The Rathfriland area breathes Brontë

Marina Saegerman (member of the Brussels Brontë Group) writes about her visit to Patrick Brontë's homeland:

Over the years I have been able to visit many places related to the Brontës, both in the UK and in Ireland, but there was one place that I had not yet visited and which is essential to the Brontë history: the place where Rev. Patrick Brontë was born and where he grew up. This was my missing link in the Brontë story. So this year’s mission on our holidays in Ireland was to be a visit to the area where Patrick Brontë was born and lived until he moved to Cambridge, the area around Rathfriland in County Down, Northern Ireland. I have always been fascinated by the Brontës’ Irish ancestry and have read all that I could find on this topic. So you can imagine that I was very excited to see the area where Patrick Brontë spent his early years and to visit the places related to his family.

The day of the visit was to be Saturday 26 July 2014. On our way back home from Boyle to Dun Laoghaire (Co. Dublin) a small detour was planned to Northern Ireland, where I booked us into a B&B in Rathfriland for one night. In preparation of this visit I had been rereading some books on the Brontës’ Irish background. My main guidebook for the trip was to be The Road to Haworth – the Story of the Brontës’ Irish Ancestry by John Cannon. It reads like a Brontë novel. 

The Schoolhouse

We set off in the morning and planned to arrive in the  Rathfriland area around noon. A few days before our departure I had phoned the secretary of the Irish section of the Brontë Society, Miss Margaret K Livingston, to see whether we could meet her when we were in the area. We decided to meet up at 1pm for a picnic lunch at Drumballyroney where the Brontë Homeland Interpretative Centre is situated. The Drumballyroney Schoolhouse and Church are also the start of the Brontë Homeland drive.

The Rathfriland area breathes Brontë: a lot of houses or institutions have a Brontë-related name: Brontë manor, the Brontë primary school, a Brontë nursery unit, there was even a house called 'Villette'. We arrived at 12 o’clock on the dot, the time that the interpretative centre opened its doors. No need to say that we were the first visitors of the day. Since we were well before the time set to meet Margaret, I had some time to browse around in the Schoolhouse to see the video on the Brontë family and read all the information panels, giving information on the various members of the Brontë family, including Patrick Brontë’s parents and their unusual 'country courtship'. The small schoolroom also contained some exhibits related to Patrick Brontë and the Brontë sisters, amongst others a replica of Charlotte Brontë’s wedding dress.

Margaret arrived well on time and was accompanied by another member of the Irish section, Mr Finny O’ Sullivan. The weather gods were not on our side that day, it was pouring outside. But a  picnic was planned, and a picnic we would have! Margaret decided to have a picnic in the schoolroom: since we were the only visitors at that moment, this was not a problem. We were treated to a real picnic feast: lovely fresh sandwiches, biscuits, cake, strawberries and cream, tea, coffee and juice… too much for our poor bellies!

Finny, Margaret and Marina

During lunch we received all the information about the Irish section of the Brontë Society, the Irish ancestry and the Drumballyroney site - schoolhouse, church and Brontë burial plot.

The schoolhouse at Drumballyroney was the place where Patrick, at the age of twenty-one, taught for four years, before going to Cambridge. Next to the schoolhouse is the Anglican Church where Patrick and his brother William were christened and where Patrick gave his first sermon after graduating from Cambridge University.  We also visited the graveyard at the back of the schoolhouse and church, where the Brontë family burial plot is situated and where Patrick’s parents and other family members are buried.

Margaret and Finny had planned to drive us around the Brontë homeland sites, so we set off in Margaret’s car. In the meantime the weather had cleared up and the sun was shining again. The drive was very well sign-posted , we just had to follow the brown signposts with the book symbol. Next stop on the homeland drive was the Brontë Homeland picnic site at Knockiveagh where we had wonderful views over the Mourne Mountains and the area where Patrick grew up. The picnic site contains the ruins of an old shebeen - an illicit drinking house.

  

We continued to follow the 'Brontë road'. We passed the two-storey house near Lisnacreevy where Hugh and Alice brought up their family of ten children, we passed the 'dancing glen' where they secretly met according to local legend, and arrived at the next stop on the drive,  Alice McClory’s cottage in Ballynaskeagh. This cottage was the childhood home of Patrick’s mother, and is still owned by the McClory family. The cottage was very overgrown with bushes and ivy, and it was very difficult to see how it would have looked like. Nothing has been done to keep it in a reasonable condition, and it is in a very bad state at the moment. What a shame!     

The highlight of the homeland drive was of course the Birthplace Cottage at Emdale, a small two-roomed cottage where Patrick Brontë was born on St. Patrick’s Day 1777.  Or to describe it in Patrick’s own words, from the poem 'The Irish cabin':

“A neat Irish cabin, snow proof

Well thatched, had a good earthen floor,

One chimney in midst of the roof,

One window, and one latched door.

Little remains now of the original thatched cottage, but it gives a clear impression of how an Irish family must have lived in those days.  However, to modern standards, it is difficult to imagine that a family with two children could actually live in such a small space. A lot of work has been done  to restore the walls, the site is now protected and in 1956 a commemorative plaque was unveiled at the site.

    

Glascar Church

We continued the homeland drive to its final stop , Glascar Church and Schoolhouse, where Patrick had his first teaching post in the 1790s. He was said to have used creative teaching methods in order to bring out the best in his pupils. He was dismissed from this post because he had formed a romantic attachment with one of his pupils. After this incident he took up the teaching post at Drumballyroney schoolhouse and so the Brontë homeland circle is  complete.

In the Glascar Church graveyard we could see many headstones with the Brontë name. Descendants of the Irish Brontës are still being buried here.

We returned to the Drumballyroney Schoolhouse, still enjoying the wonderful views and the countryside that Patrick Brontë knew as a child and a young man. It had been a very interesting and  informative afternoon with Margaret and Finny. One can learn a lot about the Irish Brontë story from books on the subject but having actually seen and visited the sites and having received the information from Margaret and Finny who had so much more to tell about the Irish Brontës and the stories behind the sites, made the Brontë homeland drive so much more interesting to me and gave another dimension to my knowledge on the Irish ancestry.

I was really glad that we had the opportunity of doing the drive with people like Margaret and Finny who knew the places so well. I’m convinced that if we would have had to do the drive on our own, although it is signposted, we would have had great difficulty in finding some of the spots eg Alice McClory’s cottage well hidden behind bushes and ivy. We took our leave from Margaret and Finny, thanking them for the time they had spent with us  and the information we had received.

On our way to the B&B in Rathfriland, very close to the Drumballyroney site, I  reflected on the afternoon and enjoyed the satisfaction that I had finally completed my own Brontë circle.

                                                                 

For further reading, the following books can be recommended:

The Road to Haworth – the story of the Brontës’ Irish ancestry (John Cannon)

The Brontës of Ballynaskeagh ( W. Haughton Crowe)

The Brontës in Ireland (Dr. William Wright)

“The Brontës’ Irish background” (Edward Chitham)

Brontë Society Conference 2014

Maddalena De Leo, BS President Bonnie Greer, Caterina Lerro 

Maddalena De Leo (Italian delegate) writes:

The Brontë Society Conference was held this year at Warwick University in Scarman Conference Centre from Friday 29 to Sunday 31 August. Its theme was ‘The Brontës and the Condition of England’ and it concentrated on the Brontë sisters' contemporary context, analyzing how it influenced what they thought and what they wrote.

The talks were opened on Friday afternoon by famous Brontë scholar Juliet Barker with her keynote lecture about the Brontës and the ‘world without’ followed in the evening by Melissa Hardie-Budden's work in progress about the Branwell and Carne families from Penzance. On Saturday morning there was a Patrick Brontë panel with a break for questions, followed throughout the day by other two sessions about Religion and Industrial Unrest with Robert Logan, Brian Wilks and Marianne Thormählen as speakers among the others.

On Sunday morning  the second keynote lecture of the conference was Rebecca Frazer’s talk about the woman’s question and Charlotte Brontë, followed by Birgitta Berglund’s brilliant lecture about the Victorian corset debate. Birgitta even showed the audience how difficult for Victorian women was to put on and bear a corset all day, wearing one herself. The last session was about war and empire with Sarah Fermi as last speaker of the conference, and there was a recap at the end by Marianne Thormählen.

Also this year as in 2011, besides the well-known speakers from all over the world, the Brontë Society included some young PhDs who lectured about the chosen topic with competence and skill.

The conference venue, carefully chosen by organizer Sarah Fermi in collaboration with Patsy Stoneman, was the beautiful Scarman Conference Centre with its amenities. A special treat took place after the gala dinner on Saturday when BS President Bonnie Greer OBE gave a speech about the Society's purposes and aims for the future in view of Charlotte’s two hundredth birth anniversary in 2016.

During the conference I took photographs and had the opportunity to speak and change views with my fellow delegates, amongst whom I met with pleasure Jolien Janzing, the author of the novel The Master.

In conclusion I can say that this was again a great Brontë weekend and still another important occasion to share a wonderful Brontë-related experience.

Dyddgu Pritchard Owens

Sally McDonald writes:

Mrs Dyddgu Pritchard Owens passed away on 12 August.

 

Dyddgu was a truly popular and well known figure in the Society who was at every AGM weekend I can remember until this year, and her absence this year was noticeable. She won friends with her cheery nature and passion for the Brontes and Haworth.  The Society offers deepest sympathies to Dyddgu's family.

Welcome back, Kate Bush

Kate Bush, a terrific singer and performer, brought a significant number of new members to the Brontë Society after the release of her 1978 single Wuthering Heights, and turned many others towards actually reading the novel. She is still popular with many aficionados, even though not an enormous amount seems to have happened for an incredible thirty-five years.

Now she has come back to live performance - in Hammersmith and then in Manchester. It is one of the big musical events this year. We'd love to have your review, so send it to the blog at heveliusx1@yahoo.co.uk

Marina Saegerman writes:

I went to the opening night on Tuesday 26 August. The atmosphere of anticipation beforehand, waiting outside with the crowd to get in the concert hall, was really magical. You could feel the excitement everywhere!

I loved the first part of the concert, which was a series of songs followed by a theatrical performance of The Ninth Wave: Kate gave a spectacular show, she had a very strong voice and the whole story was fascinating to watch.

The second part after the break was less interesting, still spectacular in a way but also very confusing. Less strong than the Ninth Wave performance. The anticipation and expectations in the concert hall grew with the encore, and although she performed two beautiful songs, you could feel that the audience was waiting for Wuthering Heights, which did not come. The audience was applauding for more, but Kate did not return to oblige. That was a little bit of a disappointment, but I was glad to have been there and seen it all. 

It was certainly a magical evening. Something to treasure always.

Benjamin Lovegrove writes:
I was there last night (Saturday 6 September). Like many people, I wanted to hear Wuthering Heights but Kate does Cloudbusting for the finale which is a worthy alternative. For me the highlight was Kate's son Bertie singing the male vocal in An Architect's Dream. Before this we heard classic songs like Running Up That Hill and Hounds of Love.

The song cycle Ninth Wave was dark and intense, contrasting well with the summery themes of the songs from Aerial. This included some of Kate's more experimental work featuring birdsong.

It was a very emotional experience as well as a rare chance to see her play live and I recommend anyone who is able to should go and see her. 

From one Haworth to another...

Beth Potter, Friends of the Haworth NJ Library, writes:

I'm president of the Friends of the Library in Haworth, New Jersey, USA.  Our library here is trying to reach out to Brontë fans everywhere to get some help for its expanding library.   I figure anyone who's read and appreciated Jane Eyre or Villette or Wuthering Heights or Agnes Grey must have a soft spot for a place named Haworth.   Haworth, New Jersey, is, in fact, named for Haworth, England - in 1872 a railroadman and land developer named John S. Sauzade named this little station stop Haworth in honor of the Brontë sisters' hometown.  Sauzade was himself a novelist, and, obviously, a huge admirer of the Brontës.  

John S Sauzade

Within our new local history room, we hope to have a plaque on the wall, honoring the sisters - and the British town - that gave us such a special name.   We're also going to have a new children's room and a meeting room.  

The new addition will have a glass 'Donor Wall' with names honoring the people and groups that have donated to our expansion, and it occurred to me that it would be meaningful to have the Brontë Society listed as a donor, because without the Brontës, we wouldn't be a Haworth.   And a library in a town called Haworth is a very relevant place to remember the Brontë sisters.  

If you'd care to help, there's a Paypal "Donate" button on the library website, http://haworth.bccls.org/  We sure would appreciate your support.   Small donations from lots of people add up to a large donation!  And come visit us sometime...  a lot of folks from here have visited your Haworth and had a grand time.  

Milton Rosmer as Heathcliff

Milton Rosmer

One of the historic films shown regularly on television is Goodbye, Mr Chips, which was on larger screens in picture houses in 1939. We'll be seeing it again soon, because of its main theme, which deals with the deaths of young men in the First World War. The main stars were Robert Donat and Greer Garson. One of the lesser-known principals was Milton Rosmer, who played a character called Chatteris. Look out for him next time the film comes round, because back in the 1920s he played Heathcliff in a lost, silent, version of Wuthering Heights, which was made by the Ideal Film Company in and around Haworth, directed by Arthur Bramble. Only a few stills remain as visual evidence of this first adaptation of Emily Brontë's novel.

The film might have gone the same way as many others: made of nitrate stock, it may well have exploded, or turned to dust in a forgotten canister. The script, however, has been found, and has been bought by the Parsonage from a West Sussex book dealer, along with nearly two dozen pages of production notes. It will go on display early in 2015.

In 2006, the lost film was front page news in the Brontë Society Gazette:

Film rights of The Master/De Meester sold

Congratulations to Jolien Janzing! The Master, her novel about Charlotte Brontë's secret love, will soon become a film!
 

Listen to this interview (in Dutch) on Belgian National Radio about Wuthering Heights and Haworth which was made following the passage of the Tour de France through Yorkshire:

http://sporza.be/cm/sporza/1.649775?text=jolien+janzing&action=submit

Here is the official press release about the film rights:

Klik hier om de webversie te bekijken.

De Arbeiderspers | A.W. Bruna Uitgevers               Foreign Rights Department                       Manager: Laetitia Powell Stop press! Film rights of The Master sold to David P. Kelly Films Limited The Master/De Meester written by Jolien Janzing on the big screen Dear Friends, I am very pleased to announce you that the Film Rights of The Master/De Meester, a beautiful historical novel about the secret love of Charlotte Brontë written by Jolien Janzing have been sold to DAVID P. KELLY FILMS LIMITED. This is  absolutely wonderful news and sometimes two excellent things happen around the same time. The Turkish rights have also been sold and this to Güldünya Yayınları. I am looking forward to see this marvelous novel on a big screen. David Kelly has made numerous films such as The Last Station with Helen Mirren, The Desert Flower and is currently working together with Ralph Fiennes on the costume drama Two Women which is in Post-Production. I would like to let you know that 2016 will be the memorial year of Charlotte Brontë's birth. We can provide you with a full English Translation of The Master/De Meester (proof copy). If you would like to know more about The Master by Jolien Janzing do not hesitate to contact me, All the best, Laetitia Powell Foreign Rights Manager                                                                                                           Contact:jolien.janzing@gmail.com - 0032 495 26 64 61

Explore here our Foreign Rights Catalogue About the producent Who is David P.Kelly? David P.Kelly has 19 years experience of producing, co-producing and executive developing in international Independent film and television drama. He has just recently financed a  co-production on the film ‘TWO WOMEN’ starring Ralph Fiennes and become a partner with a new Cinema Exhibitor, Shortwave Cinema ltd.

David is a former chairman at First City features, a UK and European Industry recognised Film Producer he has wide ranging experienced having worked at MGM studios in L.A., Working Title Films London, Alibi Television, Eggoli Tossel-Berlin and Rezo Films –Paris. David has a comprehensive understanding of the Film Industry across production, financing, distribution and exhibition. He has developed high quality film scripts from Oscar-winning writers to emerging talented newcomers across a wide range of genres. His latest film (he is the lead UK Executive producer) is TWO WOMEN and stars Ralph Fiennes. It will be released internationally in 2015. Before that he worked on numerous International co-productions including, ‘The Last Station’ starring Helen Mirren and James McAvoy, which was Oscar nominated in 2010. About the author Who is Jolien Janzing? Jolien Janzing (1964) is a Dutch author and journalist who lives in Flanders. She became well known for her controversial reports in Humo. In 2009 she debuted at De Arbeiderspers with her novelGrammatica van een obsessie (Grammar of an obsession). She is a connoisseur of nineteenth-century English literature. Utrecht, 30 juni 2014 INHOUDSOPGAVE • The Master/De Meester written by Jolien Janzing on the big screen • Who is David P.Kelly? • Who is Jolien Janzing? About the book Charlotte Brontë, a parson’s daughter from Yorkshire, England, fragile yet fearless as a young fox, longs for adventure, self-fulfillment and passionate love. She conceives the idea of going abroad to study languages. She manages to persuade her sister Emily to accompany her. Brussels, the capital of the brand-new kingdom of Belgium, with its Catholic liberalism and French wine, represents a culture shock. The Pensionnat Heger is run by Madame Claire Heger, an elegant, shrewd lady. Charlotte falls in love with her husband, monsieur Constantin Heger… Charlotte’s story is interwoven with that of Arcadie Claret, the young mistress of Leopold I, king of the Belgians. Charlotte first sees the girl on the beach in Ostend. Arcadie is so attractive, dearly loved and beautifully dressed, and stands in such sharp contrast to herself, that Charlotte becomes violently jealous of her. A historical novel about the love of Charlotte Brontë for the Brussels teacher Constantin Heger, based on actual events (1842 – 1844). The story is set in Brussels and in West Yorkshire. The Master has been selected for Books at Berlinale.  An integral English translation is now available.

Literature: 272 pages Publisher: De Arbeiderspers Book Trailer: http://veritate.tripolis.com/public/r/Wj4hFBhX_rpmDWGqtxvwkQ/Kl9HbVE8nqsqRpaLpafuYg/kPkecfMKpom3eIZhFGy5yA   Foreign rights: laetitia.powell@apawb.nl

June Weekend - Friday

Friday 13 June, 6.30pm, West Lane Baptist Centre, Haworth

A talk followed by a performance by Simon Warner, David Wilson and Adam Strickson. Preceded by a Harp Quintet and a meal.

An evening of artistic responses to the landscape that influenced the lives and works of the Brontës by musician David Wilson, artist Simon Warner and poet Adam Strickson.

Throughout 2012 David composed music inspired by the Haworth landscape and carried out research into the music played and appreciated by the Brontës. Simon will show film shots in and around Haworth in response to David's musical compositions, while Adam reads poetry by the Brontës and others, including Sylvia Plath, Ted Hughes and Charlotte Mew alongside his own compositions. Pennine Harps will play a selection of music and will complete their set with an arrangement of an Emily Brontë peom set for the harp by a Society member.   

Tickets: £15 (performance only)

Charlotte Brontë’s Scottish jaunt

A record of Charlotte Brontë’s Scottish jaunt in the visitors’ book at Abbotsford, Walter Scott’s home

Helen MacEwan, Malcolm Morrison (Abbotsford guide), Kathleen Shortt

Helen MacEwan writes:

On a trip to Edinburgh on 10-11 May I met up with Kathleen Shortt, the Brontë Society’s representative for Scotland. We went south to the border country for a tour of Sir Walter Scott’s house, Abbotsford, by Malcolm Morrison, a BS member who lives in Melrose and works at the house as a volunteer guide. Scott’s literary creations were of course hugely influential on the Brontës, as on so many other writers of the period; in 1834, advising her friend Ellen Nussey on which novels to read, Charlotte Brontë had written: ‘For fiction read Scott alone – all novels after him are worthless’.

Abbotsford, his amazing and highly personal creation in stone, was to ruin him financially, though he eventually managed to write his way out of debt. We were privileged to have not only a private tour of the house with Malcolm but also a private viewing of the visitors’ book that covers 1850. The book, whose binding is in too fragile a condition to allow it to be permanently displayed, was brought out for us by Sandra Mackenzie, the Heritage and Learning Officer, and opened at the page where Charlotte Brontë and George Smith signed it during their visit to Abbotsford on 5 July of that year along with 17 other visitors. . Charlotte had joined her publisher for a couple of days’ sight-seeing in Scotland when he and his sister went to fetch their younger brother home from his school in Edinburgh for the summer vacation. She was originally to have joined the Smiths for a longer tour of Scotland but her time with them was curtailed, probably because of the disapproval of Ellen and others of her jaunts with the unmarried Smith.

Charlotte and George Smith signatures in the visitors' book

Despite the brevity of her Scottish trip Charlotte waxed lyrical in letters about her glimpse of Edinburgh, Abbotsford and Melrose, telling her friend Laetitia Wheelwright that ‘Edinburgh compared to London is like a vivid page of history compared to a huge dull treatise on Political Economy – and as to Melrose and Abbotsford the very names possess music and magic.’

The visit to Abbotsford was magical for us too, since apart from the fascination of the house itself there was the thrill of seeing Charlotte’s signature – a record of a trip she enjoyed so much, at the height of her friendship with her handsome young publisher.

Fifth Brontë Pilgrimage Sunday 6 July

This is the advertisement for the event, which is not organised by the Brontë Society:

Walk and Worship the Brontë Way

The Vicar of Tunstall, The Revd Carus Wilson set up the Clergy Daughters’ School at Cowan Bridge in January 1824 which Charlotte Bronte and three of her sisters attended  before the elder sisters, Maria and Elizabeth died of consumption in 1825.She subsequently drew on her memories of this experience as the basis for ‘ Lowood School’ in  Jane Eyre. In 1824 all pupils walked to Tunstall Church for Matins- apparently Leck church was not large enough- ate a packed lunch in a room over the porch ( a parvise) and attended Evensong before returning to Cowan Bridge. In 1825 the latter church was expanded and the pupils were saved this long walk.

On Sunday 6 July it is proposed to commemorate this experience by services in both churches starting with Holy Communion at 8am in Leck, St Peter’s Church (car parking available), followed by a visit to the ‘fever’ graves of some of the pupils of the Clergy Daughters’ School.

Those who cannot attend this service can go to the Fraser Hall, Cowan Bridge, where all will assemble to leave as a group at 9.30am ( drinks will be available). The group will then walk to Tunstall following the same route the girls did. (Please wear suitable clothing and footwear) Matins will be held at Tunstall at 11am. The service will be in the style of the period. Bring a packed lunch to eat in the comfort of Tunstall Village Hall-where drinks will be available prior to the return walk.

Refreshments will be then available in the Fraser Hall, Cowan Bridge prior to Evensong at 4.30pm at St Peter’s Leck. As little or as much as you wish, of the Pilgrimage, can be undertaken.

Spring Walk from Wycoller Hall on 11 May

The walk is approximately five miles long - and will include Clam Bridge, Walton's Cross, waterfalls and splendid panoramic views from the Panopticon.

Tickets are £5 and can be bought either by cheque in advance (payable to The Brontë Society) or can be purchased on the day with cash or on http://www.bronte.org.uk/whats-on/117/spring-walk-2014/119

A car park is available at Wycoller Country Park.

Red Room: New Short Stories Inspired by the Brontës

Review by Elisa Fierro
“Reader, I did not marry him.” This is the arresting beginning of Vanessa Gebbie’s Chapter XXXVIII – Conclusion (and a little bit of added cookery) with abject apologies to Charlotte Brontë, one of the short stories in the new collection Red Room: New Short Stories Inspired by the Brontës (ISBN 978-0-9572897-3-4).

Red Room, edited by A. J. Ashworth and published in paperback by Unthank Books in 2013, is comprised of twelve short stories and a poem, written by some of Britain’s best contemporary writers to celebrate the Brontë sisters and their unexhausted modernism. According to the editor, part of the sale profits of the book will be donated to the Brontë Birthplace Trust to help spread awareness of both the village and the building where the three sisters and their brother, Branwell, were born.

The Brontë Birthplace, located at 72/74 Market Street in Thornton (West Yorkshire), was a museum until 2007, thanks to the passion of the late novelist Barbara Whitehead. After being sold, it has recently become a café. At the time of the sale, the Brontë Birthplace Trust was raising the necessary funds to acquire the building, and their mission is now to try to secure it at a future date for Brontë lovers worldwide.

This collection of short stories, Red Room, is a continued commitment of Unthank Books towards contemporary short fiction and classic literature. The contributors – all writers of remarkable standing in contemporary British literature and winners of prestigious awards like, for example, the BBC National Short Story Award - have all waived their fees. Their generosity is shared by Unthank Books, as mentioned earlier, to help the Trust give the Brontë Birthplace its deserved position among the most important literary birthplaces in the world.

The Brontës and their work inspire all of the carefully crafted stories in Red Room, but a previous knowledge of the sisters’ novels – although certainly desirable – is not absolutely necessary in order to enjoy this book.  Everybody can find something to his or her taste: the authors deal with a variety of themes (from children abuse to supernatural sheep), write in different styles, and set their stories in the past as well as in the present, showing how human traits and situations described by the three sisters transcend time and place.

The previously mentioned Chapter XXXVIII – Conclusion (and a little bit of added cookery) with abject apologies to Charlotte Brontë, by Vanessa Gebbie, offers a humorously alternative ending to Jane Eyre, where Jane and Rochester do not marry but live as companions, while Rochester develops an interest for cooking with a penchant for oddly mixed ingredients (after all, he is blind!). The author’s (never random) good humor – through Jane’s first person narrative – doesn’t spare any character of the novel, including St John Rivers, whose fate is described in a way highly appropriate for him: “St John is unmarried: he never will marry now (Who would marry him, reader? Look at the verbiage up with which one would have to put)”.

Modern values are the theme of Rowena Macdonald’s A Child of Pleasure. Inspired by the relationship between Lucy Snow and Ginevra Fanshawe in Villette, the story is about Liza Frost, a teacher giving private lessons, and Jemima Fenchurch, her student. Jemima is not in the least interested in passing her exam, and often tries to demean Liza by pointing out her plain appearance, her solitary life, and her lack of wealth. Jemima is “about as sensitive as a brick”, has been indulged all her life, is self-centered, and only believes in beauty and money. However, at the end of the story, Liz and the reader are left wondering if, after all, Jemima was right. “I had been wrong: she was nobody’s appendage” – don’t we all want to be a celebrity like her, without a care in this world and sure that we will “suffer as little as any human being I have ever known”?

Heart-rending is the atmosphere of Carys Davies’ Bonnet.  The headwear of the title is one that Charlotte, on her way to meet her publisher George Smith in London, has embellished with a new lining, “a lustrous, pearly pink like the interior of a shell”. Smith has written Charlotte a letter telling her about his recent engagement – a letter that she had not yet received when she embarked on her trip. In reality, the trip never took place, because at the time Charlotte had stopped going to London to see her publisher. However, there has always been much speculation about the feelings that Charlotte might have entertained for the young, charming George. They were certainly friends, and it is possible that she – bereft and alone after the death of all her siblings – might have hoped to have him as life companion. Throughout the story, Charlotte is acutely aware of her plain appearance and clothing, especially during the meeting: “…  it is the worst imaginable thing for her to sit and feel the bright new silk around her face, like a shout, and see how embarrassed he is, how he can’t look at it.” In Victorian England, like today in our modern, multicultural, open-minded society (sarcasm intended), there is an incredible amount of pressure for women to be physically attractive. It takes a lot of self-esteem not to feel, like Charlotte, “always always acutely and painfully conscious” of the way we look as opposed to the way we are expected to look. I am sure that many women can relate to that – I for one certainly do.

I have chosen to use these three stories to illustrate how varied and multifaceted the collection Red Room actually is, and it is a totally subjective choice. I do not doubt that every reader will find his or her favorites, as the rest of the stories combine elements of fiction, realism, fantasy, even fairy-tale, and are filled with characters who, while based on the Brontë works, are strong in their own right.

In My Dear Miss … Zoë King imagines a lively epistolary exchange between Jane Eyre and Emma Woodhouse, where the latter – faithful to her character – tries to set Jane up with “a certain young clergyman, Mr. Elton, a handsome and intelligent addition to our circle.”

Contrasting with this playfulness are Sarah Dobbs’ Behind all the Closed Doors, dealing with the loss of a parent at a very early age, and Alison Moore’s Stonecrop, where an abusive stepfather gets what he deserves from his young victim.

On the other hand, stories like The Curate’s Wife, by Felicity Skelton, will appeal to lovers of historical fiction and romance, for its depiction of a fortuitous meeting between Charlotte and a well-known historical character – with interesting consequences.

Subsequently, Ashton and Elaine, by David Constantine, is a fairy-tale version of Heathcliff and Catherine’s story in which an adopted child finds a loving family and a supportive teacher, so that we can all be hopeful for him and his future.

Although the stories show a variety of subjects, two elements tie them all together: their authors’ captivating imaginations and their desire to bring the Brontë sisters to a wide modern audience, an audience who might or might not have a good literary background knowledge. At the end of the book, actually, the reader with less familiarity with the Brontës will find help with understanding the context of each story in the final section, entitled Inspirations, where every author explains how he or she came to write that particular piece of short fiction.

Being a Brontë lover myself, I am always an avid reader of anything related to the sisters and am sometimes disappointed by what is published; but this collection did not disappoint! The works in this book show how modern the Brontës will always be, how they can still inspire good literature, how the characters they created can and shall hook a contemporary reader, and make him or her reflect on the human condition. Charlotte, Emily, and Anne are alive and well, and they are waiting for you in the Red Room.

(Elissa Fierro is Representative of the Heartland West Region, one of the American Chapters of the Brontë Society. She teaches Italian at the University of Kansas in Lawrence.)