Charlotte and Anne at the George Inn

 York Press looks back on Coney Street and how it has changed through time.

The George Hotel in Coney Street in 1867 from an old postcard (Source)

The George Inn was a popular destination. Famous guests, included Castle Howard architect John Vanbrugh, and Charlotte Brontë and her sister Anne, who stayed at The George on the night of May 24/25, 1849.

The inn appears to have been demolished in 1869 when Leak & Thorp moved on to the site. A plaque, erected by York Civic Trust, commemorates The George Inn, and can be seen today by Next. (Maxine Gordon) 

The Seattle Times has a couple of teens review recent YA books.

“Within These Wicked Walls” by Lauren Blackwood. Based in Victorian-era Ethiopia, “Within These Wicked Walls” is a dazzling retelling of “Jane Eyre,” steeped in foul curses and rich magic. The plot follows the debtera Andromeda, an exorcist who is hired to cleanse a particularly high-maintenance Evil Eye curse from the wealthy Magnus Rochester’s staggering mansion. Blackwood masterfully fleshes out a hearty magic system adorned with silver amulets and grotesque manifestations of the Evil Eye. Her vivid language is indomitable as she conjures up images of Magnus’ opulent household, the unforgiving desert sands and Andromeda’s internal conflicts. Witty banter and poetic dialogue are skillfully woven into the novel, dishing out the perfect amount of character depth. While the novel holds up splendidly, it unfortunately feeds into the blatantly misogynist “mean girl” trope — a “plastic” love rival who obsessively indulges in vanity, her only motivation being to vie for men. The “mean girl” of the novel is antagonized in the face of Andromeda’s thoughtful (albeit less cosmetically experienced) nature. It is a shame that this story knocks down another woman’s femininity to characterize its main lead as powerful. Outside of this criticism, “Within These Wicked Walls” promises readers a fantastical, edge-of-the seat, swooning-over-Magnus kind of experience. (Esha Potharaju and Nour Gajial)

Greatist recommends it too:

12. Within These Wicked Walls by Lauren Blackwood

Light a candle on a rainy evening and pull up a blanket for this haunting gothic fairy tale — an Ethiopian-inspired retelling of Jane Eyre. This romantic yet super eerie tale stars a Black heroine, Andromeda. She’s a debtera (an exorcist) hired to clear the bad energy in the great estate that belongs to Magnus Rochester — but she soon realizes this is not going to be an easy job.

Great if you’re in the mood for horror and romance. (Naomi Farr)

Los Angeles Review of Books looks into bad reviews of classic novels when they were first published.

Fitting or unfounded, the feeling finds its greatest expression in a series of books by David Markson beginning with Reader’s Block and continuing through This is Not a Novel, Vanishing Point, and The Last Novel. [...]

For people with this nameless, embarrassing feeling — not-schadenfreude? schadenfreude without shade? — Markson’s books are a bible. [...]

And, “From an earliest major review of Jane Eyre: Sheer rudeness and vulgarity.” (Josh Emmons)

A contributor to Smile Politely looks back on Scholastic book fairs.

When I first heard The Literary described as “a Scholastic book fair for adults, complete with wine and cheese” I thought it was too good to be true. I admit that I’m overly fond of my memories of Scholastic book fairs from elementary school. In addition to supplying me with my copy of The Chronicles of Narnia and my entire childhood collection of Dear America diaries (which foreshadowed lots of work in nineteenth-century history that surprised no one), they allowed me to stretch my reading ambitions to include my first-ever copies of Pride and Prejudice and Wuthering Heights. Such a place geared toward adults could only mean the revival of a young reader’s euphoria. (Kathleen McGowan)

The Telegraph recommends some must-see theatre shows, including

Wuthering Heights

As a Brontë fan (I spent an entire term at university studying the diverse literary achievements of the Brontë sisters), perhaps I’m a little biased. But Emma Rice (Wise Children) promises to turn Emily Brontë’s masterpiece upside down with a fresh, music-and-dance-heavy production of the gothic novel.

Lyttelton Theatre from 3 February 2022 (Alice Barraclough)