Easy to Imagine?

The Denver Post's Book Club recommends The Tenant of Wildfelll Hall by "no, not that Brontë":

“The Tenant of Wildfell Hall,” by Anne Brontë (Wordsworth Classics version, 1999)

You’ve likely read Charlotte Brontë’s “Jane Eyre” or Emily Brontë’s “Wuthering Heights,” but far fewer have read the important novel of the youngest Brontë. Charlotte squelched Anne’s novel after her death at age 29, stating that “The choice of subject in that work is a mistake, it was too little consonant with the character, tastes and ideas of the gentle, retiring inexperienced writer.” Wrong! Anne’s book is seminal, considered the first feminist novel, as in it a woman leaves her emotionally abusive husband. “Tenant” conveys both female and male points of view, as both main characters exhibit personal growth. Despite being written in 1828 (sic), this is in many ways a contemporary story. — 4 stars (out of 4); (Neva Gronert, Parker)

Which is even more amazing as Anne Brontë wrote it when she was 8 years old! Oh, wait... no, it was in 1848.

The new fashion collection of Jonathan Anderson on inStyle:

The Zoomer boyfriend meets Brontë sisters vibe didn't stop there. Fancy dress party vests (in pink, white, and even lavender) paired with army fatigues, cable knits, and boxing sneakers (laces untied, of course). A strong case for more brocade and tweed in fashion emerged. And it was easy to imagine a modern-day Heathcliff wandering the moors wearing Look 19's cropped jacket, ab-hinting tuxedo shirt, and tasseled loafers (looking at you, Jacob Elordi!). Also, the men wore capes—so many capes!—in every luxurious fabric and pattern imaginable. (Madeline Hirsch)

The English language is always in a state of change, argues Dr Amanda Cole in The Telegraph:

Linguists aim to describe and not prescribe language. We consider the English language to be defined by how people use it, not a set of ideals for how we feel it should be used. Most lexicographers also take the same approach. For example, although it really grates on linguistic pedants, most dictionaries now include figurative definitions of literally (“I laughed so hard I literally died”) because there is a sizeable body of evidence that many people use the word in this way and have done for a long time – even literary greats such as Charles Dickens, James Joyce and Charlotte Brontë.

The American Spectator delivers their usual everything-female-and-not-MAGA is leftist-woke propaganda and, particularly, full of hate against the poor white male ostracized collective:

New York Times article last Wednesday teased both a fascinating mystery and its solution, “Why Did the Novel-Reading Man Disappear?” But the author, Joseph Bernstein, delivered neither, only a rambling circumstantial essay full of standard feminist drivel and distortion. The most popular novels in the 19th Century, for instance, were not written by women as Bernstein claims but by men like Dickens, Tolstoy, Dumas, Collins, Twain, and many more. The works of now beloved female novelists such as Jane Austen (Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility) and Brontë sisters Charlotte (Jane Eyre) and in Emily’s case, after her death. (Lou Aguilar)

Is it just me, or do more of you notice that condescending "beloved" was regurgitated almost as a hiccup?

Charlotte Brontë's wedding and baptism are the subject of this week's post on AnneBrontë.org. Marisa Saegerman shares her experience in two recent Brontë weekends (organized by the London Brontë Group and the Brussels Brontë Group) at the Brussels Brontë Blog. And The Brontë Society of Japan's Facebook Wall shares some pictures of their most recent meeting.