Listening to the Klara-podcast “The Brontës”, I discovered that the writer of my favorite book Jane Eyre lived in Brussels for two years. Yes, Charlotte Brontë, but also her famous sister Emily, stayed in a Pensionnat in Brussels! I had to find out more and contacted expert Helen MacEwan from the Brussels Brontë Group. Ordered her books. And did a Brontë walk in Brussels.
The Belgian app company Totemus has just launched a treasure hunt (‘chasse’) in the form of a historical walk in Brussels on the theme of Charlotte and Emily Brontë’s stay in the city in 1842-43. As far as I know, this is the first time the Brussels tourist services have launched a Brontë-themed walk.
Participants have to fill in the answers to questions as they follow the route. The idea is not just to tell participants about the Brontës in Brussels but to highlight some of the city landmarks that existed in that period.
Isabel Greenberg took the Brussels Brontë Group on a fascinating journey through how she created her inspired graphic novel Glass Town, an exploration of the young Brontës’ fantasy world that mixes fiction and memoir.
Her book is an incredible blend of Brontë biography and the imaginary realm that the siblings created as children in the first half of the nineteenth century – a very apt approach for a work about the young Brontës, who lived so much in their fantasy world as children.
Isabel, an award-winning graphic designer and illustrator, was just as excited about how the Brontë children created their fantasy world as by the imaginary world itself.
Let’s start by stating that I am a big fan of Samantha Ellis and have been ever since I read her much beloved book How to Be a Heroine a couple of years ago. In this book, she explores different literary heroines and how they have shaped her life. This is often quite funny and recognizable.
Ellis successfully combines clever observations about literary heroines with personal experiences and anecdotes. One of the conclusions she comes to is that while she had always identified herself with “wild, free, passionate Cathy” Earnshaw from Wuthering Heights, she actually “should have been trying to be Jane” Eyre, a woman who listens to her own voice and makes her own way in life.
Why Anne Brontë didn’t go to Brussels and why it matters was the title of Samantha Ellis’s eagerly awaited talk to our group, which finally took place on 20 April. Afterwards, Samantha tweeted about the irony of giving a talk about Anne not coming to Brussels while being unable herself to come to Brussels. She said she was sad not to be on a Eurostar eating ‘proper chocolate’ as she headed home.
