Romancing Miss Brontë

Romancing Miss Brontë
Juliet Gael
Ballantine Books, 2010, 416 pages, Historical Fiction

A blend of fact and fiction, the author paints a picture of three novelist sisters, Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë through the years in which they struggle to get published under pseudonyms to a time when the Brontë name is known throughout England. The Brontë sisters were the peculiarly strange daughters of a country parson in remote Yorkshire, England. They had no prospects of marriage and would likely have no place to live once their ailing father died. So with their unique genius and quiet determination they set out to get published.

As the title denotes, this story also follows Charlotte, who was no beauty, as the town’s curate, Arthur Nicholls, falls deeply in love with her over a period of many years, and how despite many differences and a fear that no one would ever truly love her, Charlotte does marry and then fall in love herself.

I quite enjoyed reading this book. There was a lot of interesting historical information, but what I liked most was the connection drawn between Jane Eyre and Charlotte Brontë. Jane Eyre has never been my favorite book, but now I will have to go read it again with a new understanding.

AJ