By Clare B. Dunkle. New York: Henry Holt, 2010.
For those who wish to learn more about the background of The House of Dead Maids, I have written a number of web pages dealing with my research into the Brontë family and Wuthering Heights. You may reach all of those pages by clicking on this link.
The moors in rain are best seen from indoors.
And here's another shot of rain coming in. The moors seem vast. Look how tiny the people and animals are in the foreground.
Tabby talks at one point about the treeless waste--it's astonishing how bare the moors are.
Quite desolate!
Trees can grow only in the valleys. The valley at the foot of Seldom house is much narrower than this, though, and the fells rising around it are steep.
Tabby notices that the hills near Seldom House have no stone fences like these; she remarks that the land is "still free."
When Tabby and Heathcliff are out on the moors, they take shelter at the base of a "little white cliff." I was thinking of crags like this (although not as dramatic or large); white or light gray compared to the dark green of the grass.
More bare hills. Life in Yorkshire can still be pretty harsh in places, as you can see here.
The true moor is behind these little fellows: not even green grass will grow on it. Tabby mentions how the hills are mottled and rust-colored. (Sheep are everywhere.)
On the opposite side of the valley, you can see a deep fold in the hill caused by a stream. Seldom House's village is in such a gorge (somewhat larger, but just as steep).
I loved the wonderful moss.
I was fascinated by its ability to swallow up entire boulders—or bones.
All photographs copyright 2009 by Joseph R. Dunkle