A Night with the Brontës

Love it, hate it or tolerate it, the new Wuthering Heights film has succeeded in bringing Emily Brontë's only novel and the beloved works of all three Brontë sisters to a whole new audience. 

On Thursday 12 March, I had the pleasure to attend “A Night with the Brontës” organised by Waterstones and the Brussels Brontë Group to celebrate Emily and her great book in light of the new movie. 

The Waterstones event and many others like it have been inspired by Emerald Fennell’s film, which has garnered a huge amount of publicity and stirred renewed interest in the literary sisters from Haworth. As Oscar Wilde put it; “There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.” 

Upon arrival at the bookshop, everyone was given two slips of paper, one with a number and one with a character from Emily’s novel. These determined the groups for the discussion and the trivia quiz. I received Edgar Linton (although I would have preferred Cathy Linton). Despite the general transport strike in Brussels that day, the event was well attended. 

Aisling and Pauline from the winning Edgar Linton team

After some browsing and conversation, two discussion groups were formed, and it was really enjoyable to share ideas and hear everyone's thoughts and opinions. Reading Wuthering Heights for the first time (or any time) is such an emotional rollercoaster. It was really interesting to listen to everyone’s experiences with a book that is so important and influential for so many, and one that still manages to shock and amaze readers nearly 180 years after its publication. 

Following the discussions, new groups were formed for the quiz. This quiz was quite different to the quizzes at the annual Brussels Brontë Group Christmas lunch, which many of us are used to. Teams were created based on the character names that we all had drawn and there was an added element of speed in order to get the most points. The questions were read aloud, and the first team with a hand up got a chance to answer. If the answer was wrong, the next team got a go. 

Organizer Emilie and quizmaster Jones

There were 15 questions overall, ranging from Wuthering Heights trivia to Emily’s time in Brussels and questions about modern day music inspired by Wuthering Heights. It was clear the room was full of Brontë enthusiasts. Despite this, Jones still managed to find a couple of questions that had everyone guessing. 

The evening ended with the distribution of Waterstones vouchers as brilliant prizes to the top three teams, and consequently the purchasing of many new books (I was no exception). 

Overall, the evening was full of enjoyment and laughter. And of course no Wuthering Heights event would be complete without the recital of some of Joseph’s Yorkshire dialect. A huge thanks to all the organisers who made this fabulous event possible. 

  Aisling Keogh