Enjoy The Heroine’s Barshelf.

For the House Candles, they had to fit the House colors, evoke an essence of the House Founder, but mostly, fit the atmostphere of the common rooms. (Yes, Ravenclaw is a Hanukkah candle, but I think the scent is perfect).


Gryffindor
Mulled Wine:
A seasonal favorite the inviting aroma of Fruit with a touch of clove and other spices warms the spirit.









Hufflepuff
Golden Spiced Pear:
A savory blend of warm pears, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla bean.








Ravenclaw
Festival of Lights:
A blend of savory spices, rich cinnamon and sweet potpourri to celebrate the season.









Slytherin
Rainforest:
Fresh, slightly moist air with hints of exotic flowers and greenery.








Argus Filch
Moonlight Harvest:
Hints of pumpkin and spice from the kitchen window float on the cool breeze of an autumn night.




Madame Poppy Pomfrey
Country Linen:
Imagine a weekend at a cozy bed and breakfast with warm sunshine, crisp cotton sheets, and the sweet scent of spring flowers.






Professor Pomona Sprout
Beautiful Day:
Life is good with this happily enchanting mix of sunny fruits, pretty flowers and spicy herbs.







Cedric Diggory
Sun and Sand:
A tropical beach breeze of sweet orange flower, lemony citrus, fresh lavender and powdery musk.







Victor Krum
Siberian Silver Fir:
From snow-covered arctic peaks, discover the unique crisp freshness of pure Siberian silver fir oil.






Seamus Finnegan
Root Beer Float:
The delicious aroma of old-fashioned spicy sweet root beer and creamy rich vanilla ice cream.

“for biography, read Johnson’s Lives of the Poets, Boswell’s Life of Johnson, Southey’s Life of Nelson, Lockhart’s Life of Burns, Moore’s Life of Sheridan, Moore’s Life of Byron,”

…and so on. So entering Gaskell’s Life of Brontë is to some extent, an expedition into the world of those leather-bound tomes full of dates, correspondences, and panegyrics from one great author to another. As one who reads 150 year-old fiction on a nonstop basis, this genre still felt quite foreign.

In persevering, though, I found some things well worth the search. I read the Oxford Classics edition and highly recommend it for its notes. The main challenge in reading, is that Gaskell is bound both by Victorian propriety and by perceived obligation to her friend Charlotte, to protect both her privacy and her reputation. Thus, no juicy bits or suppositions about what’s happening in-between the lines of her letters (and life). But the Oxford notes offer great annotations and corrections when possible. That enervating habit of 19th century authors to blank out names of people and places, gets filled in by flipping to the end notes. Hallelujah. (Though this did triple the length of reading time).

I still felt pretty distant from the Charlotte Brontë presented in the pages. The version of her you get is so much Gaskell’s redaction, that despite 70% of the text being letters from Brontë’s own hand, it still feels emotionally and contextually distant, (at least for this modern reader). But that’s likely a genre and context issue. It’s clear that Gaskell wanted Brontë’s critics to know that the author of Jane Eyre, Shirley and Villette was an unassuming and unpretentious woman who lived a quiet life of suffering and struggle, and who shied away from fame. Against Brontë’s detractors who accused her pseudonymous “Currer Bell” of being “course” and “un-Christian,” Gaskell displays the deep moral and spiritual convictions, reservedness and compassion that epitomized this Yorkshire curate’s daughter.

Though Gaskell’s Life of Brontë is perhaps less illuminating of Brontë’s relationships and life choices than is contemporary scholarship, the work is indeed, as Charlotte’s father Rev Patrick Brontë said, “in every way worthy of what one great woman should have written of another.”

What I enjoyed most was the amount of correspondence time Brontë takes in recommending and critiquing literature. Her relationship with her publishers turned into what seemed a perpetual book club of trading books and reviews. And what sticks out so often is that Brontë rarely mentions plot construction, setting or even language. Her responses almost always center on what the author uncovers or expresses of true human nature, or how the heart and mind of the author is revealed in their writing. That’s how I read Brontë’s writing as well. Not surprising then that it was in these passages that I got the clearest sense of who this woman was, and as a result, drew nearer to her.

Gaskell’s Life of Brontë is a must-read for any Brontë devotee, even if only to gain respect and sympathy for the short and impacting friendship shared by two culture-shaping women, who could never have predicted the reach of their legacies. This is Elizabeth mourning the loss of her friend Charlotte, in the kindest way she could think of. It is much appreciated.



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