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Elsemarie Maletzke, author of "Das Leben der
Brontës", editor
of "Charlotte, Branwell, Emily, Anne Brontë – Angria
& Gondal"
and other Brontëana
“Although
I live in Frankfurt, Germany, places like London and Haworth always looked so much closer than Brussels.
When I conducted my research in the steps of the Brontës I
travelled several
times to Yorkshire and I tramped the London Strand to take pictures of Smith &
Elders’ front door, but I have to admit
I’ve never been to Brussels. Shame! The fact that the Pensionat Heger and
the Rue d’Isabelle had
not survived modern building activities was not very encouraging.
Still, I
should very much like to visit St. Gudule if only to see the place
where a
desperate and very lonely Protestant soul stepped into a confession
box.”
Marina Saegerman, Flemish Brontë Society member
“My name is
Marina Saegerman. I live in the Flemish part of Belgium and work in Brussels. I have been
a Brontë fan since my childhood days. When I was about 11 years old I won a
prize at school. It was a book in Dutch that contained three Brontë novels
(Jane Eyre – Wuthering Heights – Agnes Grey). From then on I was
hooked and wanted to read more. In the local library , in one of the books I
had borrowed, there was a little handwritten note mentioning Haworth and the Parsonage. It was my dream
to go to Haworth and I realised this dream in 1990
when I first visited the village and the parsonage. I returned with my husband
in 1992 on our return from Ireland, and since then Haworth is a regular stop on our return
from our annual holidays in Ireland. I’ve been a Brontë Society member
since then.
Over the
years I have read all the books more than once, and my favourite is still Wuthering Heights. Over the years I have also grown
to love Emily’s poetry, and of course Charlotte’s and Anne’s poetry as well. I
sometimes use their texts for my calligraphy work.
The books of
Eric about Brussels and the Brontës have made me see
the area where I work (Rue Royale, The Park and the old Quartier Isabelle) from
a different perspective.
So when
Helen contacted me to have a first discussion on her idea to start a Brontë
group in Brussels I was easily won over. I hope that
we can meet regularly and share our interest.”
Sheila Richardson, a British resident living in
Brussels
“My
mother gave me her
copy of Jane Eyre to read when I was about ten, followed by Wuthering
Heights
which
became my favourite story of all time. It roused passionate feelings,
however
many times I read it. Villette had a special place in the family as my
parents
had first met in Brussels.
When I moved here, I was very busy with young children and only had
the Bronte connection in the back of my mind until I became fascinated
by the
re-discovery of the Rue Isabelle and the re-building of that quarter.
When I
bought Eric Ruijssenaars’ books, Waterstones told me that
someone was
trying to get a
Bronte Group together so I then made contact with it.”
Jenny
Hofman, Dutch Brontë Society member
“I
have been a member of the Brontë Society for
a long time and when I got a letter from Helen MacEwan with the
question if I
was interested in joining the Brussels Brontë Group, I did not
hesitate for a
moment. I have always been fascinated by the influence of the landscape
on the
Brontës and this also includes their Brussels environment. I remember wandering around in Brussels looking for the site of the Pensionnat Heger
even
before the Brontë Society plaque was there.”
Mara Mauermann, a member in Essen, Germany.
“My
first introduction to the Brontës was visual rather than
literary. When I first
visited the National Portrait Gallery as a teenager, I was deeply moved
by the
portrait of the sisters, and by and by got round to reading their
works.
However, though I am positive I read Jane
Eyre before Wuthering Heights,
it
is only the first reading of the latter that I can date precisely,
perhaps not
surprisingly, seeing that it was the day when my husband (then
boyfriend)
stumbled into a manhole in Soho ... well he didn't vanish completely,
being
able to throw himself on the pavement: but directly afterwards, even
before he
had time to find out that nothing had happened to him except for a
grazed shin,
there was a tremendous clap of thunder, and an almighty deluge of hail
and
rain, and he was forced to seek shelter in a passage that turned out to
lead
into a bizarre striptease club ... well but that is quite a different
story,
the main point is that while all these exciting things happened, I had
remained
at our self-catering place and in a kind of trance-like absorption read
Wuthering Heights, with the
violent
storm outside providing a most appropriate background...”
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