Dear Reader I Read it…Well I’ve started it ‘Branwell Bronte’s Barber’s Tale’ by Chris Firth

fantastic pic on the front!

It’s a quick one tonight as my husband has finished for the holidays, and we’re off out for a lovely meal (well, I hope it’s a lovely meal), and I probably won’t feel like blogging when I get back.  This is where the scheduling comes in very handy.

Branwell Bronte

Now for ‘Branwell Bronte’s Barbers Tale’ by Chris Firth. Yes, I’ve finally started it.  And it’s looking good.  I am soaking up the atmosphere of George MacCraw’s barbers shop and the hideous weather.  I can even imagine the light in the shop and smell the fish reeking off fat  David.  It’s going to be an enjoyable read I think, though the text is a bit small for my myopic eyes (out with the Deidre Barlows, the magnifying ones)

wuthering heights but which Bronte?

I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of Branwell writing ‘Wuthering Heights’  and wish this could be proved.  But very much doubt it, even if the evidence was indisputable , the Emily fans would never have it…  Still, it won’t hinder my enjoyment of the book

Time and Tide and Other Old Washing Powders that make Life easier but no Slower

fruit fantasia, better than the usual Test card eh? and very pretty

Not much of a post today, I’m afraid, just been very busy indeed.   Found a cousin I haven’t seen for about 40 years so we have a lot to catch up on!  There’s not enough hours in the day sometimes – yet other times,it seems to hang heavily.  I have loads to do in the next couple of days so I might not put a great deal on…but then again, I just might (as an escape route).  Still reading the Norman Collins ‘London belongs to me’ book and have got Branwell Bronte’s Barbers Tale’ by Chris Firth lined up after that.  Plus there’s all that clearing out business that I STILL haven’t got round to…oh Deary ME!

What I’m Reading at the moment; ‘Branwell Bronte’s Barber’s Tale’ by Chris Firth

Branwell Brontes Barbers Tale by Chris Firth

I am  in that inbetweeny period where I have no new books to read (sob) so I’m having to rely on old ones: ones I have read years ago, like ‘Samuel Pepys’ Diary’.  Occasionally I come across a book I’ve bought and for some reason or other, haven’t got round to reading.  Well, such an occurence happened today!  I found a bag I’d forgotten about containing reading matter!  The bag contained stuff we had bought on our recent visit to Haworth including a book called ‘Branwell Bronte’s Barbers Tale’ by Chris Firth, where apparently ‘Fiction collides with history…’ and it is a ‘literary thriller that will explode the Bronte myth’ according to the Bradford Observer June 12th 1867 (yes, that’s what it says on the back).  So great stuff, looking forward to reading this!  By the way, the book was entered for the Man Booker Prize for Fiction in 2005.

The other reading material is in the form of an old ‘Everybody’s Weekly’ from the 1950s.  I thought it would be interesting to see the sort of fashion and advertisements that were going in the period I was born, and see exactly what has changed (me, obviously, lol!) and how much.  So plenty to be getting on with.  I will report my findings of the book an magazine when after I have read them.

Black Sheep Branwell: It wasn’t ALL Rock and Roll…

Branwell Bronte self portrait

It’s Sunday, so it’s just a quick post again. Whilst in Haworth I visited Branwell Bronte’s exhibition.  It’s a small one, but it at least affords us a more rounded picture of Patrick Bronte’s tragic son.  There were small water colours, poems both in tiny form and a more ordinary format.

branwell bronte sketch

Small plays and even Branwell’s wallet were displayed.  I couldn’t get an image of it, but it was larger than I thought….and probably empty for many a long year lol!

tiny tiny writing

Amazingly, Branwell was once a member of the Temperance Society, and once presided! A couple of his Temperance cards are on display, signed by himself and his father Patrick.

More tomorrow

More of my recent posts relating to Haworth and the Bronte’s;-

Did the REAL Charlotte Bronte just stand up?

Staying at Wuthering Heights (as one does )

Haworth STILL wuthering and very much so

Wuthering Heights 2009 ITV version

Sex Drugs and Literature – Branwell Bronte gets his place in the sun

Sex, Drugs and Literature: Branwell Bronte Gets his Place in the Sun at Last!

Branwell Bronte self portait warts and all

Great!  Finally an exhibition that focuses on Branwell Bronte!  Poor old Branwell, the eternal Black Sheep of the Bronte family.  I have always felt that he has been much maligned, not helped by himself I may add.  This article puts it so succinctly when it points out the expectations and burden placed on the only son of the family.  For the highly strung Branwell proved too much and he collapsed under the strain.  It’s not as if he didn’t have the talent: it was the fortitude and determination he lacked.  That makes him very human in my opinion and for that reason he will always remain my favorite Bronte (along with the more controlled Charlotte).

wuthering-heights ITV 2009 I saw these costumes at the Bronte parsonage museum a few months ago

 

In actual fact, I am having a bit of a Bronte week!  Not only do I spot this exhibition at the Bronte Parsonage Museum, Haworth  (that I intend to go to…this week if I can), but we have a made for television version (ITV) of ‘Wuthering Heights ‘(first part shown yesterday and second tonight).  Then…an exciting development on the ‘Will the REAL Charlotte Bronte Please stand up’ front!!!  Intrigued?  Reader you will be!

Branwell Bronte Exibition ‘Sex Drugs and Literature’ – The Infernal World of Branwell Bronte’ article HERE

Details from the Bronte Parsonage Museum HERE

‘Daphne’ by Justine Picardie: The Infernal World of the Lost Boy

I have finished reading this book at last.  It isn’t a particularly lengthy book, neither was it tedious.  The reason it has taken me so long to read is that I was savouring every page!   That’s quite unusual for me, I like to gallop through a book when I’m really enjoying it – and I did enjoy this!

daphne by justine picardie, a jolly good read

Picardie’s extensive research really pays off.  There is an air of authenticity about the book, the sense of the author being in the ‘know’.  I like the way that the story is told from three very different perspectives, and two different points in time.  I have read Du Maurier’s ‘rival’s book by Winfred Gerin, and never realised that they were in direct competition with each other.  I think I shall have to read ‘The Infernal World of Branwell Bronte‘ and ‘Branwell Bronte  again to compare them.  I have them both but  it’s a long time ago since I read either of them.

Last night I dreamed I went to Mandelay or was it Menabilly?

I could almost smell the mildew on Emily’s notebook and the obsession and desperation of the disgraced Symington.  The marriage between the girl  (now I come to think of it, her name isn’t mentioned either by Paul her husband who calls her ‘sweet girl’ or his ex wife Rachel, who refers to her as ‘my assistant’) and Paul seems a little bit surreal and gets off to a bad start by the ex wife’s Rachel’s only too  real presence.   This could be likened to Max De Winter’s dead wife interference with his new young wife….(and I can’t recall her name either).  But there the similarities end,  as the outcome of each marriage differ: one overcoming obstacles and even death (battling with a ghost whose presence is kept alive by Danvers), whilst the other ends with both partners outgrowing each other (thanks to the presence of another ‘ghost’, this one very much alive: ex wife Rachel!)

branwell bronte, the lost boy

I wasn’t too sure about the J M Barrie connection and the Lost boys though.  I mean there IS a real connection with Du Maurier’s family but I don’t think the extra twist was really needed.  In my opinion, Branwell is the real Lost Boy and seems destined to be eternally irretrievable.  Loved this book though and shall be reading more by this author!

Warning: this book is a page turner!  try to slow down and savour the experience.

More Bronte Bites from me HERE;

York Break: Haworth still wuthering after all these years

Will the REAL Charlotte Bronte PLEASE Stand Up!

Back in the Picture

Watched: ‘Most Haunted’ The Black Bull Haworth: Tales of the Much Expected

Dear Reader I READ it ‘The Bronte’s Haworth’ by S R Whitehead

Where am I?

page 23 detail ah now where was I up to?

Just a quick post for tonight.  Where does the time go?  It’s a good job I schedule these posts: I always try to be one in front.  There are a LOT of artists birthdays coming up this month, and although I keep saying it, I really MUST do some more on my altered book!  I had it out before looking at it.  I know what I am going to do now, but I just need the time to do it! 

Bronte dresses, I bet these were lovely when they were first made. Even cloth turns sepia

 I also have some more surfaces to add, plus I’ve very nearly finished the Justine Picardie Book about Branwell Bronte. At the moment I am at a really exciting stage in my genealogy (it’s a case of was this ancestor Polish or was he really Hungerian….well, it’s a matter of interest to me lol!)

York Break: Haworth still Wuthering after all these years

haworth-parsonage-and-graveyard witmess to much grief

On the way back from our York break, we called in at  Haworth, the Yorkshire village famous for it’s association with the Bronte’s. 

haworth-church-lasting-memorial

 There was a time when we used to go once or twice a year, but this was the first time we had been in 3 years.  Nothing had changed.  Perhaps a few new shops and one old favorite sadly, shutting down.

haworth-graveyard on a sunny day

I decided to go in the Bronte Parsonage Museum.  Again, it was years since I had been inside and there were some changes.  More exhibits for a start!  I must have spent a good hour and half in there.

haworth-apothecary-window a wonderland of bygone products

 

I am a huge Bronte fan.  My favorite Bronte’s are Charlotte and Branwell, though my favorite Bronte book is ‘Wuthering Heights’ by Emily.  Branwell Bronte fascinates me.  There are so many stories concerning him.  It seems the darker he is painted, the brighter his sisters shine……..suspiciously.

haworth-still-the-same

There were costumes in the museum, worn in the new productin of ‘Wuthering Heights’.  I only hope it’s nothing like the Keira Knightly ‘Pride and Prejudice’……  What a massive disappointment that was. The Bennett’s lived on what looked like a farm, Darcy was downright silly, and as for Wickham (‘who everyone praised to the sky’) and who plays an integral part in the ‘pride’ and ‘prejudice’ of Lizzie and Darcy – well, I think he was seen for approximately two minutes.  Why do they bother?  These type of stories cannot be improved on by sexing them up… when will they learn, it’s what is NOT shown, but which is imagined that has made these stories last so long.

lizzie-and-darcy the bbc version and in my opinion the very best

 

More of my posts about my York break;

The Haunted House on Stonegate York

Here’s the rest of the journey

https://echostains.wordpress.com/2009/04/26/york-break-a-brief-summary/