The Brontës’ Irish links celebrated at Embassy in Brussels

Brussels’ European Quarter is not the usual location for the Brussels Brontë Group’s Saturday morning talks, but that’s where almost 60 of our members convened on Saturday 17 October. 

In a building just up the road, the European Council had met the previous day to discuss trade and the budget. No such mundane topics were on our members’ minds as they headed from Schuman down rue Froissart. No, they were gathering to listen to talks about the much more important subject of the Brontë sisters. The venue was the Irish Embassy and the event was entitled A Morning with the Brussels Brontë Group: Celebration of the Brontës’ Irish Links. 

Brontë weekend with a special Irish theme

The weekend of 17 and 18 October 2026 was memorable! 

Brontë enthusiasts from Ireland -- the Banagher Brontë Group -- and a delegation from the Brontë Birthplace in Thornton were welcomed to Belgium by the Brussels Brontë Group for two days activities focusing on the Brontës and their Irish connections. 

“The Lost Brontë” – a spellbinding Gothic story

If you love the Gothic side of the Brontë novels you are certainly going to love “The Lost Brontë” by Catherine Friend. Moreover, it is the perfect time of the year for a spooky story! 

The other Rochester woman

The French novelist and journalist Lilia Hassaine has something of a reputation as a feminist. Moreover, she is not afraid to denounce all kinds of racism, sometimes using far-fetched arguments. 

So, when I found out that Hassaine had written a novel inspired by the character of Bertha Mason — the "madwoman in the attic" from Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre — I feared the worst. I must now admit that my fears about Hassaine's JE were entirely unfounded: I can't recommend this novel highly enough. 

Knowing your Brontë dogs!

It is a fact that the Brontës loved animals and that the family always had pets in their home, especially dogs. I am a dog lover as well. So I was pleasantly surprised to learn that someone had gone to the trouble of writing a book of more than 340 pages dedicated to the Brontë family dogs. 

Unexpected – and memorable – day out in Brontë Country

My husband Paul and I headed again to Haworth last month for our annual visit and participation in the June weekend of events organised by the London Brontë group. Our friend Joanne Wilcock, an active volunteer at the Brontë Birthplace in Thornton, suggested a few Brontë-related locations “in the neighbourhood.” 

Some of the places that she suggested we had already visited, but there were still some that we had not seen yet. She saw potential and was eager for us to tick some of the boxes of Brontë-related places that we had not been to. 

Former Cowan Bridge School building

Let Me In – The Brontës in Bricks and Mortar

Let Me In – The Brontës in Bricks and Mortar by Ann Dinsdale and Sharon Wright is a book that explores the buildings where the Brontës would have lived and visited, and which consequently influenced their writings. 

Sharon spoke to the Brussels Brontë Group on Saturday April 25 about the book and the places that were important to the literary sisters.  

Irene Lofthouse on the Brontës, Boggarts and Brogue

Irene Lofthouse provided a thespian treat for the Brussels Brontë Group with her April 25 talk on the influence of folklore and local stories on the Brontës as they grew up in Yorkshire. 

 

Amongst other things, Irene is an author, writer, storyteller, playwright, actor, director, dramaturg and creative consultant, and she kept her audience on its toes by switching effortlessly between the various dialects that the Brontë children would have been exposed to throughout their lives.

credit: wikicommons

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. 

‘Do you never laugh, Miss Eyre?’

Jones Hayden, Brussels Brontë Group Master of Ceremonies, bookgroup leader and sometimes tour guide, took us on an engaging journey to find the funny in the Brontës. His talk to the group on Saturday, Feb. 7, focused on the Brontë sisters’ novels, but also touched on their letters and the essays they wrote while in Brussels. 

My very Brontë week

Dear reader, I had a very Brontë week. 

Genies and Genius: Middle East influences on the Brontës

Paul Willocx, a member of the Brussels Brontë Group and graduate in Arabic and Islamic studies, took us on a very interesting literary journey, from Persia and Iran to the libraries and theatres of 19th-century Europe. His talk on Saturday, Feb. 7, focused on the influence of Middle Eastern writings on Western literature, including of course the Brontës. 

'The Brontës in Brussels' at St Pancras in London

Travellers preparing to board the Eurostar to Brussels at St Pancras in London can buy Helen MacEwan’s book The Brontës in Brussels at Hatchards bookshop in the station. 

Brontë Players triumph again!

It’s said that ‘writing-by-committee’ isn’t usually a good idea, but the main item of entertainment at the Brussels Brontë Group’s 2025 Christmas lunch demonstrated gloriously that a brilliant team can write a brilliant sketch! 

The Road to Villette

Rob McRae from Leeds recounts his journey in the footsteps of Charlotte and Emily Brontë from Yorkshire to Brussels (aka Villette) -- starting at The North Midland Railway Station in Leeds and ending at the Cathedral of St. Gudule in the Belgian capital. 

Book review: 'The Girl at the Window' by Rowan Coleman

When novelist Rowan Coleman talked to the Brussels Brontë Group earlier this month about her Brontë detective novels, I became intrigued by another book that she mentioned in her presentation – her 2019 novel The Girl at the Window. 

Rowan brought up this particular novel as it is set in Ponden Hall, a centuries-old manor house on the Yorkshire moors near Haworth with a Brontë connection. 

Book review: “Charlotte Brontë – A Medical Casebook”

Charlotte Brontë – A Medical Casebook by Dr. Michael O’Dowd is an eye-opening book about medical knowledge in the Brontë household with a big focus on the exact cause of Charlotte’s death in 1855. 

Graham Watson and The Invention of Charlotte Brontë

Graham Watson, author of The Invention of Charlotte Brontë, gave an illuminating talk to the Brussels Brontë Group on his investigations into the writing and reception of Elizabeth Gaskell’s 1857 biography The Life of Charlotte Brontë. 

Bella Ellis on her Brontë Mysteries series of novels

Rowan Coleman, the author of over 40 novels, gave the Brussels Brontë Group an engaging talk on Saturday about her quartet of mystery books starring the Brontë siblings as amateur detectives. 

 

These novels, published under the pseudonym Bella Ellis, see the Brontës take on the part of amateur detectives in order to solve crimes. They are set around 1845, which Rowan explained is the year the first “detectors” were created as part of the relatively new Metropolitan Police Force. 

More things Brontë in Ireland!

Since my first visit to Banagher in Ireland in 2013 when I was on the trail of Arthur Bell Nicholls, I have noticed that a real Brontë hype has developed in the Emerald Isle.