Brooding About the Brontes

Today kicks off the Brooding About the Brontës event hosted by Girl With Her Head In A Book!  This week on Susie's blog you can find the schedule, book reviews as well as guest posts from some of the participants.  The event has daily topics for bloggers to talk about, but for me, I decided to answer all of the questions in one post, as I have a few other posts planned for this week.  To begin:

Why do you love the Brontës?

The first Brontë book I ever read was Wuthering Heights, which was a strange novel.  One that I didn't really empathize with, but one that I found very fascinating and difficult to put down.  I can't say I really liked Wuthering Heights though, but I decided to give that other Brontë book a chance.  And so I read Jane Eyre, and I was lost forever.  Of course, now I've read all the novels by the sisters, and find them special for different reasons and I think it's because they are varied, and emotional and intense (except Agnes Grey haha) that I love the Brontës' work so much.  The atmosphere, drama and the characters appeal to me.

Pick your favourite Brontë novel

Jane Eyre.  I guess check out my review of Jane Eyre with Gifs if you are interested in more thoughts!

Do you have a ‘favourite sister’?

Charlotte Brontë!  Most because of Jane Eyre.  It's just hard for me to find the other sisters more dear because the mind that would create such a story as Jane Eyre, must be someone I can identify strongly with.  Charlotte seemed the most fun too - snarky, sharp, witty.  I feel like I could have really talked to her.

Pick your favourite Brontë-related book (fiction or non-fiction)

This is hard for me to choose, but I guess I'll go with my favorite retelling of Jane Eyre called "Jane_E: Friendless Orphan" by Erin McCole-Cupp.  It's a futuristic retelling, and it's not very well known, but I think it did a fantastic job of bringing the same amount of emotion to the characters.  It's a more straightforward retelling too, compared to others I have read.  Which I don't necessarily prefer, but it worked well for me in this case.

Are the Brontës being forgotten?

I don't think so - at least not Charlotte and Emily.  Anne has always been overshadowed by her sisters which is unfortunate, but she is often remembered in connection with her sisters.  With it being the 200th anniversary of Charlotte's birth this year, there are even more events and attention being paid to the Brontës lives now which is wonderful.  I'm looking forward to a BBC drama coming out later this year called "To Walk Invisible" all about the Brontë sisters.

Which Brontë fictional heroine (or indeed leading man) do you most closely identify with?

Jane, Jane, Jane.  I love her for her intelligence, her passion, her resiliency, and her morality.  I don't know if I am very like her, but I feel like I often aspire to be her.  I should get a bracelet that says WWJED (What would Jane Eyre do? :D)