Haworth and the Bronte Parsonage

The Moors above Haworth

Happy June! I hope you have been enjoying this beautiful month. I've been sorting through photos and souvenirs from my trip to England in May and have finally settled down to write a blog post about Haworth. Visiting Haworth where the Bronte Parsonage Museum is located has been a dream of mine for years. I have been reading the novels by the Bronte sisters since I was in my twenties and their lives became as interesting to me as their books. I wanted to see where they lived and wrote. There was such a romantic and tragic sensibility to it all: the parsonage with its adjoining graveyard where they lived, the wild and beautiful moors where they walked each day, and their creative and talented lives cut so tragically short. Finally my husband and I traveled up to Yorkshire in May and it was everything I'd hoped for and more. I learned so much while we were there.

The Parsonage

Walking through these doors was a moving experience. This is the home of Charlotte, Emily and Anne Bronte, authors of some of the most beloved books in the English language. In 1820 their father Patrick Bronte was appointed Curate of Haworth Church and came to live here with his wife Maria and six children. Within eighteen months his wife died and her sister Elizabeth moved into the Parsonage to help with the running of the household. In 1825 the two eldest children Maria and Elizabeth also died after contracting tuberculosis while away at school. 

The Dining Room

This room is very special. It is where Charlotte, Emily and Anne did most of their writing. Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights and Agnes Grey were written here. The sisters would walk around the table every evening until about eleven o'clock, reading and discussing their writing plans and projects. After the deaths of Emily and Anne, Charlotte continued the nightly ritual and walked in solitude, unable to sleep before doing so.

Mr. Bronte's Study

Patrick Bronte carried out most of his parish business from this room. The magnifying glass on his desk is a reminder of his failing eyesight that happened in his later years. It was in this room that Charlotte first told him that she was a published author. When he traveled to Manchester for an eye operation, Charlotte went with him. It was when she was nursing him in Manchester that she began to write Jane Eyre. 

The Kitchen

I loved the kitchen scenes in "To Walk Invisible," the recent television dramatization of the lives of the Brontes, especially those with Emily taking out her frustration on the bread dough! As children the Brontes would gather around the kitchen fire to listen to their servant Tabby's dark tales of the Yorkshire moors. The sisters all helped out with the household chores as they got older and when their Aunt Branwell passed away in 1842, Emily took over as housekeeper, helping in the kitchen and baking bread.

Patrick Bronte's Bedroom

When Branwell's alcohol and opium addiction got to the point of serious damage to himself, Patrick insisted that Branwell share this room so he could watch over his son. It was in this room that Branwell died at age 31.

The Haworth Church where Patrick Bronte preached every Sunday

Interior of the church

Charlotte and Emily are buried in a family vault to the right of the altar marked by this brass plaque

The moors just outside of the Parsonage

Another view

Haworth's steep Main Street with a view of the moors

Penistone Hill Country Park, close to Haworth 

The stone walls that are woven throughout the moors were assembled by hand with no mortar and have lasted for centuries.

If you are a fan of the Bronte sisters I highly recommend a visit to Haworth and the Bronte Parsonage. It will give you such a strong sense of the influences on their writing. Although there's never a bad time to visit as there is always such great programming at the Parsonage, now is an especially good time as they are currently celebrating the bicentenary year of Branwell Bronte, the troubled brother of Charlotte, Emily and Anne. There is a very interesting exhibition about him curated by the poet Simon Armitage called "Mansions in the Sky." It's an exploration of Branwell's personality through his writings, drawings, and possessions. I also enjoyed seeing the recreation of Branwell's art studio -- he was an aspiring artist -- within the Parsonage. Another fabulous exhibition that we saw was the costumes from the television production "To Walk Invisible." They are beautiful and looked very authentic displayed in the historic setting of the Parsonage.

During the next three years the Bronte Parsonage will also be celebrating the bicentenary anniversaries of both Emily and Anne. This should be a great time to visit. The town of Haworth has remained much the same as it looked when the family lived there and it is easy to imagine the sisters walking through town to shop or out roaming the moors. I can't think of a more evocative landscape for understanding a writer than this remote little village in Yorkshire and its beautiful surrounding countryside.

"To Walk Invisible"

A scene from the television film "To Walk Invisible"
Photo via here

If you are a fan of the Bronte sisters (Charlotte, Emily and Anne), the authors of some of the most iconic novels in the English language, you will be very happy to hear that a dramatization of their lives will soon be airing on PBS.  Sally Wainwright, the creator of television shows such as "Happy Valley" and "Last Tango in Halifax," has just completed a new film for the BBC, "To Walk Invisible." It has been shot in Haworth, Yorkshire, where the Bronte family lived, and from the photos I have seen it looks breathtaking. I have always been enthralled by the story of the Brontes -- their humble beginnings, remote setting in Yorkshire, tragically short lives, and the literary masterpieces they produced  --  a personal story as riveting as any of their books. Now it will be told in what looks to be a brilliant television production. The lucky viewers in Britain will get to see it this month. We will have to wait until March when it will be broadcast on Masterpiece Theatre.

Here are a few things I have learned about this upcoming television production:

Sally Wainwright was approached by the BBC to do something for the 200th anniversary of Charlotte's birth in 2016. Rather than do a series about their entire lives, she decided to focus on the four surviving Bronte siblings (Charlotte, Emily, Anne and Branwell) as mature adults. Siblings Maria and Elizabeth had died of tuberculosis as young children.

The film will be 90 minutes long and covers the years 1845-1848. These are the last years of their brother Branwell's life. He was a troubled young man and during this time he sank into alcoholism, drug addiction and disturbing behavior. He died from alcoholism in 1848 at age 31.

The film depicts the domestic situation of these three women living with a disturbed brother and how they dealt with his problems. This is also the time that they tried to publish their books. It was an uncomfortable situation at home and yet they continued to write and create their literary masterpieces. I can't wait to see this!

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Another wonderful event in honor of the 200th celebration of Charlotte Bronte's birth is the Charlotte Bronte exhibition in New York at the Morgan Library which I just visited for the second time. It's up until January and if you are in New York be sure to see this.

The original manuscript of "Jane Eyre" on loan to the Morgan Library
Photo via here

Here are the highlights:

A portion of the original 1847 manuscript of "Jane Eyre" ( photo above) on loan from the British Library and shown in the U.S. for the first time. It is open to the page on which Jane tells Mr. Rochester: "I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will; which I now exert to leave you." Seeing this treasure was very special and I have to admit to getting a little emotional.

The only surviving portrait of Charlotte, Emily and Anne Bronte painted by their brother Branwell which has never been seen in this country before. It resides in the National Portrait Gallery in London.

A blue floral dress worn by Charlotte in the 1950's 

Drawings and watercolors by Charlotte that demonstrate her artistic talent

The tiny books written by the Bronte children in a nearly microscopic handwriting. Magnifying glasses are nearby to help viewers read them. The children wrote fantasy fiction set in Glass Town, Angria and Gondall, imaginary lands populated by aristocrats, poets and swashbuckling heroes. 

I walked out of this exhibition touched by the poignancy of Charlotte Bronte's short life. She died three weeks before her 39th birthday while pregnant with her first child. Just nine months earlier she had married the curate at Haworth, Arthur Bell Nicholls.  She had watched all of her siblings die, including Emily at age 30 and Anne at age 29. It is awe-inspiring to think of all that she wrote and the celebrity she achieved considering her personal life. After her death her father Patrick Bronte and her husband Arthur Nicholls worked hard to protect her literary legacy. Fans of her books began making the pilgrimage to the Bronte Parsonage in Haworth, England just a few years after her death. The flow of visitors continues to this day. Nothing has changed except the sheer volume of admirers and each year the streets of Haworth teem with devoted fans of the Brontes. I am planning a trip for 2017. I am so happy that I got a chance to see this exhibition twice!    

 I would love to know:
Do you have a favorite Bronte sister? What is your favorite Bronte book?
Have you visited the Bronte Parsonage in Haworth?

Embracing the Season

Right now many of us are craving coziness and comfort. We want to make our homes warm and welcoming and spend time with our loved ones. November goes by so fast, culminating in everyone's favorite holiday -- Thanksgiving. In the spirit of creating some "comfort and joy," here are twelve things I am most looking forward to in November. It's all about slowing down and savoring the season.

1. The Days Getting Shorter

Believe it or not, I look forward to the days getting shorter. Being from the East coast originally, where the weather was cold and nothing felt better than getting home and warming up in front of the fireplace, I always loved the shorter days of winter. We may not have that cold weather right now, especially where I live, but as the nights arrive earlier it feels cozy to light the candles, set the table with flowers, and have friends over for a weeknight dinner. 

2. Some Really Good Television --

There is so much good television right now. I have been watching "The Crown" which is airing on Netflix. This beautiful new series, created by Peter Morgan, is about the life of Elizabeth II and begins with her accession to the throne at age 25 in 1952. Peter Morgan wrote the film "The Queen" and the play "The Audience;" "The Crown" feels like the natural next step in his work. I have watched the first five episodes and am riveted. I loved the actress Claire Foy as Anne Bolyn in "Wolf Hall" and she is excellent as Queen Elizabeth. And what a sumptuous production. It is filled with so much history, for example the Great Smog of 1952 in London. I didn't know about this. Have you started watching this series? The episode on the coronation is brilliant. Notice what a big role the Duke of Windsor has in this story. Which makes a lot of sense, since Elizabeth wouldn't have become Queen if he hadn't abdicated the throne. He changed history forever. I would love to know what you think!

3. Reading a Classic Novel --

It's the time of year to hunker down with some good classic novels and Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf is the one I am reading right now. "Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers..." And so begins Virginia Woolf's modernist masterpiece which consists of one day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway. As she goes about her day getting ready for her party, we are in her head as she moves back and forth in time -- recalling her youth, interacting with the people around her and evaluating her life. Her loves, regrets, fears, joys, and general observations of life are all woven throughout this stream-of-consciousness novel. Her character is revealed layer by layer. At the same time we are in the head of another character, a young man named Septimus Smith who is suffering from shell shock after World War I. Through this character Virginia Woolf explored the topic of mental illness, a subject with which she was very familiar. Other characters are vividly portrayed: Peter Walsh, Sally Seton, and Richard Dalloway -- all have played an important role in Clarissa's life. And from their perspective, we learn of the impact she has had on them. Woolf was doing something new with Mrs. Dalloway -- writing a novel that reflects the way people really think. She also wrote some of the most beautiful prose you will ever read.   

4. Travel --

Fall is such a great time to travel, especially to the East Coast to see the glorious fall foliage. We were in New York in October where we saw the amazing exhibition Charlotte Bronte: An Independent Will at the Morgan Library and Museum. If you get to NY before the New Year, be sure to visit the Morgan. The Bronte exhibition will be up until January. This is the kind of exhibition savor. In fact, I will probably go again when I am in NYC in December. If you go, be sure to check out the original manuscript of The Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens which is always on display at The Morgan at this time of the year. The Morgan is a treasure trove and a place to celebrate the written word. It is one of my favorite places to visit and I go every time I am in New York.

5. Pumpkins and Mums

This is the classic combination for fall

6. The color orange

It really makes things pop! Here is our Thanksgiving table, 2015

And the garden, 2010

7. Plaid

Plaid feels tailored and crisp, just like fall.

These candles from Anta in Scotland would be perfect for the holiday season!

8. Cooking 

This weekend I had my family over for dinner and made Ina Garten's "Roasted Italian Meatballs" and "Kale Salad with Pancetta and Pecorino" from her new cookbook Cooking for Jeffrey. They were delicious!


9. Hot Mulled Cider

Tis' the season for hot mulled cider. Go here for my favorite recipe.
Photo via here

10.  A Delivery from Heywood Hill

I can't wait to see what Heywood Hill sends me for November. Go here to read more.

11. Listening to podcasts 

Listening to podcasts is another way to slow down and savor the season. Miranda Mills from Miranda's Notebook has just launched her podcast series Tea and Tattle and the first one is about Hygge, the Scandinavian philosophy of togetherness and coziness. Just what we need right now. Go here to listen.

12. Thinking about Christmas

This is the month to order tickets for "The Nutcracker." Going to this ballet in December is a magical holiday tradition.

By the way, I hope you had a fun Halloween. We went trick-or-treating with our little granddaughter who was dressed up as Madeline, the character from the Madeline books by Ludwig Bemelmans.  She was adorable!

A Very Good Prologue

It's not too often that I think about the prologue to a book. In fact, sometimes when I am in a hurry to begin a book, I skip it. But I did take the time to read Claire Harman's brilliant prologue to her fabulous new biography of Charlotte Bronte and I am so glad I did. It was a reminder of the power of literature. It also set the stage and the mood for what has so far been a fascinating read. I am 100 pages into this biography and really enjoying it.

The prologue tells a fascinating story: in September of 1843 Charlotte Bronte, age 27, is alone at the Pensionnat Heger in Brussels, a girls' school where she is a teacher. Everyone has left for vacation but she cannot afford to go home. She is lonely and unhappy. It is not only her solitude that is making her feel this way. She has fallen in love with the husband of the headmistress of the school and it is obvious he doesn't return her love. When she was a student at the school, he paid her a lot of attention and singled her out as a shining star. But after she became a teacher, his behavior changed and he acted coldly towards her. She feels rejected and ignored by both the husband and wife.

On one of these days alone at the school she takes a long walk through the town and winds up at the city's great cathedral. Although she is not Catholic, she decides to go in and hear the service. Afterwards she enters the confessional and makes a confession to the priest. For the daughter of an Irish Protestant minister, this was very strange behavior. But she was desperate to talk to someone about her feelings. She later wrote to her sister Emily about her sense of relief in unburdening herself. Later, when she wrote her first novel The Professor, she would learn how to deal with her pain by turning it into art.

Two weeks after Charlotte's visit to the Cathedral, a young Queen Victoria was in Brussels. Charlotte went out to see the royal party procession and wrote to Emily about her excitement at seeing the young queen. Claire Harman ends this little story with the following line:

"Five years later, the insignificant little Englishwoman in the cheering crowd who had watched Victoria flash by would be keeping that queen and half the nation awake with the novel she had written."

That novel would be Jane Eyre.

Would this prologue make you want to read the book?
It definitely pulled me in!

A Year in Books

Reader, I did it. The most famous line from Jane Eyre has been on my mind ever since I visited the lovely old Heywood Hill shop in London a couple of weeks ago and bought Reader, I Married Him. Edited by Tracy Chevalier, the book is a collection of short stories by writers such as Esther Freud, Jane Gardam and Francine Prose, all inspired by "Jane Eyre." I haven't had a chance to read the stories yet, but did read the fascinating Forward by Tracy Chevalier which explains why this line is so celebrated. The book was commissioned for Charlotte Bronte's two hundredth birthday year which is 2016.

And what was it that I did? Well, I took the plunge and signed up for Heywood Hill's "Year of Books!" Ever since I read about this service many years ago I have been considering it. But I could never quite take the step...

First let me tell you about the service. The Heywood Hill customer pays a fee and the store chooses books after interviewing the recipient about their likes, dislikes, and idiosyncratic interests. The customer receives twelve volumes over the course of a year, beautifully wrapped and delivered monthly. If there is one thing Heywood Hill is known for, it is the ability to build a library for a person's home. Apparently they do this on a regular basis. The "Year in Books" is one way to tap into this knowledge and literary assistance on a much smaller scale.

Now, back to that momentous day in London...It was a beautiful afternoon and my husband and I were walking around Mayfair. I said that we should find Heywood Hill. This Mayfair book shop has a rich history with many famous associations. For example, John Le Carre set a scene there in "Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy." The novelist Nancy Mitford worked there during World War II. And it is currently owned by the 12th Duke of Devonshire, son of Nancy's sister, Deborah Mitford. Go here to learn more. As the stores's mystique was swirling in my head, I remembered that it was located on Curzon Street.

After a quick consultation with our map we found the street but were at the wrong end. I called Heywood Hill and a kind young man stayed on the phone with me until we got there. The store was right next to a construction project and was fairly well hidden from view. And Heywood Hill is a tiny shop. Finally we arrived and there were at least a dozen books I wanted to buy. Exercising some self-control, I purchased just one, "Reader, I Married Him." I soaked up the delicious atmosphere -- wooden bookshelves, crown moldings, a fireplace, elegant chandeliers, and stacks of books piled invitingly on tables.

Photo via here

But eventually I got up the nerve to ask a young woman on the staff about "The Year in Books." After hearing the details I considered two things:

1) I was about to have a very big birthday and I wanted the next year to be a year of meaningful books.

 2) I was actually at Heywood Hill and wouldn't it be nice to be interviewed in person instead of doing it by email.

So, it was decided. This would be my birthday present to myself -- a year of enlightenment, Heywood Hill style! We talked for 30 minutes about my book interests and the deed was done. I would receive one book a month for the entire year chosen by the staff based on the information I had given them. Each book would come with a special book mark designed by Cressida Bell. And wrapped in the charming Heywood Hill style. I received my first book around June 20 and couldn't be happier. Here's what it all looked like.

The package

The book

The author, who also wrote "Corelli's Mandolin" 

The bookmark

All in all, it was an unforgettable experience and will surely be the birthday gift that keeps on giving!
I'll let you know how I like this book. So far it is very good!

Charlotte Bronte Exhbition

"I am no bird and no net ensnares me. I am a free human being with an independent will."

-- Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre

Sometimes I think the National Portrait Gallery in London and I are on the same wave length. Every time I turn around they are mounting an exhibition of one my favorite writers. And because I'm planning a trip to London in the spring my radar is attuned to all that is happening there! I am very excited about a new exhibition that has just opened: "Celebrating Charlotte Bronte: 1816-1855." This year marks the 200th anniversary of her birth and the National Portrait Gallery is celebrating with an historic exhibition. I love the exhibitions put on by the National Gallery. Last year I saw one on Virginia Woolf and it was spectacular. This exhibition on Charlotte Bronte promises to be just as special. As an assistant curator at the National Portrait Gallery said, "We wanted to bring her to life because we are the museum of biographies, the museum of people, and she is one of the most important people in British Literature."

The exhibition will include the author's letters, journals, and drawings as well as a first edition of Jane Eyre. There will be 26 personal items from the Bronte Parsonage Museum, the Bronte sisters' home, on display alongside portraits from the National Portrait Gallery's collection. It is the museum's largest-ever loan, with some of the paintings, drawings, letters and journals previously unseen. Key items in the exhibition include the famous "little books" written by the Bronte sisters as children.

But the centerpiece of the exhibition will be the only surviving group portrait of Charlotte and her sisters painted by their brother Branwell. This haunting painting of the Bronte sisters, which includes Branwell's own ghostly shadow in the middle, resides in the National Portrait Gallery and is a piece I visit whenever I am there. I have been reading the Bronte novels and biographies since my early twenties. The story of their lives is almost as riveting as their novels. They all died young: Anne at 29, Emily at 30, Branwell at 31, and Charlotte at 38, just two months after getting married. And yet she and her sisters wrote classic novels that will live forever.

This portrait is fascinating because it is the only one to show the three sisters together. It seems that Branwell began sketching himself only to change his mind immediately. And it is a painting that was almost lost. It was found folded carelessly on top of a cupboard in 1906 by the second wife of Charlotte's husband Reverend A.B Nicholls. The museum acquired it in 1914.

For this exhibition experts have worked hard to show the most accurate image of what Branwell's picture would have looked like before he painted a solid pillar over his own face and took himself out of the family group. The curators have used the latest technology to show what the original image looked like in its most detail yet and tell the full story of how it came to the public eye. They will explore the intriguing story of its discovery folded on top of a cupboard, subsequent acquisition by the gallery and restoration.

Juliet Barker, former curator of the Bronte Parsonage Museum and Bronte biographer has written, "It is the iconic portrait of the Brontes and anything more we can learn about it is obviously of great interest."

I look forward to learning about the new research on this piece. It will be so interesting to see it in the context of the many personal treasures from the Bronte Parsonage Museum. I have always wanted to visit Haworth and hope to make it there one day. In the meantime, I have been reading a fascinating book on the Brontes: The Bronte Cabinet: Three Lives in Nine Objects by Deborah Lutz. The author examines the meaningful  objects in the Bronte family home and through them recreates the sisters' daily lives. It will be wonderful to see some of these objects at the National Portrait Gallery. They are sure to illuminate Charlotte Bronte's life. The curators wanted to illustrate her literary career and success but also her home life which is lesser known. I cannot wait to see this exhibition!

The Bronte sisters lived in Yorkshire

Go here to see a beautiful series of photos of this part of England

Since this is the two hundredth anniversary of Charlotte Bronte's birth, I am planning to reread Jane Eyre. Have you read it lately?

Beginnings

Do you ever wonder about the beginning of a writing career, such as that of the brilliant writer Charlotte Bronte? Most of us would assume that she had unimaginable hurdles because of the time and place in which she wrote. And that was true. She lived in the nineteenth-century when women were generally not published authors. She grew up in the remote depths of Yorkshire, England in a parsonage with her clergyman father Patrick Bronte and her three brilliant and troubled siblings Emily, Anne and Branwell. Their lives were filled with tragedy. All of them died young: Anne at 29, Emily at 30, and Branwell at 31. Charlotte herself died at 38, just two months after getting married. And yet she and her sisters wrote classic novels that will live forever.

This past weekend was cold and rainy here in Los Angeles and I spent some quiet time browsing through my bookshelves. I love doing this because either I get reacquainted with some old friends or discover some new ones. In this case the book I took down was one I had bought many years ago but had never given much attention to. There was a time when I bought everything I could find on the Bronte family and consequently have a pretty big collection of books about them. I especially loved Juliet Barker's biography from 1994 which was reissued a couple of years ago. (Go here to read more.) The book that caught my eye over the weekend was The World Within, The Brontes at Haworth by Juliet Gardiner, published in 1992. It is filled with letters, diaries and writings by the Brontes. Dipping into it, I was reminded of the challenging beginnings of one of the most brilliant and short writing careers, that of Charlotte Bronte. I came upon some fascinating quotes by Charlotte and others about the beginning of her career and the difficulty of getting published. Here are a few of the most revealing:

Charlotte wrote:

"We had very early cherished the dream of one day becoming authors. This dream, never relinquished even when distance divided and absorbing tasks occupied us, now suddenly acquired strength and consistence: it took the character of a resolve. We agreed to arrange a small selection of our poems, and, if possible, get them printed."

After much trouble finding a publisher, the sisters finally found one that would take them on and the poems were published at the end of May, 1846. The title page read:  "Poems by Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell." Charlotte wrote:

"Averse to personal publicity, we veiled our own names under those of Currer (Charlotte), Ellis (Emily) and Acton (Anne) Bell: the ambiguous choice being dictated by a sort of conscientious scruple at assuming Christian names positively masculine, while we did not like to declare ourselves women, because, without at that time suspecting that our mode of writing and thinking was not what is called 'feminine' -- we had a vague impression that authoresses are liable to be looked on with prejudice..."

The poems were not a great success. Out of an initial run of 1,000 copies, only two were sold. But the sisters weren't discouraged. They were each writing a novel and Charlotte had written to their publisher to consider taking that on as well.  Either as a work of three volumes, or separately as single volumes. The books were The Professor by Charlotte, Agnes Grey by Anne and Wuthering Heights by Emily. Their publisher declined and was one of several who missed out on publishing one of the most famous works in English literature.

Wuthering Heights and Agnes Grey were eventually accepted by a publisher, though The Professor was not. Fortunately Charlotte had another book in waiting and it was Jane Eyre. She finished it while taking care of her father who was recovering from cataract surgery. She sent the manuscript off to Smith, Elder & Co. on August 24, 1847. George Smith was so captivated by it that he read it in one sitting, canceling all appointments for the day and refusing to go to bed until he had finished. Six weeks later on October 16, 1847, Jane Eyre: An Autobiography was published. It was an instant success.

William Makepeace Thackeray, upon finishing it, wrote to the publisher George Smith:

"I wish you had not sent me 'Jane Eyre.' It interested me so much that I have lost...a whole day in reading it at the busiest period with the printers wailing for copy. Who the author can be I can't guess, if a woman she knows her language better than most ladies do, or has had a classical education. It is a fine book...some of the love passages made me cry, to the astonishment of John, who came in with the coals...I don't know why I tell you this but I have been exceedingly moved and pleased by 'Jane Eyre.' It is a woman's writing, but whose? Give my respects and thanks to the author, whose novel is the first English one...that I've been able to read for many a day." 

A reviewer for one of the biggest British magazines called it:

"One of the most powerful domestic romances which has been published for many years...it is full of youthful vigor, of freshness and originality, of nervous diction and concentrated interest...It is a book to make the pulses gallop and the heart beat, and to fill the eyes with tears."

The 2011 film adaptation of Jane Eyre 

For a long time Charlotte's family and friends had no idea that she was the writer of Jane Eyre. Her brother died without ever knowing that his sisters had published any writing. It was a while before she told even her closest friend Ellen Nussey. But it was not until January, 1848 when Charlotte saw an elderly gentlemen reading Jane Eyre at Haworth that she decided to tell her father. Her biographer Mrs. Gaskell tells the story:

"She (Charlotte) informed me that something like the following conversation took place between her and him (I wrote down her words the day after I heard them; and I am pretty sure they are quite accurate).

'Papa, I've been writing a book.'
'Have you, my dear?'
'Yes, and I want you to read it.'
'I am afraid it will try my eyes too much.'
'But it is not a manuscript; it is printed.'
'My dear! you've never thought of the expense it will be! It will be almost sure to be a loss, for how can you get a book sold? No one knows your name.'
'But, papa, I don't think it will be a loss, nor will you if you will just let me read you a review or two, and let me tell you more about it.'
So she sat down and read some of the reviews to her father; and then, giving him a copy of 'Jane Eyre' that she intended for him, she left him to read it. When he came in to tea, he said, 'Girls, do you know that Charlotte has been writing a book, and it is much better than likely?'"

 I think that it's time for a rereading of Jane Eyre. I would love to know if this is one of  your favorites. And have you read any other books by Charlotte Bronte?