A Little More Romantic, But Still Gothic and Chilling and Dangerous

 The Guardian recommends 70 'brilliant books' for this summer. Including:

This Dark Night by Deborah Lutz

Emerald Fennell’s hallucinatory adaptation of Wuthering Heights invited us to consider Emily Brontë in one light; Lutz’s painstaking account shows her in quite another. Far from the eccentric, isolated genius, Lutz’s Brontë is grounded in her material reality, from everyday household tasks to illness and grief.

The Telegraph lists the best albums of 2026, so far:

Charli XCX, Wuthering Heights ★★★★☆

Emerald Fennell’s big-budget, bonk-busting adaptation of Emily Brontë’s classic novel certainly ruffled a few feathers – including mine. But the film had one saving grace, in the form of Charli XCX’s trippy soundtrack, whose songs combine the Velvet Underground’s unparalleled knack for melancholy (John Cale features on the now-viral House) with Nine Inch Nails’s industrial riffs and Charli’s own blurry, distorted vein of electronica.

Taken as a follow-up to Charli’s culture-dominating 2024 album Brat, Wuthering Heights makes perfect sense – it’s the tragedies of modern life and love told through one of English literature’s most beloved stories; music you can both cry and dance to. As the 33-year-old pop star wryly put it, Cathy and Heathcliff’s romance descended into ruin “without a cigarette or a pair of sunglasses in sight,” those two items of vice being prominent symbols in Brat, which served as a chewed-up love letter to hedonism.

Wuthering Heights consists of just 12 songs, clocking in under 35 minutes. But songs like Dying for You, Chains of Love and Always Everywhere pack such a punch that their conciseness never feels like a curse.  (Poppie Platt)

Brockville Daily publishes some audio interviews with the team behind the upcoming production of Brontë. The World Without in  Brockville, ON, Canada:

Brockville audiences can experience Brontë: The World Without when Youth Opportunities in the Arts stages the production June 19 to 21 at the Arts Hub. 

Producer Deanna Powers says the play examines the lives and legacy of the Brontë sisters.

The three sisters are being played by locals Sarah Paquin, Susannah Burt and Aphra Reimer-Willis with artwork from area artists as well. (Harper Cotie)

Another much-awaited production is the London premiere of Jane Eyre. The Musical. Whatsonstage talks about the cast:

Jane Eyre, a musical by John Caird and Paul Gordon based on the seminal novel by Charlotte Brontë, has announced the lead casting for its UK premiere – 30 years on from its first bow.

The production will be co-directed by Caird and Megan McGinnis. Caird previously adapted and co-directed the original production of Les Misérables in the West End and on Broadway, and most recently directed the award-winning stage adaptation of Spirited Away at the London Coliseum. McGinnis has appeared on Broadway in Beauty and the Beast, Little Women and Beetlejuice.

Set to appear will be Charlie Burn as Jane and Ashley Gilmour as Rochester, with further names to be revealed.

The production is set to run at Southwark Playhouse Elephant from 28 August to 24 October 2026, with tickets on sale now. (Alex Wood)

And if you want a brief glimpse into the production, the West End LIVE event that will take place next June 20 and 21 in Trafalgar Square will include a Jane Eyre performance: 

Sunday 21 - 3:20pm Jane Eyre - The Musical

CrimeReads recommends Wuthering Heights 2026:

Then, if you’re in the mood for something a little more romantic, but still gothic and chilling and dangerous feeling, you could check out last year’s sensation/scandal/date movie, Wuthering Heights (HBO Max). If you’re blanking, this is the one your friends were telling you about where Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi run around in the rain and get it on. Emerald Fennell’s movies are not for everyone, though, so you might need some backup material in case you want to switch over real quick. (Dwyer Murphy)

USA Today does a similar thing:

Sure, it takes enough liberties with the original source material that it might make an Emily Brontë nerd's head explode. Still, it's impossible not to be pulled in thanks to director Emerald Fennell's sumptuous vision and Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi's hot-blooded performances. They play childhood pals whose relationship turns quite complicated as adults when they begin a torrid love affair full of betrayal and resentment. (Brian Truitt)

And Men's Health:

 The classic novel comes to life on the big screen once again, this time from Promising Young Woman and Saltburn director Emerald Fennell, and with Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi in the lead roles. Fennell, an Academy Award winner for her work on Promising Young Woman, has both big fans and big detractors at this point—but her take her, while book purists haven't been thrilled, is a big, visually stunning epic romance. Robbie and Elordi are both up to the task as well, bringing a charged energy to roles that really need it. Alison Oliver, who recently shined on HBO's Task, is another major highlight in a supporting role. An original soundtrack from Charli XCX helps to set the anachronistic mood and feels like a real cherry on top. (aEvn Romano)

Gold Derby interviews the actress Fiona Durif:

Debra Birnbaum: What's the craziest fan theory you've seen or read?

F.D.: Oh, I'm going to have such a boring answer to this! I'm really careful not to read too much fan stuff, because I feel like I have to keep this bubble going that I'm in so that I don't get self-conscious. Oh, wait — Robby and Whitaker's unconscious love affair. They're like Wuthering Heights, you know what I mean? They're yearning for each other, but can't quite make it happen. I enjoy that. It's also a great joke on set. We really get a lot out of it. 

News from the Calderdale Energy Front form. We read in The Telegraph & Argus:

A Council has issued stinging criticism of a statutory consultation carried out over controversial proposals to build a giant windfarm on peatland between Haworth and Hebden Bridge.

Calderdale Energy Park’s statutory consultation is not up to standard and should be done again, says Calderdale Council.

In a highly-critical response to the Calderdale Energy Park (CEP) consultation over its plans to build 34 giant wind turbines on Walshaw Moor, Calderdale has requested the developer starts again.

CEP rejects the criticism and says the consultation was carried out in line with planning legislation requirements and its own statement of community consultation.

The company has already extended a deadline for some people to resubmit their responses to the consultation into early July due to a glitch.

The site is on Calderdale moorland, located between Hebden Bridge and Haworth, the village associated with the Bronte sisters, but the council will not decide whether the proposals can go ahead.

Diario Yaqui (México) also briefly discusses the film.