Blogs & News

: Online Event: Valentine’s – Romantic Moments

In this lively Valentine's online event we take a closer look at your favourite romantic moments from literature and TV adaptations, including Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights. Sit back and enjoy a Valentine's treat as our speakers go head to head to celebrate the most romantic scenes that literature has to offer. Swoon as Thornton and Margaret master their feelings in North and South. Gasp as Mr Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet overcome all

: Online Talk: Cranford – A TV Classic

The BBC TV adaptations Cranford (2007) and Return to Cranford (2009) were hailed as rich and funny portrayals of Victorian provincial life. The series featured a wealth of stars including Judi Dench, Imelda Staunton and Francesca Annis. Heidi Thomas's screenplay reflected both the gentle humour and the pathos of rural life in a Cheshire town on the cusp of industrial change. Book now The series detailed the private and public lives of the middle-aged women of Cranford, a town ‘in

: Online Talk: North and South across the Atlantic – Elizabeth Gaskell’s Influence in Nineteenth-Century America

 Elizabeth Gaskell wrote her classic ‘Condition of England’ novel, North and South, set in Manchester for a readership living through intense industrial and social change. Characters like the Byronic John Thornton and independent Margaret Hale showed her groundbreaking novel grappling with industrial conflict and sexual politics. Book now So how was it received across the Atlantic? What impact did it have on writers such as Elizabeth Stuart Phelps and Frances Hodgson Burnett? Can we talk of their novels

: Online Talk: ‘I wish I were a girl again, half-savage and hardy, and free’ – Emily and Anne Brontë

Elizabeth Gaskell’s famous biography The Life of Charlotte Brontë went a considerable way to creating the myth of the famous writer living up on the moors. But what of the image of Charlotte’s two groundbreaking literary sisters, Emily and Anne Brontë? How has our view of these trailblazing writers changed over the years? Book now Emily Brontë’s enduring classic Wuthering Heights makes her the author of one of the finest novels in the English language and shows her

: Online Reading Workshop – The Gothic – Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu

Take a bite into one of the earliest Vampire books, Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu with the last of our popular Gothic online reading workshops. Take a walk on the wild side looking at horror, mystery and the darker side of the human condition. Book now Now is the time to dig a little deeper into the underbelly of nineteenth-century literature. Join us this spring for Gothic nights in with the ever-popular Sherry Ashworth and like-minded literary fans.