The Brontës. Between Design Technology and Hen Nights

The Yorkshire Post denounces the London-centrism of many British cultural commentators:

It’s not only money – or the lack of it – that divides the North and South of England; it’s a state of mind. Call it snobbery if you like. And it’s not unique to politicians.As we speak, Britain is hosting what I would argue is one of the most culturally significant exhibitions in the world. It brings together artefacts from the formative years of Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë that have not been seen in public for more than 80 years. 

If it were at the British Museum it would be the sensation of the age. There would be queues outside, the likes of which haven’t been seen since they put Tutankhamun’s trinkets on show 50 years ago. Young people would come away awed and inspired. But it isn’t in the capital. It’s at Leeds University. And outside the pages of The Yorkshire Post I’ve seen scarcely a mention of it.

I think we all know why. Exhibitions in London are chic; those in the North are provincial. And in the arts as in politics, provincial means second best.

You will look in vain for logic. The British Library is co-curating the Brontë exhibition. So its provenance is unquestioned. But it’s off the radar of London commentators whose frame of reference is roughly the length of the Metropolitan Line.

This dismissive attitude to what should be a national event is not unusual. On the contrary, it pollutes the entire landscape of education, politics and the arts. Regional differences that should be celebrated are subsumed in a cultural blender of one-size-fits-all policies that are never really the right size for anyone. If the Brontë sisters were at school today they’d be made to study design technology and citizenship and told to find jobs in a call centre. So much for inspiring creative youngsters. (David Behrens)

Dan Aykroyd is shooting in Britain and the Daily Mail quotes him repeating his possible connection with Tabitha Aykroyd:

‘I went to Yorkshire too. That’s where my people come from, with Tabitha Aykroyd, the Brontës’ housekeeper, being a forebear of mine. I love it here. Particularly the pubs. Whenever I can I go to a country pub and have steak and kidney pie or a shepherd’s pie with a nice half pint.’ (Nicole Lampert) 

The Daily Mail republished some of the Royalty Now Studios recreations of historical characters, including Charlotte Brontë.

Ok. This isn't gonna be easy: Caitlin Moran writes in The Times about an upcoming sitcom written by her sister Caroline, Henapocalypse! and reminisces about real hen nights, some of them even Brontë-related:

“Yeah, there was that one where the bride was obsessed with the Brontës, and she wanted me to lay treasure-trail clues over several separate and distant locations across Yorkshire, one of which ‘had’ to be a canal barge,” Caz remembers, sighing. “And the ‘prize’ at the end was the groom, who would ‘surprise’ the bride, even though it was totally the bride’s idea. I’d never met any of the other hens before, and one of them was the bride’s rather elderly mother, who walked very slowly, which made for a difficult treasure hunt. Particularly the bit where everyone had to scramble over a dry-stone wall.”

The Republic (Nigeria) interviews the editor and writer, Ẹ́lọ́hór Ẹ́gbọ́rdí:

What books or kinds of books did you read growing up?

I don’t have any memory of being taught how to read. For as long as I’ve been conscious of myself as a person, I have loved reading. As a child, I read everything I could lay my hands on. I read old literature texts owned my aunts and uncles from both sides of the family. I also read encyclopaedias, receipts and shopping lists, newspapers, and then I read children’s story books and novels. Some of the books I read: The Trials of Brother Jero by Wole Soyinka, Lamb‘s Tales From Shakespeare, Zambia Shall Be Free by Kenneth Kaunda, Camara Laye’s The African Child, The Marriage of Anansewa by Efua Sutherland, She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, almost all the books in the Lantern series and an awful lot of Mills and Boon before my teen years. My favourite book from my childhood is Without a Silver Spoon by Eddie Irroh.  

The Economist discusses how literary critics are becoming softer and softer:

Fun though such excesses are, the most lethal reviews tend to be more delicate. The best bad reviews are not hatchet jobs but scalpel jobs, observes the British writer and critic Adam Mars-Jones, “because if it’s not precise, it’s not going to work.” The Victorians brandished scalpels too. One of the finest was wielded by George Eliot on Charlotte Brontë’s “Jane Eyre”. “I wish,” Eliot wrote, that “the characters would talk a little less like the heroes and heroines of police reports.”

LoveMoney and books that are worth a fortune:

 Jane Eyre: up to $125,000 (£100,875)

As first-edition copies of Charlotte Brontë's 1847 novel are hard to come by, they’re likely to sell for a small fortune. For example, one copy, with a Calcutta Review advertisement included, is currently selling for $125,000 (£100,875). Other good-quality first-edition copies of the book can fetch anything from $15,000 to $65,000 (£12,105-£52,475).

A trans college student shares her story in Bookriot:

 Lately, I’ve been thinking about the way the books we read shape us and, even in fantastical settings, give us windows into possibilities for understanding and working through our own challenges. I think that’s one of the most meaningful things a story can do, especially for those who feel they’ve been put in unbearable circumstances. As chaplain Vanessa Zoltan writes in her memoir Praying with Jane Eyre: Reflections on Reading as a Sacred Practice, “A willingness to survive is about believing in the possibility of a better future. Survival is about hope.” (CJ Connor)

The surf magazine Stab begins an article with an Anne Brontë quote. ActuaBD (France) has an alert for next September:

A l’occasion de la parution du livre “Brontëana” (Editions Steinkis) la galerie Art-Maniak (Paris) met à l’honneur la dessinatrice Paulina Spucches. Du 7 au 16 septembre 2023, une exposition-vente de planches originales réunira une sélection d’œuvres.

Vernissage : jeudi 7 septembre de 18h à 21h

Dédicace : samedi 9 septembre (Translation)

El Bebé (in Spanish) has an article about the  hyperemesis gravidarum condition: 

Charlotte Brontë, la famosa escritora de Jabe (sic) Eyre probablemente falleció a causa de la hiperémesis gravídica. El certificado de defunción de Charlotte Brontë establece como causa de la muerte la tuberculosis, pero según los expertos no hay ninguna evidencia que respalde este diagnóstico. (Translation)

La Provincia di Lecco (Italy) briefly reviews Emily and Kino (Germany) lists it in Emma McKey's filmography. Cubaencuentro (Cuba) reviews Жена Чайковского (Tchaikovsky's Wife) by Kirill Serebrennikov:

En su filmografía, Serebrénnikov no había explorado hasta ahora el siglo XIX. Lo ha hecho por primera vez en La mujer de Tchaikovski, que bascula entre la película de época, el biopic y la tragedia romántica al modo como la concebía Emily Brontë. (Carlos Espinosa Domínguez) (Translation)

Le Journal de Gens (France) covers an exhibition of the artist Swan Scalabre:

A travers ses portraits de femmes et d’enfants, son travail d’huile sur bois est particulier, on pourrait penser aux héroïnes de romans du 19ème tels que « Les Hauts de Hurlevent » ou « Jane Eyre »….. ces femmes décrites dans ces romans par des vies faites de silence, des icônes souvent déçues par des amours impossibles, aux postures alanguies ...Les silhouettes de Swan ressemblent un peu à ces femmes, à la fois heureuses et mélancoliques. (Christine Couderc) (Translation)

Over 93.4K Ranker voters have come together to rank this list of Books Everybody Lies About Having Read. Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights are in the 19th and 23rd positions. Stars Insider tries to be funny:

'Cumbres Borrascosas', de Emily Brontë - Es muy común encontrar a personas que llevan este libro en el bolso y lo sacan para beber su café negro. Tras sacar la foto para Instagram, guardan el volumen de nuevo y se marchan sin tocar el café, que "está muy fuerte". (...)

 'Jane Eyre', de Charlotte Brontë 

Jane Eyre pasó por mil y una desgracias para luego tener que aguantar que digamos que hemos leído su historia sin ser verdad. (Translation)