Writing, abridging and adapting

The Huffington Post looks at non-fiction children's books and highlights The Brontë Sisters. The Brief Lives of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne by Catherine Reef.

If you've ever wondered who was behind "Jane Eyre" and "Wuthering Heights," now is your chance to find out. This family biography of Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë brings readers tragedy, humor and insight into the lives of women, writers and sisters living in England in the 1800's. For anyone who has ever loved the romantic yet melancholy Heathcliff or the determined Jane Eyre, this book belongs on your shelf. (Devon Corneal)

Coincidentally, the UK edition of The Huffington Post discusses abridging books for young readers, with particular attention to Usborne.

Usborne is one of the abridging publishers beloved of schools. They've done 'retold' print versions of many books and plays, including Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde, and various Shakespeare. [...]
Usborne's 'retold' classics are aimed at older children, and thus less diluted. But much as their own writers might respect the skills of Emily Brontë or Robert Louis Stevenson, they don't share them, and so have simply produced more anodyne and sometimes patronisingly simplified versions of their work. (Jane Graham)

The Cornell Daily Sun's reviewer didn't like Wuthering Heights 2011:

The first hour and a half of the film is tedium and debasement. Their home is no Wuthering Heights; it is a dirty farm without sophistication or class. The entire film was minimalistic. There is no soundtrack and hardly any dialogue. While this captures the underlying feel of the novel, it is boring. Nothing happens — it is dark, people lick blood, the wind blows. While the director may have been striving for superior shots and powerful emotions, what she produces is instead a dull film shrouded in  darkness.
Arnold tries too hard to incorporate metaphors into the film. As a result, if I see another bird or feather I may scream. It is one thing to subtly lace a beautiful metaphor through a movie and let it speak to the audience as it will. It is another thing entirely to constantly thrust it in our faces: LOOK AT THIS BIRD! LOOK AT THE FEATHER FALLING! THIS IS IMPORTANT! ALERT! ALERT! ALERT!
The novel, though a story of unlikable characters and innate aversion, ends on a redeeming note. The children of the wrongdoers seem to rectify the crimes of their parents and leave the audience with characters who have the potential to do right and with a feeling of the hope of tomorrow. This film does no such thing. In fact, one of the final images of the film is of necrophilia. The screenplay writers (Andrea Arnold and Olivia Hetreed) seem to want their audience leaving with feelings of revulsion and hopelessness. Though I cannot speak for her, I don’t think this is exactly what Emily Brontë was going for when she wrote the novel. (Marissa Tranquilli)

The Los Angeles Times' Show Tracker posts a recap of the latest episode of Once Upon a Time (BEWARE OF SPOILERS).

And speaking of Henry ... the last scene we see is him waking from a nightmare similar to that of Aurora's. He tells Charming that there was a red room, curtains on fire, and a figure watching him from across the room. Mysterious ... and spooky. Jane Eyre? H.G. Wells? Who knows? (Jevon Phillips)

The Telegraph shares readers' opinions of Downton Abbey, including a Jane Eyre mention similar to yesterday's. Again, beware of spoilers.

Female First interviews writer Kimberley Freeman.

Which writers do you believe to have influenced your own work and in what way?
I loved Barbara Taylor Bradford in my formative years: those great big sagas.  I've also really enjoyed Charlotte Brontë's work. Jane Eyre had an enormous impact on me. (Lucy Walton)

The Times publishes an obituary of actress Daphne Slater. Paula Acton posts about Jane Eyre 2006. The Obsessive Book Worm didn't like A Breath of Eyre by Eve Marie Mont.