The Twilight Series and Jane Eyre

Stephanie Meyers' popular teen vampire novels have a surprising connection to the Brontes, it turns out. This article from The Courier Mail contains an interview with the author who claims Jane Eyre as an influence, although not an inspiration, for her work:

Speaking to me over the phone from her home in rural Arizona, Meyer, 34, revealed that Twilight's vampire Edward Cullen, a literary creation set to rival Harry Potter, is a subconscious combination of her three favourite leading men _ Jane Eyre's Edward Rochester, Pride and Prejudice's Fitzwilliam D'arcy and Anne of Green Gables' Gilbert Blythe.

[...]


Meyer says it was only when she finished Twilight that she realised there were similarities with Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. And that Edward Cullen was a combination of her favourite romantic protagonists, especially Jane Eyre's Edward Rochester, because the two Edwards see themselves as ``monsters''.

I am actually more surprised at the idea of a vampire with elements of Gilbert Blythe's character, and I do wonder what Lucy Maud Montgomery would think of it all!

Mr.Charlotte Bronte: The Life and Times of Mr. Arthur Bell Nichols

McGill-Queen's writes to us to announce the release of an interesting new biography of Charlotte Bronte's husband:

McGill-Queen’s University Press is pleased to announce the release of Mr. Charlotte Brontë: The Life and Times of Mr. Arthur Bell Nichols.

This book was written by a direct descendent of Mr. Bell Nichols and establishes him as an important, rather than ancillary, figure in the Brontë saga. It also provides fresh information about his upbringing, his family and his pre-Haworth years in Ireland while including never-before-published material from the Bell Nicholls family.

Mr. Charlotte Brontë: The Life and Times of Mr. Arthur Bell Nichols would be an excellent addition to your collection of Brontë-related books and memorabilia.

Pricing and order information and can be found by clicking on the hyperlink above!