Surely Sally Wainwright should have called her Brontë play “A Hopeless Being” – Emily Brontë’s comment on her brother Branwell – as it all hinged on him and ended with his death (Last night’s TV, 30 December). Calling it To Walk Invisible, which refers to the sisters’ wish to maintain anonymity after they began to publish, was a misnomer, leading me, at least, to expect a play concentrating on them and their writing, not on the dismal subject of Branwell’s decline. As it is, more could have been shown of the expectations and hopes his family had of him when he was seen as a brilliant poet and painter.
As for the swearing, this is an example of modern authors using quite inappropriate obscenities just because they can. It jerks one right out of period, whether Branwell would have used the F-word or not. If he had, the reaction of his father and sisters would have been much greater.
Lynne Reid Banks
Author of Dark Quarter: The Story of the Brontës and Path to the Silent Country
• In Sally Wainwright’s intelligent reimagining of the Brontës the hills certainly were alive with the sound of music – incessantly, and not in a good way. It suffocated mood and dialogue. Happens all the time, signalling lack of confidence in the material on the part of producers and directors. They need to be reminded that if they’re good enough, words are music.
Chris Kelly
Shepton Mallet, Somerset
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