Florence Nightingale's bicentenary

A contributor to North by Northwestern tries to find out why LGBTQ people are 'so obsessed with period pieces'.

Jane Eyre, Jo March, Elizabeth Bennet; Charlotte Brontë, Louisa May Alcott, Jane Austen. The most stunning period pieces of our time feature strong female characters written by strong female authors. Often, the independence and defiance of these women gives queer people — queer girls in particular — the validation that many of us lacked throughout our youth.
Jane Eyre values her agency more than Rochester’s love. Jo March values her career more than the prospect of marriage. Elizabeth Bennet values her self-respect more than marrying for money. It’s important for all girls, but notably queer girls, to hear stories of women who stand up to men and radically declare their independence. (Melanie Lust)

Time Out Abu Dhabi recommends '23 must-read books' including

Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë
This classic is a regular fixture on English literature syllabuses and is much-loved all over the world. When Jane Eyre gets sent to live with her guardians the Reeds, aged ten, she suffers a troubled childhood. After a falling out with the family she’s sent to Lowood Institution, a school for orphaned girls, where she stays on to become a teacher. Her experience her sees her move to Thornfield Hall where she meets the dark, brooding and mysterious Mr Rochester. What secrets are hidden in the house? And what will become of Jane? A riveting read and a top romantic classic.

The childhood dream of this contributor to Refinery29 was to live in a haunted house.

When I was a little girl, I used to sneak off to my bedroom, close the door, and imagine I was in a castle or gothic manor. My bunk bed became an elegant four-poster, my IKEA dresser an oaken chifforobe. Our apartment’s dull brick walls changed to ones made of creaking stone. The street outside, littered with empty soda cans and plastic bags, transformed into some romantic Victorian moorland.
I wanted to live in a haunted house. I wanted to be something like the damsels in my favorite ghost stories, trapped in a castle with a villainous ghost. Or Mrs. de Winter, newly, tragically wed, watching the Manderley gates clang shut behind her. Or Jane Eyre sneaking through the halls of Thornfield Hall, candlelight flickering over the walls. I wanted to be trapped in those wild houses with whistling windows, echoing corridors, and deliciously dreadful secrets. (Elizabeth Thomas)

Dance Magazine wonders whether it is time to 'Reevaluate Onstage Portrayals of Mental Illness'.

The portrayals of distress can feel clichéd—Lady Capulet writhing on the floor, or, in Cathy Marston's Jane Eyre, the animalistic woman in the attic or the corps of men in Jane's path to illustrate her mental demons. But as someone who has a lived experience of major depression, anxiety and grief, these representations do not offend me. (Kathleen McGuire)

Book Page recommends some new YA novels such as By the Book by Amanda Sellet in which

Her heroine, Mary Porter-Malcolm, has always navigated her life using lessons she’s learned from the novels she loves. So when her tiny private school abruptly shuts its doors, Mary figures she’ll confront the challenges of public high school just as her favorite Brontë heroines tackle their adversities.
Much to her surprise, a group of popular girls is drawn to Mary’s ability to put the lessons of literature to good use in separating the scoundrels from the heroes among the boys at school, and they soon become fast friends. But what happens when Mary falls for a real Vronsky type, the biggest scoundrel of all?
Mary is a fascinating character, charmingly old-fashioned in her speech and outlook but more than capable of meeting the challenges and rewards of modern life. In Sellet’s confident hands, Mary’s new friends, who could have easily fallen into “mean girl” stereotypes, are thoughtfully developed characters. Bibliophiles will enjoy quizzing themselves on the many literary allusions scattered throughout the text—and don’t worry, Sellet provides a guide in the back of the book! (Norah Piehl)

On Sunday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that people can travel to other places to exercise now, and so The Independent suggests 'the most spectacular walks in the Peak District' such as

Hathersage to Stanage Edge
Length: 9 miles
The road to Stanage Edge is speckled with old abandoned grindstones, remnants from the mills that flourished here in the 19th century. This nine-mile walk takes you into the heart of Jane Eyre country. Starting in the village of Hathersage then onto the cliffs of Stanage Edge, you’ll skirt by North Lees Hall, the 16th century manor that is believed to have formed the inspiration for Mr Rochester’s home. There are more literary associations to be found at Stanage Edge; the gritstone escarpment – with views across the Derwent and Hope Valleys – is where a windswept Keira Knightley stands in the film adaptation of Pride & Prejudice. (Lizzie Pook)

Balarm (Italy) shares the Brontë-like story of the Castello di Maniace in Sicily.

Che relazione esiste fra le sorelle Brontë, Charlotte ed Emily, rispettivamente autrici di due grandi classici della letteratura inglese come Jane Eyre e Cime tempestose, e la Sicilia? Si direbbe nessuna. E invece no; le sorelle Brontë sono siciliane. Non lo sono di sangue o per tradizione, ma lo sono per cognominazione.
Avvenne, infatti, che il parroco irlandese Patrick Prunty, che amava il paese di Bronte in Sicilia, ebbe a decidere di cambiare il proprio cognome in omaggio a un luogo per lui evidentemente così importante, al punto tale da pensarlo più dignitoso alla sua stirpe, con tanto di dieresi che sta a indicare che la lettera ‘e’ finale non è muta come suggerirebbe la regola dell'inglese moderno.
Insomma, Brontë doveva pronunciarsi Bronte, senza tema d’errore. La fama che non avrebbero forse raggiunto le sorelle Charlotte ed Emily Prunty l’hanno invece raggiunta le sorelle Brontë; e alcuni studi e analisi riferiscono anche che le due signore vittoriane abbiano descritto nei loro libri alcuni paesaggi che richiamano all’atmosfera della Bronte siciliana, o meglio, del paesino di Maniace. (Beniamino Biondi) (Translation)

On International Nurses' Day, which is on Florence Nightingale's birthday (and bicentenary this year) a contributor to Página 12 (Argentina) has written a letter to her.

Pero en realidad vos naciste en Florencia, Italia (de ahí tu nombre). En la otra imagen, un retrato en blanco y negro, coincidiste con mi registro imaginativo del personaje principal de “Cumbres Borrascosas” de Emily Brontë, luego descubriría tu fascinación por “Shirley”, novela de una de sus hermanas. (Saulo Dalmasso) (Translation)