Visiting the Brontë sisters in Yorkshire

People say literary genius is a rare thing, something seen only once in a thousand or a million people. Maybe so, but the Brontës had three (and maybe five) literary geniuses in the same family.

From their father’s parsonage in Haworth, Yorkshire, in northern England, the three Brontë sisters Charlotte, Emily, and Anne produced some of the most popular books in the English language. Works like Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights are still read more than 150 years after they were published. They’ve survived the test of time. The ebook edition of Wuthering Heights is currently ranked number 457 at Amazon’s Kindle store, and number 5 in the fiction classics category. Their work has been made into numerous movies and another version of Jane Eyre is coming out next year.

The sisters also prompted literary tourism to Haworth. It started not long after they died and has steadily grown ever since. While everyone comes to Haworth to see the Brontë home and related sights, they also enjoy a beautiful and well-preserved nineteenth century village full of shops and fine restaurants.

Now I have to be honest here and admit that until I went on this trip I had never read a Brontë novel. They were the classics I never got assigned in school and I figured I’d get around to whenever. Before I left for Yorkshire I read Jane Eyre and was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. The rich prose and sedate pacing definitely belong to the nineteenth century, but the smartass, independent female protagonist belongs to the modern world.

Much of Haworth remains as the Brontës knew it. The Brontë Parsonage Museum preserves their home and tells their story. House museums are tricky to do well. Despite being a museum junkie, some historic homes bore me to death. This one, however, gripped my attention. Besides the usual stuff like the desks they wrote at and the sofas they sat on (and Emily may have died on), there are the little details that make it stick in your memory. In the nursery where they spent their childhood faint pencil drawings can be seen on the wall. While it’s impossible to say if these literary giants doodled these when they were small, it makes you wonder.

There’s also the story of Branwell Brontë. Who? Yeah, that was always his problem. He was their brother, a failed artist and struggling writer living in the shadow of his superstar sisters. He fell into a downward spiral of alcoholism and opium addiction before dying at 31. The above painting of his sisters is Branwell’s work. He originally included himself in the portrait, then unsuccessfully erased himself. He doodled constantly, illustrating letters he sent to friends. One at the museum shows himself in two images. The first is labeled “Paradise” shows him drunk off his ass and shouting, “I am the lord of the manor!” The other is labeled “Purgatory” and shows him hunched over an opium pipe.

%Gallery-104264%The museum also tells the story of their father Patrick, the local pastor who was also a published author. Many a young woman’s ambitions were crushed in those days by domineering fathers who wanted them to get married and get pregnant. Patrick Brontë was progressive enough not to feel threatened by his daughters’ talent and encouraged them in their careers.

Beyond the Brontë parsonage you can see traces of their life everywhere. Patrick Brontë’s church stands nearby and houses the family’s memorial chapel. The pub where Branwell got drunk is just a short stagger away from the apothecary where he bought his opium. The Black Bull Inn still serves up fine Yorkshire ales, but the apothecary shop stopped carrying opiates when they started requiring a prescription. Otherwise it’s a good replica of an early apothecary and still sells traditional cures.

Haworth’s main street is down a steep hill lined with little shops. You can find delicious local cheeses and preserves, a couple of fine tearooms, some excellent secondhand bookshops, and more gift shops than you can shake a copy of Wuthering Heights at. Several historic inns offer beers and beds. At the train station a traditional steam railway offers rides.

But Haworth isn’t all tea and scones and twee little shops. There’s a dark side to the town’s history, full of ghosts, death, and despair. On my second day I discovered I was all too close to the supernatural. . .

This is the first of my new series Exploring Yorkshire: ghosts, castles, and literature in England’s north.

Coming up next: Three nights in a haunted hotel room!


This trip was sponsored by
VisitEngland and Welcome to Yorkshire.

[Photo courtesy user Mr. Absurd via Wikimedia Commons]

New and improved Amazon Kindle – new price, new colors, new features

Our friends at Engadget have the scoop on some new and improved Amazon Kindle developments. Starting on August 27, you’ll be able to order the new WiFi only Kindle – and by dropping 3G, you bring the price down to a completely insane $139 – a whopping $260 cheaper than the introduction Kindle launched back in 2007.

A 3G version will still be available, for the current price ($189) and still offering international download support on almost any 3G/GSM network.

Other improvements can be found in a faster screen refresh, tweaked buttons, more storage space (4GB) and a new color – graphite. Battery life has also improved to a whopping 30 days standby and 10 days with wireless turned on.

There is no denying that the Kindle has completely transformed the world of books, competition has popped up from every major book retailer, and really made ebooks a very popular choice for travelers.

Being able to leave bulky books at home, and order books over the air without visiting the book store makes travel so much easier. In many cases, an ebppl reader can even replace travel guides and provide a quick way to visit web sites and other online services.

M-EDGE Guardian case brings sun, surf and sand to your Amazon Kindle

Like most high-tech gadgets, the Amazon Kindle 2 is not really at home on vacation – which is a shame, because it means you’d need to switch to old school paper books for some poolside reading entertainment.

Thankfully, case designer M-EDGE has a solution with their new Guardian case for the Amazon Kindle – a case that goes well beyond the normal level of protection.

The Guardian case actually lets you take your Kindle into the pool, and because it floats, you won’t need to go diving if you let it slip off your floating seat.

The Guardian case is waterproof up to 1 meter, and it features an anti-glare screen film. Four closing latches keep your device protected, and special cutouts allow access to most controls.

The M-EDGE Guardian case is available directly from the manufacturer for $79.99. The case comes in black, blue and red.