Figments of Jane Eyre’s mind

City News Canberra (Australia) features actress Nelle Lee who plays Jane Eyre in the stage production of Jane Eyre at The Playhouse.

Nelle Lee, who plays Jane and, with Nick Skubij, adapted the work and is very clear about what makes it Gothic – not quite so much as “Dracula”, but because of the supernatural element, where Mr Rochester’s voice is heard calling from afar to Jane. 
To a cohort of contemporary feminist literary critics re-reading the novel, it’s much clearer – it has a female victim, a victimiser or victimisers, an element of mystery, some kind of imprisonment and, of course, the supernatural – to them “Jane Eyre” ticks all the boxes. [...]
The characters, in Lee’s view, are all the figments of Jane’s mind, so they come in and out of her mind depending on what her thoughts are.
“It’s a real ensemble piece with just four actors,” she says, “and I’m the only one who plays just one part, the musician plays the musical score by Sarah McLeod and doubles as Bertha Mason and the others play everyone else.”
Bertha Mason? That’s Mr Rochester’s first mad wife, hidden in the attic, adding the mystery element necessary to a Gothic tale, but perhaps also a metaphor for all our personal secrets – everybody has had a bit of a Bertha experience, we agree.
Continuing the Gothic theme, Josh McIntosh’s skeletal set is big, cage-like with a central tower that evokes mystery. No wonder the show’s promoters have come up with the line: “As Jane and Rochester become inexplicably drawn to each other, the dark secrets locked within the walls of Thornfield start to unravel, forcing Jane on a heart-wrenching journey.” 
Charlotte Bronte, the author, we chorus, was way ahead of her time in writing about the condition of women. 
“Hers is a unique feminine perspective even though the pen name she used [Currer Bell] was like that of a male,” Lee notes. [...]

Her plainness is worth noting in an era where, as Lee points out: “Hardly an unedited picture ever gets posted to social media… you never see the real side of people.

“You’ll see Jane looking at herself in the mirror, battling with herself, but eventually she says, ‘I am what I want to be’.” (Helen Musa)

BBC tells the story of '"King" David Hartley, whose forgery empire brought the UK economy to its knees in the 18th Century, will soon spread far beyond West Yorkshire'.

These were the same views that inspired Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights and where the only Brontë brother, Branwell, worked the railways. On first sight, there was little to suggest that this expansive patch of countryside once harboured a gang known as the Cragg Vale Coiners, whose counterfeiting enterprise in the 18th Century took on the establishment and brought the Bank of England to its knees. (Jack Needham)

West Yorkshire also features--albeit in a more positive light--on Muse, which looks at its 'growing music scene'.

Its industrial past is very much obvious, and coupled with the Moors, this creates a dark atmosphere – The Lounge Society’s ‘Burn The Heather’ clearly takes direct inspiration from the heather that can be found on the Moors. It is no wonder why so many before have been inspired by this landscape, including, but not limited to, the Brontë sisters. (Ella Brownbill)

BookerTalk asks bookish questions to Welsh writer Carol Lovekin.

The Book I Keep Returning To

I read Jane Eyre every year. I love it for its subtle, revolutionary subtexts. Charlotte Brontë was ahead of her time and a protofeminist. She had a genuinely subversive and satisfyingly ambivalent relationship with the nature of romantic love. There was nothing predictable or safe about the life she conjured for Jane.

Forbes (Mexico) lists Siri Hustvedt's Mothers, Fathers, and Others on a list of 10 books every mother should read.

‘Madres, padres y demás Apuntes sobre mi familia real y literaria’, de Siri Hustvedt

En este libro podrás leer sobre filosofía feminista y las memorias familiares de Siri Hustvedt, una autora destacada que explora sobre las experiencias que muchas mujeres dan por sentadas, que las definen y que no son tan inalterables como se piensa, sobre todo, las relaciones familiares o entre géneros, los abusos de poder o la influencia del entorno. Siri Hustvedt profundiza en su memoria personal, en sus años de formación y en su experiencia de vida, muestra su extenso conocimiento interdisciplinario entre las historias de su madre, su abuela y su hija pero también por las las de sus “madres artísticas”, Jane Austen, Emily Brontë y Lousie Bourgeois, y de ahí hasta conceptos más amplios, como la experiencia de la maternidad en una cultura moldeada por la misoginia y las fantasías de la autoridad paterna. (Héctor Cruz) (Translation)

El Tiempo (Colombia) also features the book.

The Sun lists 'Antiques Roadshow’s seven most valuable items ever' and one of them is

Charlotte Brontë's ring

The opened ring, containing what is suspected to be a braid of Charlotte Brontë’s hair, featured on the show

A guest brought on a piece of jewellery, expecting it only to be worth around £25.

They had found a ring in a box that was hidden in an attic for many years.

It was revealed that it once belonged to none other than Jane Eyre author Charlotte Brontë and making it even more special, it was also discovered that the ring held a lock of the famous author's hair.

The piece was valued at an impressive £20,000 - much more expensive than what the owner had expected. (Robert Mann)