A good time to read the Brontës

The New York Times reviews the book A Good Time to Be Born: How Science and Public Health Gave Children a Future by Perri Klass.

The book is divided into three sections: “The Desolation of That Empty Cradle,” “The Birth of a Great and New Idea” and “What Marvelous Days” (from a 1902 speech by Mary Putnam Jacobi, a champion of women’s health, describing the birth of her first child). Chapters are punctuated with nursery rhymes, paintings, newspaper clippings, letters and photographs — all shining a light on advances in clinical medicine and science alongside the meaning of childhood. Klass also examines “Peter Pan,” “Jane Eyre,” “Little Women” and “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” through this lens. (Christie Watson)

Star Tribune discusses the impact of opera in younger generations with the help of Minnesota Opera's new V.P. of impact, Lee Bynum. 

“Generation Xers, millennials, and Generation Z, they haven’t been conditioned to appreciate classical music in quite the same way as in the past,” Bynum said. “They are hungry to have the relevance of music explained to them, what impact it is making on our society. We need to have some answers.”

“Opera in the Outfield,” Minnesota Opera’s recent baseball-themed event at CHS Field in St. Paul, and the online stream of Bernard Herrmann’s opera “Wuthering Heights” (available Oct. 10-24 at mnopera.org), are steps in the right direction. (Terry Blain)

An article from Donna Moderna (in Italian) mentions Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights in connection to the Twilight saga.

La figura dell’eroe pericoloso, per una nascosta ragione indegno o inadatto all’eroina di turno, è un aggancio che nella storia della letteratura e del cinema ha sempre funzionato. Apparentemente pericolosa è la Bestia nella fiaba europea del ’700, e non è un caso forse che la protagonista della saga si chiami Bella. Oscuro e crudele è Heathcliff in Cime tempestose, che Bella legge in Eclipse, il terzo volume della serie. Tenebroso è il Mr Rochester di Jane Eyre, anche questa è una delle letture più amate da Bella. (Alessia Gazzola) (Translation)

SWR2 (Germany) has a podcast about the Brontë sisters accompanied by music based on their works. Brontë Babe Blog posts about lockdown in the company of Charlotte Brontë.