An alert from the Brontë Parsonage Museum for today, Yorkshire Day:
Servant's Room, Brontë Parsonage Museum Times: 11am - 1pm and 2 - 4pm
Some of the most intriguing items in our collection are those made from the Brontës' hair. During the Victorian era, hair was often woven into jewellery for remembrance. See conceptual artist and historian Donna Lowson guide us through the history of Victorian hairwork and show us the process of creating hair jewellery during your visit!
The book that changed me as a teenager I read Wuthering Heights when I was 12 or 13. Heathcliff fascinates me: enigmatic, brooding, never fully explained. Emily Brontë taught me landscape is character. The moors are a living force, mirroring Cathy and Heathcliff’s emotional lives. That shaped my writing: I’m drawn to unknowable characters and psychologically alive places.
Twin City Theatre Company brings Emily Brontë, Teenage Necromancer to Parkland College’s Second Stage Theatre. When a phantom haunts the Roe Head School for Girls in 1835, star pupil Emily Brontë and her sisters Anne and Charlotte must use their necromantic talents to uncover the truth in this gothic comedy of ghosts, fog, an undead goose, a lovesick spirit, and a talking meat pudding. The production runs through August 9. (Associated Press) Money Control suggests romantic books for National Girlfriend Day:
Jane Eyre I've always thought Jane Eyre is remembered for the wrong reason. Yes, the romance matters. But Jane's refusal to compromise herself matters even more. That's exactly why the love story works. She chooses love without giving up who she is.
Ranker ranks (sorry) movies critics hated, but audiences loved: 9. Wuthering Heights Audience Score: 74% Critic Score: 57%
Emerald Fennell’s adaptation of the literary classic was met with a 57% critic score, with many purists and reviewers balking at the modern sensibilities and controversial changes made to the source material. Audiences were much more enamored with the chemistry between Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, granting the film a 74% rating. Despite being shaded by critics, the general public enjoyed the bold, stylized take on the toxic romance, prioritizing entertainment value over fidelity to the book. (Leah Collins)
It’s an incredible song, and one where I cannot sing Bush’s high notes without stubbing my toe or something. The music video of her dancing makes me wish that MTV was still a thing and I could just spend my time watching fun music videos on cable television instead of battling stupid ads on YouTube. I wish Silicon Valley could invent a time machine. (Andrea Gutierrez) Against EMI’s wishes, she insisted on releasing the haunting ballad “Wuthering Heights”—inspired by Emily Brontë’s 1847 novel of the same name—as the album’s first single. It was an early example of Bush seizing full control of her own career, and it certainly paid off. “Wuthering Heights” topped the UK and Australian charts, making her the first British woman to reach number one with an entirely self-written track. (Erinn Callahan)
Bush has continued to earn recognition for her extraordinary career, including induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2023. Yet nearly five decades after that remarkable debut, it’s still astonishing to remember that one of rock music’s most important milestones was achieved by a 19-year-old who simply believed the world needed to hear “Wuthering Heights” first. (Andrea Reiher) Mamamia recommends The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, vol. 1 by Beth Brower: If Austen and Brontë had a baby with Bridget Jones, she'd be Emma M. Lion. Super charming, super moreish, super short — 150~ pages each - this series has garnered a mega following for a reason. (Charley Vokoun) El Debate (Spain) recommends some films for the weekend:
Emily (Filmin) La más enigmática de las hermanas Brontë sigue siendo un misterio a día de hoy. ¿Cómo pudo aquella mujer soltera tan tímida y solitaria, recluida en una pequeña casa parroquial en los páramos de Yorkshire, crear una de las novelas más intensas y apasionadas de la literatura inglesa? Con la intención de responder a esa pregunta nace Emily. Es en esa lucha contra los límites de su vida familiar cuando comienza a anhelar esa libertad artística tan personal. Así comienza un viaje para canalizar su potencial creativo en una de las mejores novelas de todos los tiempos: Cumbres borrascosas. (Cristina Blanco Vázquez) (Translation)´
SoloLibri (Italy) mentions the Brontës in an intro to a review of Muriel Spark's The Girls of Slender Means: Dunque la Austen disse il vero, mentre per le sorelle Brontë bisognò aspettare al trono la regina Vittoria, moralista e bacchettona; ci voleva forse una regina così per l’ordito narrativo di Cime Tempestose, capolavoro intraducibile al cinema - ne saranno usciti, di film, venticinque e più. (Vincenzo Mazzaccaro) (Translation) On this episode, Mia and Sam sit down with art historian and writer Eliza Goodpasture! Eliza has written the introduction to a new edition of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, illustrated by British modern artist Edna Clarke Hall. We take a look at the women studying at the Slade School of Fine Art in the 1890s and how Edna Clarke Hall's marriage influenced her obsession with Cathy and Heathcliff...
Still more Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever chronicles: Loughborough University... The New Indian Express's Verses for a Friend include Emily Brontë's Love and Friendship. Country Life has a Kate Bush quiz containing some Wuthering-ish questions. Opening today, July 31, in Champaign, IL:
The Stars of Tomorrow program of the Twin City Theatre Company presemts Written by Don Zouidis Directed by Emily Rittter July 31st-August 9th 7 p.m. on Fridays and at 2 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Parkland College Second Stage Theatre
This darkly funny and imaginative play reimagines the young Emily Brontë as a misunderstood teen with a flair for the supernatural. A celebration of creativity, rebellion, and the power of storytelling.
Further information on WCIA.
Bookriot recommends some recent narrative nonfiction:
This Dark Night: Emily Bronte, A Life by Deborah Lutz The Brontës are having a bit of a moment again with adaptations and a semi-biographical film about Emily herself, and this book does its best to explain the elusive genius. Since the Brontës were not recognized as genius writers until much later, the historical record of their lives is incomplete. However, Lutz uses the poems, journals, and ephemera Emily left behind in her 30 years to piece together her internal life. Emily wrote about grief and commented regularly on nature and the rising industrialism in faraway cities. (Julia Rittenberg)
But it is William Wyler’s 1939 black and white swoonfest that is still ranked top on film review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes. The clothes are pure old Hollywood glamour, the moody cinematography is sublime, Merle Oberon’s Cathy is ethereal, Laurence Olivier’s Heathcliff is brooding. Does it matter that they ditched the second half of the story, ending with the lovers’ ghosts walking hand in hand through the snow? Not really. This is Wuthering Heights reimagined as a Thirties weepie and on its own terms, it is genius. (Ruth Leon) Broadway World announces the Autumn UK Tour of a new production of Sally Cookson's Jane Eyre adaptation: Anna Yates, Khadija Raza and Joseff Harris join the production ahead of its run across England. The creative team has been set for the new production of Jane Eyre, touring across England in autumn 2026. The production will be directed by Lily Dyble as a result of her winning the 2025 Royal Theatrical Support Trust Sir Peter Hall Director Award. It is based on Sally Cookson, Mike Akers and the original company's acclaimed adaptation of Charlotte Brontë's enduring novel. (Stephi Wild) Tour Dates Mercury Theatre, Colchester - 26 September – 10 October 2026 Rose Theatre, Kingston - 13 – 24 October 2026 Northern Stage, Newcastle - 3 – 7 November 2026 Storyhouse, Chester - 10 – 21 November 2026
The Book Tribune (Pakistan) lists book-to-screen adaptations to revisit after The Odyssey 2026. Wuthering Heights 2026 is one of them. Russh makes an interesting point after watching the film: Earlier this year, Emerald Fennell's Wuthering Heights was an adaptation that gathered some controversy. Some loved it, while others argued it betrayed Emily Brontë's novel completely. Tail between my legs, I was one of the sceptics. While I admired Fennell's creativity, I'd struggled with how dramatically she had strayed from the original story. However, Fennell never pretended it was a true adaptation. She described the film as the version of Wuthering Heights she remembered reading as a 14 year old, a personal interpretation that filled the spaces between Brontë's words with her own imagination. The reviews, however, were a bit brutal. (...) While I did agree with some of these points, it started to unsettle my compliance. Why was I demanding literary fidelity from Wuthering Heights while happily embracing the artistic licence in Tony? The more I thought about it, the more I realised I'd been judging these films by different standards. It's easy to dismiss an adaptation by arguing it isn't faithful to its original text. Accuracy often become the ammunition we reach for once we've already decided we don't like something and want to fire it with criticism. In Wuthering Heights, fidelity suddenly became incredibly important to me. But was it just because I wasn't enjoying the film? (...) I think we've forgotten that truth and fact aren't always the same thing. A film can invent conversations that never happened and still capture something authentic. It can shorten timelines, combine characters to become one or imagine moments between what was recorded as events while remaining truthful to the spirit of the person. (...) If a film can evoke the essence we all knew and loved of (...) Wuthering Heights through a highly stylised memory of reading a book at age 14 – then it has done its job. (Samantha Corry)
El Most Wuthering Heights Day (El día de Cumbres borrascosas) es un evento alegre. Se baila cada julio en decenas de ciudades del mundo, con miles de participantes que emulan la coreografía del videoclip de Kate Bush: brazos que se abren de golpe, giros bruscos, manos que empujan el aire… Su exagerada teatralidad parece contar la historia con el cuerpo y evocar el espíritu de Cathy pidiendo entrar por la ventana. No es un baile bonito ni técnico. Es más bien raro, dramático y un poco fantasmal. Pero da igual bailarlo bien o mal porque nadie ha venido a lucirse, sino a formar parte de la coreografía. (...) La peregrinación a Haworth no es nueva. En noviembre de 1904, una jovencísima Virginia Woolf subió hasta aquí y escribió sobre la visita en un semanario londinense. En el libro de visitas de la casa de las Brontë han firmado, entre otras muchas mujeres, Sylvia Plath y Patti Smith. Durante más de un siglo, hasta aquí han venido sobre todo mujeres que buscaban a otras mujeres. Woolf se preguntaba si esta u otras romerías a las casas de los escritores no serían puro sentimentalismo, y se respondía que solo se justifican cuando el lugar añade algo a los libros. Con las Brontë, concluía, el viaje merecía la pena: Haworth y las hermanas, escribió, encajan “como un caracol en su concha”. Es imposible separar la obra del sitio que la produjo. (...) Siglo y medio después, una de sus colinas está llena de mujeres que no ocultan nada. Se visten todas iguales, de rojo, y en ese uniforme no se borran: se reconocen. Al contemplar la danza, es inevitable pensar en la ironía que produce una obra hecha en el aislamiento más extremo, y cómo sigue generando un mundo propio un siglo y medio después. (...) No es una postal perfecta: es una romería real, con su desorden, su frío, su espera. Y eso es exactamente lo que la salva del kitsch. La gente ha subido a un campo embarrado un día nublado a hacer algo aparentemente ridículo, y lo hace con una entrega absoluta. Ahí está la dignidad del gesto, en que nadie está posando para nadie. Emily, que escribió y describió el páramo como una fuerza anterior a toda ley, sigue convocando a los vivos. Por eso no envejece. (Máriam Martínez-Bascuñán) (Translation)
Other events: Otago Daily News (New Zealand), El Confidencial (Spain), National Post (Canada)... Despite its spelling, locals pronounce it“GYZ-lee” (rhyming with “guys” and “lee”), and getting it right is often seen as a badge of honour among Yorkshire newcomers. (...) One of Guiseley’s best-known landmarks is St Oswald’s Church, parts of which are centuries old. The church holds special literary significance as the wedding venue of Patrick Brontë and Maria Branwell, parents of the famous Brontë sisters. Fans of Yorkshire's literary heritage often visit the church as part of their travels.
[Dr. Leonard] Sax advocates for “gender-aware” instructional strategies in K-12 schools.
“The best way to get boys excited about Emily Dickinson is very different from the best way to get girls excited about Emily Dickinson,” he said. “And the best way to get girls excited about computer coding is very different from the best way to get boys excited about computer coding.
“But you put in place gender-aware instructional strategies.”
When educators ignore gender differences, Sax added, they ultimately reinforce gender stereotypes.
“If you understand gender differences, you can break down gender stereotypes. And that same boy who loves football and video games will love ‘Jane Eyre’ and will love Emily Dickinson.” (Jason Swensen)
Two hundred and eight years since Emily was born in Thornton, and she's had the kind of year we don't usually get: a box-office hit and an auction record, back to back, both loud enough that you didn't need to be a Brontëite to notice.
On screen. Emerald Fennell's adaptation opened in February to the kind of divided reception this novel seems to specialise in provoking — a middling critical consensus, a lukewarm CinemaScore, and audiences who showed up anyway. It topped the box office on debut and kept climbing, eventually closing out around $242 million worldwide, making it one of the biggest releases of the year regardless of what anyone thought of Margot Robbie's Cathy or the liberties taken with the source. Whatever your verdict on the film itself, it did the one thing adaptations rarely manage: it got people who hadn't opened the book since school arguing about it again.
Under the hammer. Then, on 30 June, Christie's put the record to rest on a question that's lingered for a while: what is a first edition of Wuthering Heights actually worth now? The three-volume 1847 set — bound with Anne's Agnes Grey, still in its original publisher's cloth, one of only a handful of surviving copies in that condition since a copy last came to auction in 1908 — sold for £1,206,500. That's not just a record for Emily; Christie's confirmed it as the highest price ever paid at auction for a printed book by a woman, and the most expensive piece of 19th-century literature to change hands, full stop. The Ellis Bell pseudonym on the title page suddenly reads very differently against that number.
Oh, the irony. A book published under a man's name because nobody in 1847 believed a woman could write something this unruly just set the price record for any book by a woman, ever. Emily never saw a second printing, never mind a seven-figure hammer price. She'd probably have found both the film and the auction faintly ridiculous — but she'd have taken the money.
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