Misunderstanding Mr Rochester

The Yorkshire Post features the Haworth Old Post Office café.

It was where the Brontë sisters posted their manuscripts to London and received correspondence and payments.

It is quite possibly home to the first PO Box in the UK.

The Old Post Office, on Main Street, has undergone major refurbishment in the past couple of years thanks to a Yorkshire family.

Owner Charlie, 44, along with his partner Mark, 44, and 72-year-old father Brian Cowling, have transformed the iconic venue into a cafe complete with a professional kitchen and office.

Charlie said: “It had belonged to the same family for six generations. We wanted to restore it as authentically as possible while paying homage to the rich history of the area.” [...]

Charlie said: “Branwell Brontë is said to have stopped at the Post Office on several occasions after overindulging at The Black Bull.

“His friend, the Postmaster John Hartley, let him sleep in the upstairs back room, which, in those days, had a clear view of the parsonage.

“His sister, Emily, would light a candle in the window of the parsonage when their father, Patrick, had gone to bed, as a signal to Branwell that it was safe to come home.”

That room is now Charlie’s study, but he still has a candle on the windowsill as a nod to the stories about Branwell.

There are many nods to the Brontës with the magazines they read on the bookshelf. This place is a treasure trove of history.

Charlie’s father Brian, who inspired a fascination for Haworth’s history, said: “Haworth is much more than the Brontës. You don’t see a lot of Brontë things in here, there’s a story about everything.” 

John Barraclough is an iconic clockmaker from the time of the Brontës who lived and worked on Haworth’s Main Street at what is now known as The Hawthorn pub. The Cowlings also renovated and own The Hawthorn.

“There are very few originals,” said Charlie. “Dad’s passionate about the Brontës, but he's passionate about the community around the sisters.” (Sophie Mei Lan)

The New York Times reviews The Family Dynamic by Susan Dominus, illustrating the article with the Brontë Pillar portrait.

Dominus, a staff writer at The New York Times Magazine, expertly interweaves stories of the Brontë sisters with those of contemporary families and academic studies on factors that contribute to children’s excellence. She makes clear that the current research provides no definitive set of answers to the cereal question. Instead, it hints at certain heuristics, which are illuminated by Dominus’s careful, detailed portraits. (Ezekiel J. Emanuel)

Chemainus Valley Courier recommends Brontë: The World Without at the Duncan United Church.

Brilliantly beautiful Brontë: The World Without written by Jordi Mand, and directed by Sylvia Swift gives audience members so much to take in, enjoy, and reflect on later.  

The setting of the stage was superb, as it takes play attendees to both the simpler, yet more difficult time of the late 1800s. Kimberly Liptrap, who might just be a creative genius with the set design, uses decor and projections to show time passing and seasons changing right before audience members' eyes.

Thanks to high school English classes, many have been introduced to the works of Brontë sisters but most don't know what inspired their writing journey, and the struggle and emotion that went along with it, as they step up to help support their ailing father and older alcoholic brother Branwell Brontë (Dan Leckey).

Packed with emotion, revel, and sibling rivalry, all three women bring completely captivating performances as the three creative Brontë sisters. 

Genevieve Charbonneau really leans in to her portrayal of Charlotte, the eldest of the three sisters. Watching her performance is like watching poetry in motion as she spins around on stage like a dancing dervish, blending the bossiness that comes with being an older sister, with gentle moments of jealousy and vulnerability.

Julia Lalonde gives a gripping and honest performance as middle sister Emily, who is portrayed as the glue who held the three sisters together. There are some moving moments where audience members get a glimpse into how Emily struggled with the thought of sharing her writing, and how it was accepted. Lalonde puts her heart into the heartbreak of her sad story.

Zoe Nickerson, who takes the Mercury Stage for the first time, is an absolute delight to watch as she portrays the youngest of the Brontë sisters Anne, who sometimes was considered the most radical of the three and was the least mainstream in her writings. Nickerson embodies the perfect younger sibling between her scrunched up facial expressions and the way she moves, sometimes stomping across the stage in her interactions with her older sisters who she admires and wants so much to be like. While all three actors had their moments, it was Nickerson who so charmingly brought most of the comedic relief from what otherwise is quite the hard hitting tale of sisters, survival, and storytelling.

As literature, passion, and resilience unfolds on stage, this reporter is not too proud to say that a tear trickled down my cheek. There will be no more spoilers from me, just a nudge that community theatre lovers should not let this one pass them by. (Chadd Cawson)

The Week has journalist Reeta Chakrabarti share her favourite books.

Jane Eyre

Charlotte Brontë, 1847

This was the first "proper" book I read, when I was eight years old. Then, I was rapt by the story of Jane's childhood and the cruelty and deprivation she suffers. In my teens I came to understand the more adult themes of love, betrayal and integrity. I have read it every decade of my life since.

The Post (New Zealand) mentions the Brontë connection, through Mary Taylor, of Mt Victoria.

Not many people know this about Mt Victoria but ...

There was a friend of Charlotte Brontë who lived here. Her house was in Ellice St – that would have been a country estate. She used to walk up to Mt Victoria in a long dress and looked to see if a ship was coming in with a reply to her letter. (Tom Hunt)

More results of Amazon UK polls: Express shares the results of the Top 30 book villains and...

23. Mr Rochester from Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë – 9% (George Simpson)

When did Mr Rochester turn into a villain? And, if Rochester is a villain, isn't Heathcliff one too? It's a worrying trend that wilfully misunderstands Rochester (he was a bastard on another poll a few weeks ago). Does he make terrible mistakes? Yes, absolutely. Does that make him a villain in Hannibal Lecter's league? Seriously?  Does a character have to be virtuous, flat, and perfect from start to finish in order not to be a villain? Well, what a boring book that would be, then.

Even sillier is this article from Artículo 14 (Spain), which claims that Jane Eyre is a forgotten novel that people hardly know, not to mention read nowadays.

La novela romántica que casi nadie ha leído y es más profunda que ‘Orgullo y prejuicio’

Una de las novelas románticas más importantes de la historia, aunque quizá no tan reconocida como otras, es Jane Eyre

Aunque Orgullo y prejuicio reina en los rankings de novelas románticas más queridas, hay otra obra escrita apenas unas décadas después que no solo desafía ese trono, sino que lo hace desde una profundidad emocional y moral que pocas novelas del género han alcanzado: Jane Eyre, de Charlotte Brontë. Jane Eyre es una historia intensa, desgarradora, que mezcla el romance con la lucha por la identidad, la dignidad y la libertad personal. Y, a pesar de haber sido un fenómeno en su época, hoy sigue siendo subestimada o, directamente, ignorada por muchos lectores contemporáneos. (Francisco Salas) (Translation)