Although Thornton, six miles west of Bradford but heading towards the hills, was mentioned in The Domesday Book, there is little mention of a simple life of agriculture and country ways.Thornton derives from Old English and means a thorn tree at a farm or settlement but it is the onset of industrialisation and the development of mills, factory and a more urban way to live that Thornton found its way.Its elevation, poor soils, isolation from major transport routes, and rainfall of more than 34 inches a year limited farm production. [...]The Bell Tower is also worth a look for those interested in Thornton in days gone by.Prior to the construction of the current parish church, St James’, The original ancient church of St James was known locally as the Bell Chapel.It was built between 1587 and 1612, but underwent many alterations in the years leading up to the appointment of Patrick Brontë as parson in March 1815.We will come back to him but when the new church opened in 1872, the Bell Tower became disused and fell into a state of disrepair with little of it remaining. [...]It is also extremely popular with visitors, tourists and literary fans.Little did three sisters know that novels and poems they wrote in West Yorkshire would propel them to stratospheric fame after their deaths.Patrick Brontë became the parish priest at Thornton in 1815 and it was in a house in the village that the famous sisters Charlotte, Emily and Anne, along with brother Patrick were born before they left in 1820, when their father was appointed curate at Haworth.The property went up for sale last year after the current owner, surveyor Mark de Luca, who bought it in 2013, decided it was unviable to re-open the Brontë-themed coffee bar, Emily’s, that he had been running from the building after the business suffered losses during Covid.Brontë Birthplace Ltd supporters had tried to buy it before the de Lucas moved in, but had a £300,000 offer accepted on the terraced house that was built in 1802.It has had many commercial uses over the years – including as a restaurant and a butcher’s shop – and although the crime novelist Barbara Whitehead restored the property and ran a small museum in the 1990s, she sold up in 2007 and died four years later.Brontë Birthplace Ltd will restore the house and open it as a community and educational space where young people in particular can seek inspiration from the three writing sisters.It is fitting that, as they used their works to write about social injustice and discrimination on the grounds of gender, race, poverty and background, then, that a lot of the effort that has gone into obtaining the house has been made possible by Bradford becoming the UK’s City of Culture for 2025.School children will be invited to take part in an education programme when they can visit the birthplace, enter into age-appropriate learning and be inspired by the three sisters who were told they couldn’t, yet did. (Emma Ryan)
What drew you to write a novel based on the Brontë sisters and Branwell?Wuthering Heights was the first adult novel I ever read, given to me by my mother from her precious set of Collectors’ Editions that sat on the mantelpiece in our family home. After that, I read Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre and then, over the next few years, books by Anne Brontë and Jane Austen. So, long before I ever thought of myself as a writer, the Brontës – and the 19th century novel – were part of my DNA.I began writing in my early thirties, about the same time that I moved to Yorkshire. I now lived within travelling distance of the Brontë Parsonage Museum – once the Brontë family home – at Haworth, in the South Pennines. The setting of the house is incredibly atmospheric, situated at the top of the steep village with wild moorland rising directly behind, and the museum is so wonderfully curated that you might imagine the family had just stepped out for a walk, or to attend a service at the church where the Reverend Patrick Brontë, the children’s father, preached; that Emily and her siblings might wander back in at any moment. I found myself drawn to Haworth over and over again, my fascination with the lives lived within the walls of the parsonage growing. How was it possible, I wondered, that some of the most remarkable novels in the English language came to be written in this remote village far from London literary circles, in this little dining room overlooking the windswept graveyard and the church; in secret.Why did you particularly choose to write in Emily’s voice?From the very beginning, I was enthralled by Emily’s only novel, mesmerized by the punishing landscape and the half-savage, ungovernable characters that inhabit the pages of Wuthering Heights. At 13, I’d never read anything like it, still haven’t, though it is now some decades since my mother first put the book into my hands. When I finished the novel, I turned back to the beginning to read the Introduction. I learned that Emily Brontë was the daughter of an Anglican clergyman, that she lived almost all of life in isolated Haworth before her death at the age of 30. Emily never married or had any known romantic connections. Reserved to the point of silence in company, she had no friendships and barely mixed outside of her own family. Even as a teenager I sensed an intriguing disconnect between that sequestered existence and a novel so passionate and shocking that it scandalized Victorian society, and still has the power to shock even today. I love the work of all three sisters but feel emotionally drawn to Emily’s untamed spirit, intrigued too by the apparent gaps in the narrative of her life.What kind of research did you do for the book?I reread all the novels, immersed myself too in Emily’s wonderful poetry, then spent many months absorbing information about the family and the period from the wealth of biographical texts available. I made notes, drew up a timeline of their respective movements, questioned certain interpretations of events. At an early stage it became clear that much of what we know about the Brontës comes through the prism of Charlotte, Emily’s elder sister. Charlotte was a prolific letter writer and formed friendships beyond the family. She was the only one of the siblings to move in literary circles too, which resulted in Elizabeth Gaskell’s somewhat sensationalized Life of Charlotte Brontë (Mrs Gaskell was a novelist after all!). I needed to strip Charlotte’s voice from the narrative, to turn down the volume on the other chatter in the room and attune myself to Emily’s austere, uncompromising, sometimes imperious, occasionally playful voice. (Arunima Mazumdar) (Read more)
“I think all those other things I do, like gardening and knitting, I go to them because you’re always guaranteed a result. I remember reading that Charlotte Brontë enjoyed cleaning and that just spoke to me so much because if I can’t write this novel I’ll go and clean the windows!” (Edel Coffey)
Fforde’s career trajectory has been an interesting one. He was 39 when his first book, The Eyre Affair, was published. Prior to writing, he was working in the film industry as a focus puller, his credits including The Mask of Zorro, Entrapment and GoldenEye. [...]After deciding to turn his hand to writing, Fforde spent 12 years having his manuscripts rejected before the publication of The Eyre Affair in 2001 allowed him to become an author full-time. The dedication at the front of his first novel reads: “For my father … Who never knew I was to be published but would have been most proud nonetheless – and not a little surprised.” (Elizabeth Flux)
You’re appearing in Underdog: The Other, Other Brontë at The National Theatre, how would you describe this new play?Firstly, it is a lot of fun! Underdog is a vibrant retelling of the Brontë’s own story, told through Charlotte’s lens. Whether you are an avid fan, or totally new to them as I was, Underdog welcomes you in and takes you on the journey of support, competition and ambition of these icons.[...]You’re playing Branwell Brontë, tell us a little about the character and what you love about the role?Branwell is someone who does everything too hotly. He’s incredibly passionate, and determined, but doesn’t quite understand how to navigate the world. He’s someone who is constantly grasping at what the world expects of him, and whenever he gets a taste of success – it slips through his fingers. It’s tragic. He represents the ways in which the expectations of a patriarchal society are also damaging to the men who live within it.How do you think audiences will react to this irreverent retelling of the lives and legend of the Brontë sisters?I hope they feel that warm buzz of siblings who are rallying around each other. I hope they’re outraged by the small-minded hurdles they have to constantly leap over. And I hope that they leave thinking, “woah, these were some incredible women!” [...]What would you say to anyone thinking of booking to see Underdog: The Other, Other Brontë?Come to laugh, to fall in love with these trailblazers, and to see how feminism and the wider fight for equality are not new concepts in the 21st century! (Greg Stewart)
Wuthering HeightsFor its sweeping, soulful adaptation, director Peter Kosminsky recruited Sakamoto to write a classical score befitting the infamous love story. Known for its beautiful and haunting tone, Sakamoto’s music is a fan favourite. Difficult to come by in the UK, the score has garnered an almost cult following among film, and specifically Sakamoto, fans. “Sweeping” is an oft-used term for historical epics, but that certainly rings true for both the film and the music, with an elegant, elegiac set of tracks making up for the film’s soundtrack.
2.”Jane Eyre” (2011)– Cary Fukunaga’s version of Charlotte Brontë’s enduring novel features magnetic performances and a chilling atmosphere befitting Thornfield Hall’s dark secrets. [...]5.”Wuthering Heights” (2011)– Andrea Arnold’s raw adaptation brings Emily Brontë’s passionate and stormy tale to life with gritty realism. (Matthew Lynch)
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean RhysA fascinating retelling and imagined prequel of the infamous “woman in the attic” from Jane Eyre. Rhys’ incisive prose examines colonial power relations and gender inequalities in this novel mostly set in the lush Caribbean. The protagonist Antoinette Cosway’s life is portrayed as a dramatic unfurling throughout which she struggles for autonomy until the end. (Natalia Pikna)
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