most part it was enthralling and totally original, with the actors climbing ladders and delivering lines from the tall edifices. A band complemented the action throughout and Rochester's "wife" Bertha Mason was played by Melanie Marshall, whose voice was beautiful in comparison to her wretched, insane existence in a barred attic room.
The strength of the piece was Brontë's brilliant story and novel writing, and as you'd expect from a production so radically different some things don't quite fit on stage. Like hearing Noël Coward's Mad About the Boy as an inner thought from Jane and at times the pace of the story sagged (it took an hour to meet Rochester, the crux of the piece!). (Dave Horsley)
Tampa Bay Times reviews
Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry:
There are set pieces reminiscent of Charles Dickens and nods to Arthur Conan Doyle and other Victorian writers in The Essex Serpent, but Cora's literary foremother is Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre. She shares Jane's fierce independence and disdain for the expectation of feminine vanity, tramping through the marshes in men's boots and worn tweed coats with muddy hems, and brushing her hair so rarely it's remarked upon when she does. And when it comes to romance, she'd far rather be alone than settle. (Colette Bancroft)
GeekMom has some new books to read for next season:
The Glass Town Game, a hefty middle grade novel from Catherynne M. Valente, imagines the Brontë sisters as young girls in Yorkshire who create a fantasy world. Then one day when they’re headed for a terrible fate, they find out their fantasy world is real. I love, love, love a whimsical British period novel for kids, so I’m excited for this one. It arrives September 5th. (Jackie Reeve)
Reality TV in
The Herald:
One of the Love Island contestant’s mothers declared herself proud of her daughter who’d had TV sex on the box. What? There was a day when mother’s declared pride only at school prize giving when the Charlotte Brontë book token was handed over. Or perhaps at her wedding when she looked like Emma Watson as Beauty. (Brian Beacom)
The Conversation makes an interesting point in an article on Philip Larkin:
But we’re surrounded by the paratext – material such as covers, blurbs, biographies and introductions, which surrounds any text. We’re steeped in literary knowledge impossible to ignore. Can we interpret the demise of Helen Burns in Jane Eyre without acknowledging the Brontës’ history of consumption? (Alec Charles)
The National (UAE) reviews the book
The Translator: A Tribesman's Memoir of Darfur by Daoud Hari:
Despite its harrowing content, this is not a bleak book. Seamless digressions evoke Hari's childhood, a vivid blend of traditions stretching back thousands of years and fragments of Western culture - novels like Oliver Twist and Jane Eyre along with Clint Eastwood movies. (Hephzibah Anderson)
Regrettably, it seems that
Jane Eyre is footing the bill in this
Daily Mail complaint:
I can’t help but wonder whether if English literature, for instance, was taught by a man, or if the curriculum was tailored more towards boys, with less emphasis on such classics as Jane Eyre and Romeo And Juliet, young males might embrace reading more. Research backs me up: in classes where boys were taught English from non-fiction texts rather than novels, they achieved better results. (Lisa King)
More on the future of the public toilet in the Brontë Parsonage Museum car park in
Keighley News;
Broadway World presents a production of
The Mystery of Irma Vep in Johannesburg, South Africa;
The Observatory reviews
Wuthering Heights.
Books Rock My World posts 30 Life Lessons to Learn from
Jane Eyre.
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