Only the Brontës' firearms at the Brontë Parsonage Museum, please

The Irish Times has a glowing review of Karen Powell's fictional take on Emily Brontë's life, Fifteen Wild Decembers.

Powell acknowledges at the end of her novel how much the biographical writing of Juliet Barker informed its writing. If a Brontë enthusiast is keen to separate fact from fiction, then Barker’s source material, or Lucasta Miller’s The Brontë Myth, may serve them better than this fictional foray. What Powell offers with her novel, however, is the opportunity to experience a well-informed reconstruction of a life in a more intimate way.

Powell has written into the silences that exist around the facts, extracting meaning from correspondence in the archives, to offer a deeper understanding of the known circumstances of Brontë's life. Although this is Emily’s narrative, Powell offers a plausible reimagining of how this trio of siblings, the daughters of a clergyman, isolated in rural Yorkshire, had within them the power to produce some of the most beloved and acclaimed works in literary history. At its strongest, this novel illuminates the subterranean life that underpinned the writing of Wuthering Heights, delicately foreshadowing the novel to be in the minutiae and emotional landscape of her narration.

This novel, recently shortlisted for the Fiction Prize in the new Nero Book Awards, is a graceful account of a life that treats its subject with the meticulous research and thoughtful handling it deserves. The result is a deeply satisfying reading experience that should appeal greatly to all those for whom Brontë holds a special significance in their reading history. (Helen Cullen)

And more fictional take on Emily's life as The Wrap lists Frances O'Connor's Emily as one of 'The 12 Best Movies You Might Have Missed in 2023'.

Emily

Frances O’Connor’s directorial debut came and went in limited release earlier this year, and if you’re a literary buff you should be seeking it out like a rare book at the library. Emma Mackey stars as Emily Brontë, the famed author of “Wuthering Heights,” who is presented in the film as a social outcast. Mackey is astounding as the meek Emily, desperate not to be perceived as weird by her family, especially her older sister, Charlotte (Alexandra Dowling). She finds herself drawn to the town’s new curate (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) and the pair soon embark on a relationship that leads to Emily’s greatest work and biggest regret.

On the one hand, “Emily” is incredibly sexy, in the vein of other costume dramas like Ang Lee’s work. On the other, it has no qualms with ripping your heart out, as should be expected considering all the Brontë sister’s work. Mackey and Jackson-Cohen have phenomenal chemistry and I just love everything about this film. I’ve watched it several times since it came out and I expect it’ll be in regular rotation from here on out. (Kristen Lopez)

Harper's Bazaar India discusses 'Emerald Fennell's cinematic evolution from 'Promising Young Woman' to 'Saltburn''.

Fennell has also played with genre expectations: this is a period drama, but set in the Noughties. Thanks to a note-perfect soundtrack comprising the decade’s big indie-band and pop hits, featuring Bloc Party, Arcade Fire and Flo Rida, it thunders along (and has an equal-parts exhilarating and embarrassing Proustian effect on those of us who celebrated school exam results then). Fennell herself was a fresher at Oxford at the time, so it is a world she remembers intricately. "But also, in the classic Gothic structure—Wuthering Heights, Brideshead—somebody is recalling something major that happened in the past, so I needed some distance to flash back to," she says. "And wherever you are sitting in time, 15 years back from that point always seems horribly uncool. It’s not historic, it’s not yet retro, and it hasn’t yet come round again in an ironic fashion. It seemed a pleasingly uncomfortable and funny place to set the story." (Harshita Mathur)

A timeline of Gothic classics on BBC Teach includes

1847

Wuthering Heights: Gothic close to home

The classic romantic novel has become synonymous with the idea of the Female Gothic: where women are trapped in a domestic space and dominated by men. In addition it includes many other Gothic traits: stories told within stories, the supernatural, the tyrannical ‘villain’, and Wuthering Heights itself, the imposing building in which much of the story is set. In the character of Heathcliff, Bronte creates the ultimate Byronic hero.

The New Indian Express discusses the rather suspicious productivity of some writers.

If they lived in our time, Margaret Mitchell and Emily Brontë, who had just one classic in them, would have been press-ganged into three-book deals. (Pratik Kanjilal)

Difficult to tell whether she had more 'classics' in her in Emily's case as she died prematurely.

Los Angeles Review of Books features Chicanes by Clara Schulmann.

The book is divided into chapters that explore specific qualities attached to women’s voices, such as “overflowing,” “irritation,” or “fatigue.” Each chapter is composed of fragments—personal anecdotes from Schulmann’s life, critical analyses, extracts from interviews or books. Almost every page either quotes a woman or describes her and her work. Few names repeat. Some are internationally famous, like Hillary Clinton, bell hooks, Charlotte Brontë, and Jane Fonda, but most are refreshingly not. (Edmée Lepercq)

Contributors to The Catholic World Report share their best books of 2023 and one of them chooses

Tim Powers, My Brother’s Keeper. Baen, 2023. A return to Powers’ beloved Romantic Era  where the Brontë family confronts werewolves and worse on the Yorkshire moors. (Sandra Miesel)

Stanbury is The Yorkshire Post's Village of the Week. Much is said about the Brontës' lives but no mention of the fact that its church was a pet project first of Patrick Brontë's and then of Arthur Bell Nicholls's.

It is a village that possibly pre-dates The Domesday book and was a haven for Quakers.

Stanbury is also intrinsically linked to one of the most famous and literary families in the world.

Under the borough of the City of Bradford, Stanbury comes under the parish with Haworth – which of course was the former home of the Bronte writing sisters.

The parsonage where they lived is now a museum and the whole area is probably more well-known for being called Brontë country.

Many natural features and surroundings have also been re-named to reflect the area’s famous residents.

Brontë Waterfall on the South Dean Beck is about a mile south-west of Stanbury and below that is Brontë Bridge, an old stone bridge across the beck.

Then there is The Brontë Trail, a nature trail which starts in Haworth and crosses the moors to the waterfall.

It has made for a huge interest in Stanbury and Haworth and while it has brought a tourist economy to an otherwise rural and isolated area - it hasn’t come without issue.

In September a public meeting was called to discuss a number of concerns raised by residents and business owners of Haworth about the village’s annual 1940s Weekend.

It has taken place since the 1990s and now attracts around 40,000 visitors – which many locals claim has led to issues with its management and organisation. There were claims of visitors urinating in the churchyard where Patrick Bronte was parish priest as well as issues over parking and anti-social behaviour.

Last month it was announced that new organisers would be taking it on following meetings between Bradford Council, West Yorkshire Police and the previous organisers.

Stanbury remains sought after, not just because of the literary appeal, but also its location and views. There is a church, school and two pubs - The Friendy, and of course The Wuthering Heights.

It dates back to the 1790s and has been re-named down the line.

It featured in a Yorkshire Post pub of the week column this summer and punters will be pleased to know it hasn’t succumbed to a Farrow and Ball make-over, has copper kettles hanging from the rafters and wooden stoves - and a decent pint of real ale. (Emma Ryan)

Speaking of the increasingly controversial 1940s weekend, The Yorkshire Post has a letter about it from a reader not much looking forward to future editions.

The Brontë Parsonage Museum actually had to put up a ‘No Firearms’ sign to deter the dressing up brigade from bringing their decommissioned weapons into the museum. (Olivia Fortnum, Haworth)

La Stampa reviews Jane Eyre.