"What passion, what fire in her"

Today marks the bicentenary of the birth of Mary Ann Evans, known as George Eliot. As far as we know, Charlotte Brontë never met her. By the time George Eliot got together with George Henry Lewes, he and Charlotte had already fallen out. Her writing career took off after Charlotte's death so we don't know what Charlotte would have made of her books. However, we do know what George Eliot thought about a couple of Brontë novels, which resonated with her for very personal reasons. From the Brontë Encyclopedia:

... a great admirer of Charlotte Brontë, though she protested that the self-sacrifice of Jane Eyre ought to be "in a somewhat nobler cause than that of a diabolical law which chains a man body and soul to a putrefying carcase," and she also complained, rather oddly, that the characters talked "like the heroes and heroines of police reports" (to Charles Bray, 11 June 1848). Her enthusiasm for Villette, however, was unbounded: "What passion, what fire in her," she wrote in 1853, and "There is something preternatural in its power" (to Mrs Charles Bray, 15 Feb 1853).

Coinciding with her bicentenary, Stylist wonders why great women writers are still adopting male pseudonyms, mentioning the Brontës along the way.

The Telegraph and Argus reports that a new study has found that Bradford is one of the 'most historic' cities in the North.

Bradford has the third highest number of listed buildings in the North – 2,291. Leeds just edges Bradford to second with 2,370 listed buildings. Edinburgh is top with 4,871 listed buildings. [...]
Bradford is famous for its history. The Brontë Parsonage is where the literary sisters lived and wrote their famous works. Bolling Hall is a family home that became a flash point for the Civil War. And Little Germany in the city centre contains an unrivalled collection of listed buildings. (Chris Young)

Smithsonian does a good job of summing up what has been going on recently with Charlotte Brontë's little book. Reader's Digest has a short quiz to see whether you can guess the book from a single line and the Brontë-related one is 'He’s more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.' Interesting Literature has put together 'The Best Charlotte Brontë Poems Everyone Should Read'.