Book Synopsis:
The Brontë sisters are among the most beloved writers of all time, best known for their classic nineteenth-century novels Jane Eyre (Charlotte), Wuthering Heights (Emily), and Agnes Grey (Anne). In this sometimes heartbreaking young adult biography, Catherine Reef explores the turbulent lives of these literary siblings and the oppressive times in which they lived. Brontë fans will also revel in the insights into their favorite novels, the plethora of poetry, and the outstanding collection of more than sixty black-and-white archival images. A powerful testimony to the life of the mind.
My Review:
5/5 stars. This was such an interesting and informative book. Having never even read a Brontë book yet, I didn’t know much about the lives of the sisters, but I learned so much from this biography. Their lives were so fulfilling and sad at the same time. A sign of a good biography/informational book is when it makes you do further research on your own, and this book did that. After hearing about the books the sisters wrote, I think I actually want to start with Anne Brontë’s novels.
I've had this book on my shelf for a bit and wanted to read it after recently finishing and enjoying a historical fiction based on the Bronte sisters. I actually enjoyed this book about their real lives more than that fictional story.
A big part of this book is all the tragedy and loss the family experienced. When they were kids, the oldest two Brontes, Elizabeth and Maria, died of sickness they contracted at a boarding school that neglected and abused the students. Anne, the youngest, was only three or four at the time. While there were no more deaths for 20+ years, Emily; Anne; and their brother, Branwell, all died in the span of less than a year. Charlotte was the only sibling left. Their father ended up outliving all of his children. I can't imagine experiencing all that loss.
On the brighter side, this book obviously focused a lot on the sisters' writing endeavors. I loved learning about them writing under pseudonyms, sending out their work in secret, and eventually revealing who they are. I also didn't know that, in that time period, writing was considered only a man's job. It was funny to me - in a "wow, that's so wrong" kind of way - when there was a quote from a critic who changed his viewpoint of Charlotte's work he praised once he found out she was a girl.
This book talks about all of the novels that the sisters published and gives brief summaries of their plots. That made me very interested in some of them, particularly The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte. Although I now already know what the big mystery is from this book's summary, it sounds like a very intriguing story.
Another big aspect of the lives of the Brontes was their Christian faith and how important it was to some of them. Anne had a lot of Christian values in her novels, and Charlotte had a great quote about her faith staying strong even when she found out her friend was an atheist.
Besides their literary endeavors, this book highlighted many other aspects of the Brontes' lives, like their failed attempts at teaching and being governesses. Each sister's distinct personality was clear through what the author shared about them. After reading this biography, I now have an answer to the ice breaker question of "if you could meet any famous person, dead or alive, who would you want to meet?" The answer is all of the Brontes.
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