According to Comic Book, Wuthering Heights: House of the Damned ' Is Already Doing 3 Things Better' than Emerald Fennell's Wuthering Heights: With a recently released trailer for Wuthering Heights: House of the Damned, director Becca Hirani (the Elevator) posits a different spin on the story, one that is leaning into gothic horror in three key ways, setting it on track to embrace the spirit of the novel, rather than distort it. 3. Cathy’s Ghost Has Agency in This Version of Wuthering Heights When Mr. Lockwood, a new tenant of Thrushcross Grange, arrives at Wuthering Heights, he soon finds etchings under a windowsill. The etchings spell out the name Catherine Earnshaw and then Catherine Linton. While investigating, Mr. Lockwood comes face to face with a ghost who breaks through the window pane, slamming him against the wall by gripping his throat. The ghost of Cathy is absent from Fennell’s adaptation along with many that came before it, but is present in the trailer for Wuthering Heights: House of the Damned. The element is distinctively horror, especially in the way Hirani uses it. Here, the ghost is not passive or something belonging in the house, but rather a spirit acting against Mr. Lockwood. It amps up the danger Mr. Lockwood is in, a danger that was previously relegated to the characters still alive. Audiences know to be wary of Mr. Heathcliff, but it is an adaptational twist to give Cathy back this capacity for violence from beyond the grave. In the novel, Brontë leaves Cathy’s ghost ambiguous. The presence is felt through knocking and a repeated cry heard through the window, along with rumors spread about town, but it isn’t something that’s able to harm Mr. Lockwood in the way Hirani’s does. 2. Violence that Can’t be Romanticized in House of the Damned Hirani’s Wuthering Heights from the get go is off to a better start with the inclusion of Cathy’s brother Hindley. Fennell’s adaptation erased the character completely, choosing to give his abusive traits to Cathy’s father. But with Hindley in the narrative — as long as he isn’t suddenly the perfect brother — the violence in the film is no longer solely romantic. The visual symbols of violence in Hirani’s Wuthering Heights: House of the Damned are not a noose or handcuffs trying to erotic but rather smashed glass, a sharp knife, and bloody eyes. The romance of Cathy and Heathcliff is present but it is framed completely differently. No longer the greatest love story ever told, it is now “the most harrowing romance of all time”. The film’s synopsis paints Heathcliff as obsessed in the wake of Cathy’s death and from her influence “turning murderous on all who dwell there.” It’s a shift from Heathcliff’s revenge plot in the book, inflicted there on the resulting children of the Earnshaw and Linton families. Instead, it is more immediate. Heathcliff, with the aid of Cathy’s ghost, is likely going after those who currently dwell in the house rather than a future generation. 1. Wuthering Heights as Haunted House Narrative At its core, Wuthering Heights is a story of a haunted house, and Hirani’s visuals reflect this. The house looks unassuming from the outside, but inside, every room is cast in shadow. The characters have to resort to candlelight and even then, much is still obscured from view. The frame narrator Mr. Lockwood isn’t supposed to be there. He’s renting out the sister property Thrushcross Grange, depicted as lighter and a pleasant place to live, but his own niceties have brought him to Wuthering Heights, wanting to know his neighbors. It is Mr. Lockwood then who should be most primed to escape. Yet, as the trailer shows him painfully looking in the mirror as his reflection is replaced with Cathy’s, not even him can do that. He is stuck at Wuthering Heights, much like the Earnshaws. With the emphasis placed on Cathy’s ghost, it raises the question if Wuthering Heights will be depicted as haunted prior to Cathy’s death. As mentioned before, the exterior shot of the estate looks rather normal. There are no overgrown branches or broken windows, but rather it is the inside and Cathy’s influence there that places it as haunted. The violence may have existed before her death but the physical markers don’t appear until after it. (Archie Wagner)
Meanwhile, Uno (Argentina) recommends watching Andrea Arnold's take on the novel.
Billboard shares the 5 best moments from Charli XCX's Music, Fashion, Film Tour in New York. “Dying for You,” from Charli’s Wuthering Heights soundtrack released earlier this year, was a much-appreciated “Oh right, this song” selection from a set that already feels historically underappreciated. (Andrew Unterberger)
The new novel by André Aciman has been published first in Spanish. It's a compilation of four novellas, and one of them, Habitación frente al mar, begins with a solid Wuthering Heights reference:
André Aciman Translated by Julia Osuna Aguilar Ediciones Alfaguara September 2026
En estas cuatro novelas cortas, André Aciman explora las incertidumbres, los deseos y los equívocos del amor. En «El caballero del Perú», unos amigos conocen en un hotel de la costa amalfitana a un misterioso huésped cuya presencia lo cambia todo. «Habitación frente al mar» narra el diálogo entre dos desconocidos que se encuentran en un juicio y comienzan una relación ambigua. «Mariana» reimagina un célebre relato del siglo XVII sobre la pasión entre una monja y un aristócrata inconstante. En «Polizones», un correo inesperado revela a Julian la existencia de una vida y un amor secretos que ignoraba por completo. Sutil, melancólico y profundamente conmovedor, Idilio ilumina ese espacio incierto donde conviven el amor, el recuerdo y la esperanza. Una celebración de los encuentros que nos transforman y de las emociones que persisten mucho después de que todo haya terminado.
Un abogado, una psicóloga y una larga espera para saber si son elegidos para formar parte de un jurado popular. No se conocen de nada, pero un ejemplar de 'Cumbres borrascosas' les sirve para romper el hielo. Comienzan a hablar para matar el tiempo y descubren todo aquello que tienen en común. En ambos casos, una pareja con la que llevan años y cuya relación muestra claros síntomas de erosión. Así que, encontrarse con alguien con quien estás cómodo y que te invita a hablar y a escuchar es quizá lo mejor que te puede suceder cuando no te queda otro remedio que esperar durante largas horas (días) hasta que otros tomen la decisión. 'Habitación frente al mar' es uno de los cuatro relatos que forman parte de 'Idilio', volumen en el que André Aciman describe otras tantas historias de amores imposibles y relaciones que se afianzan. (Victor Vela) (Translation)
Le Monde reviews (sadly, behind a paywall) Lilia Hassaine's JE. Comme l’écrit Lilia Hassaine, en ouverture de JE, son quatrième roman, où elle s’attache à remettre en lumière un personnage mystérieux évoqué par Charlotte Brontë dans Jane Eyre (1847), le procédé fait du récit d’une « histoire d’hier » une « histoire d’aujourd’hui ». En effet, rappelle-t-elle, Jean Rhys (1890-1979) s’était emparée d’Antoinette, la première femme, enfermée et tenue pour folle, de Rochester. Dans La Prisonnière des Sargasses (Denoël, 1971), l’écrivaine anglaise l’avait, comme Charlotte Brontë elle-même, « regardée depuis son époque » et s’était « racontée à travers [elle] ». (Florence Bouchy) (Translation) UA News reports that Ghanaian poet Emma Ofosua will take part in the Brontë Women’s Writing Festival later this month. On September 26, Ofosua will join the Literary Sisters from Accra to Bradford panel discussion as part of the Brontë Women’s Writing Festival. Writers Tabitha Bast, Barsa Rea and Priscilla Adepa will also take part in the discussion. The panel is scheduled at the Old School Room on Church Street in Haworth. Liam O'Dell didn't enjoy Jane Eyre the Musical in London and gives it 2 stars out of 5. AnneBrontë.org features 'The Earliest Bronte Letter' (23rd September 1829--from Charlotte to Patrick).
JoCa is a Mexican-Spanish artist who has released a series of paintings with the name, Echoes of Haworth. According to artist_container:
JoCa — a Mexican-Spanish artist born in 1984, whose practice explores identity, technology, and contemporary digital environments — has created Echoes of Haworth, a collection of 22 works spanning oil paintings and resin cameo sculptures, built around the figures of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë. Curated by Rafael Pérez y Pérez, with management by Paulina Villarreal, the series is the most extensive project JoCa has undertaken to date: ten months of production, 25 original pieces of which only 22 are on display, and a monumental sculpture that will remain unseen until 2027. It all began with an intimate gesture — rereading Wuthering Heights at 40, having first read it as a teenager — which led to research into Charlotte and Anne, and eventually became an exploration of gender, anonymity, and identity: themes already present in his earlier work, alongside classical portraiture pushed into abstract, hyperreal territory tied to mental health.
The works will be exhibited from September 17 to September 19 at the Galería Errante in México D.F.: .png) En Echoes of Haworth, JoCa establece un diálogo entre la tradición clásica del retrato y una visión contemporánea de la pintura. Sus figuras parten de lo reconocible para ser sometidas a un proceso de transformación: pinceladas vigorosas, capas superpuestas, desplazamientos y alteraciones de la imagen fracturan los rostros y generan una sensación simultánea de inquietud, movimiento y vulnerabilidad. La serie encuentra su punto de partida en Charlotte, Emily y Anne Brontë, tres figuras fundamentales de la literatura del siglo XIX, y en el universo que construyeron desde Haworth, en West Yorkshire. En medio de los solitarios páramos ingleses y de las restricciones sociales de la época victoriana surgieron obras que trascenderían su tiempo, entre ellas Jane Eyre, Cumbres borrascosas y Agnes Grey. Más allá de una representación literal de las escritoras o de sus personajes, JoCa recupera su historia para reflexionar sobre la construcción de la identidad y las estructuras que históricamente han determinado quién puede ser visto y quién puede ser escuchado. Charlotte, Emily y Anne Brontë publicaron inicialmente bajo los seudónimos masculinos Currer, Ellis y Acton Bell, respectivamente. Este gesto, nacido de las convenciones de su época, se convierte dentro de la exposición en un punto de partida para abordar la tensión entre identidad y representación, entre aquello que una persona es y aquello que el entorno le permite mostrar. En las obras, esta tensión se manifiesta mediante la fragmentación de los rostros. La imagen permanece reconocible, pero sus rasgos aparecen desplazados y parcialmente clausurados. JoCa no busca únicamente reproducir una apariencia física, sino capturar la sensación de una presencia: aquello que permanece detrás del rostro aun cuando la imagen comienza a desvanecerse. Los marcos dorados forman parte fundamental de esta construcción simbólica. Más que delimitar las pinturas, actúan como una especie de jaula: una representación de las rígidas estructuras sociales de la Inglaterra del siglo XIX. Frente a ellas, las distorsiones y alteraciones de las figuras sugieren un espíritu que se resiste a permanecer contenido dentro del lienzo, del género o de su propia época. La referencia a las Brontë se extiende también a la atmósfera emocional de la serie. Los ecos de Cumbres borrascosas, Jane Eyre y Agnes Grey aparecen en una pintura atravesada por conceptos como aislamiento, pérdida, opresión, deseo, crecimiento y resistencia. JoCa traslada esa intensidad literaria al lenguaje pictórico y convierte el retrato en un territorio donde conviven belleza y turbulencia.
La exposición invita así a reconsiderar los límites de la representación naturalista. Cada obra oscila entre presencia y desaparición, entre reconocimiento y distorsión, proponiendo una reflexión sobre la fragilidad de la memoria y sobre nuestra manera de percibir a los demás. En Echoes of Haworth, el retrato deja de funcionar únicamente como registro de una apariencia para convertirse en una exploración de la identidad. La figura es reconocible y, simultáneamente, parece escapar de sí misma. De esta manera, JoCa construye un homenaje contemporáneo al espíritu indomable de las hermanas Brontë y a la capacidad de una voz para trascender las estructuras que buscan contenerla. (Rafael Pérez y Pérez)
Via El Economista.
Crisis Magazine thinks that Jane Eyre is a novel Catholics should read. It's like an Elizabeth Rigby revival in the 21st century: These questions came to mind when I received an email from a young man who argued that Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë, was an immoral book which Catholics should not read. His argument was rooted in the immoral actions of Edward Rochester, a brooding and Byronic presence in the novel with whom Jane Eyre becomes involved romantically. I’ll let my correspondent state his case: We see Edward Rochester breaking his wedding vows, poisoning the marital union by his rejection of giving up his life for his wife. He would have been content to continue his infatuation with Jane Eyre had she not discovered he was married; even after she knows this, Edward pleads with her to stay and be with him even though he cannot legally marry her…Edward clearly disregards his marital vow and is indifferent to the moral demand of the value-response his wife merits; he completely disregards the entire sphere of values to pursue his desire for union with Jane. In doing this, he poisons his affection towards Jane. This is all very true, but the presence of a wicked and prideful character does not make the novel wicked and prideful. On the contrary, the novel exposes Rochester’s prideful wickedness, his neglect of his insane wife, and his deceitfulness. It also shows how his moral relativism has harmful and destructive consequences. Charlotte Brontë’s classic novel is a great example of what might be called the art of darkness, which paradoxically sheds light on the presence of goodness, truth, and beauty. What, then, is the art of darkness and how does it show us goodness and truth? (...) Having shown the difference between the art of darkness and the dark arts, there is no denying that Jane Eyre is very much the former. It is a Christian novel written by a devoutly Christian novelist. (Joseph Pearce)
The Star lists some of the Derbyshire places that will open to visitors on Heritage Open Days: Literary fans should visit North Lees Hall in Hathersage, believed to be the inspiration for Thornfield Hall, the home of Mr Rochester, in Charlotte Brontë’s novel Jane Eyre. The 16th century hall will be open to the public on September 20, from 11am until 3pm. (Gary Bolton) A bit late, but Belfast Live announces their own Most Wuthering Heights Day: Next Friday, September 18 at 7pm, Belfast will host its first mass participatory dance inspired by Kate Bush's iconic Wuthering Heights, as Kitsch Sisters bring Cathy's Call to Culture Night in Belfast. (Lauren Harte) BookClub's AI thinks that Jane Eyre will turn you into a lifelong reader. The same AI thinks that Jasper Fforde's The Eyre Affair is good for a rainy day. Whatever.
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