Certain books are incredibly difficult to turn into movies. Readers love the characters so fiercely, and are so protective of them, that no screen depiction could possibly do justice to the way we see and hear the characters in our mind. “Jane Eyre” is such a book. Yet it’s been filmed perhaps more often than any other novel — 22 times at least. Perhaps it’s because filmmakers are passionate about the plain mousy Jane, the doomed and tormented Mr. Rochester, and the love that nearly consumes them, that they just can’t let them alone. The new film starring Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender is faithful in word, in spirit and in the visual sweep: the stormy moors, the great gloomy house, the finery worn by the rich and the plain frocks by the poor, even, to use of one Charlotte Brontë’s favorite words, the physiognomy of the characters all seem drawn right from the page. Orphaned in infancy, Jane was sent to live with relatives who hated her and treated her cruelly. When she was sent to the dank Lowood School for Girls, things only got worse. The only love she felt was for her schoolmate Helen, but that did not last. Helen died of typhus, leaving Jane alone. At 18, knowing her low place in the world but strengthened by her trials, she goes to work at Thornfield Hall, that famously gloomy stone pile (convincingly played by Haddon Hall, seen often in Brontë and Austen adaptations) as the governess to another orphan, Adele, the ward of Thornfield’s master, Mr. Rochester. Haughty master and salaried dependent slowly fall in love, of course, but there is a problem: Those pesky cackles and thumps emanating from the attic. Mia Wasikowska is terrific: grave and watchful as the “poor, obscure, plain, and little” adult Jane. But is there any actor who can play Mr. Rochester? Brontë goes to great pains to describe him as homely: stern-faced, heavy-browed, chest almost too broad for his height, even Vulcan-like. And then there are his defining characteristics such as wild mood swings, acerbic wit and of course his mysterious burden. Michael Fassbender is a little too young, Continued from page 7too slight. Yet he’s a good match for Wasikowska. There’s chemistry there. The connection between these two characters is the paradigm of romantic love. Different in birth and fortune, they complete and perfect each other emotionally, intellectually, spiritually and (equally important in Brontë’s world) morally. But to depict their relationship as Brontë did would be difficult today. She uses words like “wild,” “savage” and “desperate” to describe Rochester’s need for Jane, and she in turn wants to “serve” and “obey” him. We’d want to diagnose each of them and their relationship with our own words like “dysfunctional” or “enabling.” And perhaps for that reason the intensity is dialed down. The intellectual and emotional connection is there, but the neediness is not, and so, perhaps inevitably, the movie never comes close to the dizzying intensity of the book. The stunningly photographed scenery is the other star of the movie. Everything looks covered with algae, the forbidding stone walls and roughhewn rooms of Thornfield, its heathered gardens, the desolate windswept moors soaked by flashing thunderstorms. Many scenes are lit only by candles and firelight and the darkness seems to swallow the actors whole. It’s just right for this dark and ghostly tale. After seeing the movie I raced home and reread the novel, and I am grateful for it. It’s been a while and I remember again why I love it so. If the film can’t quite get at the heart of what makes Jane Eyre so alluring, it’s still a wonderful effort, a treat for the eye and a desperately romantic love story. “Jane Eyre” is rated PG-13 for a nude image and brief violent content. It is at The Moviehouse in Millerton, NY, and elsewhere.
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Greg Fricke and James Boehmer, co-owners of Peggy Mercury in Kent, recently launched their first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts.”
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Fricke and Boehmer are not there to stock their shelves with the same products customers find at standard makeup retailers. They’re there to help customers find what works for them. That usually means asking customers about themselves and learning about their beauty habits, skin, style and the way they like to present themselves. Fricke and Boehmer believe it’s their job to help customers bring out the qualities that suit them and determine what works best for their look.
So much of the Peggy Mercury world is about emboldening people to become more creative, and possibly bolder, versions of themselves. Some of this comes through the store’s creative collaborations with artists, designers and stylists.
It’s part of an ethos that encourages them and their friends to use the shop as a kind of laboratory, trying out new creative experiments without knowing how they might turn out. Whether in fashion, painting, fiber arts or photography, the projects almost always turn out marvelously.
A line of sterling silver charms they sell started as a small project by their friend Nolan Percival. In the beginning, the pieces were for close friends and loved ones. But Boehmer and Fricke encouraged Percival to get a little more serious about the project and create a whole line for the store. Today, it’s one of their top-selling collections.
Classic styles, bold colors, and creative concerts make up the “Imaginary Concerts” line at Peggy Mercury.Provided
“Imaginary Concerts” has the duo taking their own advice.
The project started as a way for Boehmer to connect with his mother, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Taking old concert shirts from his own collection, Boehmer and his mother began cutting out the graphics with the idea that they would make a quilt together. Unfortunately, she died before they could complete the project in 2025. The pieces, which were ready for production, were put on the back burner as Boehmer and Fricke dealt with their loss and the whirlwind of projects that never seemed to cease at Peggy Mercury.
But the harsh winter of 2026 presented an opportunity to take some time and focus on themselves. Part of that meant revisiting and redefining the concert T-shirt project. This time, instead of looking to the warmth and comfort of a quilt, they turned to another passion — fashion.
Taking a page from their own book, they wanted to create something that felt comfortable to them. They took two disparate loves — one rooted in simple preppy style, with clean lines and classic silhouettes, and the other in the nitty gritty worlds of punk rock and pop — and blended them together to create something entirely new. Pulling from the staples of vintage Brooks Brothers and Charvet collections, they applied the graphic elements with bold stitching reminiscent of punk jackets of the ‘70s and ‘80s, but with a much more sophisticated air.
But the remixing isn’t just the pairing of prep and punk. The pieces are not canon. They take liberties with the realities of concert tours, combining one band’s dates with another band’s logos, mixing them all up until the reality is lost and imagination is the only truth.
Shirts from Peggy Mercury’s first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts,” hang on display.Provided
Adding to the mix is an element of perpetual creativity. Art can be messy, both figuratively and literally, and many of Fricke and Boehmer’s artist friends carry evidence of their work on them at all times. As a nod to these tireless creatives, the duo added haphazard splashes of bright color, giving the line an even more distinctive feel.
For them, “Imaginary Concerts” passes the “Peggy Test.” The mythical Peggy Mercury is a fictional figurehead for the company, a character who thrives on creativity and change. The name, much like the clothing line, is a mixture of interests: Mercury is a planet, a deity and an elusive, transformative element, while Peggy is the wonderfully stylish and boundary-pushing Peggy Guggenheim.
Everything Fricke and Boehmer put in their store has to pass this test: Would Peggy Mercury approve? For their first collection, the answer is a resounding yes.
Peggy Mercury is at 9 Maple St., Unit 2, Kent.
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