The World Within: The Brontes at Haworth - A Life in Letters, Diaries and Writings

by Juliet Gardiner

One of a series which also includes "My Dear Cassandra" (featuring the correspondence of Jane Austen) and "Paper Darts" (Virginia Woolf), this book maps both the real world of the Brontes at Haworth Parsonage, high up on the Yorkshire moors, and the worlds they spun for themselves in their writing and story-telling. Wherever possible it uses the words of Charlotte, Emily and Anne Bronte, their brother Branwell and their stern father, the Reverend Patrick Bronte, which are found in their letters to each other, the secret diary of Emily and Anne, and the correspondence between the Brontes as writers, and literary London. These are supplemented by the observations of those few people, such as Mrs Gaskell, who knew them and their works of poetry and fiction. Excerpts from all these sources are juxtaposed with the Brontes' own oils, watercolours and sketches of family and friends, pets and moorland scenes, and tiny drawings made to illustrate the chronicles of their imaginary childhood worlds. Other illustrations include facsimile letters and diary entries, paintings by Victorian artists and pictures of the artefacts which were in daily use at the Parsonage, which is today a place of pilgrimage for visitors from all over the world. Juliet Gardiner's other books include "The People's War", "What is History Today?" and "Over the GIs in Wartime Britain".

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Biography

160 pages, Hardcover

First published May 2, 1995

Reviews

[Quirkyreader · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an OK introduction to the Bronte's. I gave this book 5 stars because of the illustrations in this book.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

We wove a web in childhood,
A web of sunny air;
We dug a spring in infancy
Of water pure and fair [...]

For life is darkly shaded
And its joys fleet fast away!

- from 'Retrospection' by Charlotte Brontë (1835)

2017 marked the bicentenary of the birth of the least celebrated of the Brontë siblings, Branwell. As with the group portrait he painted of his surviving sisters and himself he appears as a ghostly figure, barely mentioned and then only with sadness. He left some poetry, youthful writings, a handful of paintings (on the evidence we have mostly of mediocre merit) and a record of a life wasted, an existence which brought him and those who knew him pain and distress.

But Branwell -- for all his likely hidden talents -- is not the gifted individual who springs to mind when the name Brontë is mentioned; more likely it will be Charlotte, Emily or Anne who commands our immediate attention. The World Within recounts the family history, from Patrick Brunty's birth in County Down in 1777 to Charlotte Brontë's death in 1855. There will be little I suspect to surprise Brontë fans so rather than give a synopsis of their lives and accomplishments I will merely point out what makes this title worth more than a brief look.

First of all what recommends The World Within is the variety of illustrations. Maps, portraits, photos, landscapes, prints, silhouettes -- all bring the family's existence into vivid focus. Particularly worthwhile are the sketches and paintings by the siblings, which to me show how much artistic talent Charlotte and Emily had, certainly in comparison to the pedestrian efforts of their brother Branwell.

Next are the copious quotations from the letters, diaries, poems and other writings that have survived from the siblings -- particularly Charlotte, the longest living of the six children -- and from their contemporaries such as biographer Mrs Gaskell and literary critics from various periodicals.

Finally, Juliet Gardiner's own commentary lays out their story in strict chronology, serving to contrast the setbacks and tragedies with the accomplishments and triumphs. To the biographical details Gardiner adds a list of personages, relevant topographical sites in Yorkshire and suggestions of places for modern pilgrims to visit, along with an index, a list standard sources and acknowledgements of sources for illustrations, help and advice.

The title, by the way, is a quote from lines by Emily, rather poignant in its implications and perfectly pointing out how imagination was the lifeline that saved the sisters from drowning in a sea of cares and worries:

So hopeless is the world without
The world within I doubly prize.

https://wp.me/s2oNj1-brontes

[Vanessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. I read Wuthering Heights a million years ago. I wanted to know more. I have visited their home in Haworth. The photos, captions, letters etc are really good. Adding the visual made this book much more readable. Still was hard to follow all of what happened to each person. Some of this is due to not all letters still exist.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

This coffee table-style book was a review of the other Bronte biographies I've recently read. I thought it gave a great overview of life in the Bronte family, and I particularly liked the listing of locations that were important in their world.

[Alicia McCallum · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was FASCINATING. How do three reclusive and solitary women become some of the famous female writers OF ALL TIME?

This book was full of many direct quotes from their letters (mainly Charlotte's), illustrations, photos, photos of their letters and the imaginary make believe world of their childhood, but it was also a complete story from their childhoods to their deaths. Many aspects of their lives were quite tragic, and since I knew so little about the Bronte family going into this book it felt like reading a novel where I would read a line and think, no, no-no-no... that happened?! These sisters, who were kind of each other's whole world, had relatively little interaction with other people and yet could write characters that have the depth of the whole of human experience in them. The whole story of the Bronte family was just fascinating, and I really like the way this coffee table style book included pictures of their childhood drawings and writings, photos and sketches of the locations where their lives took place, and photos and paintings of the people mentioned. It made it all come alive that much more. I loved reading it alongside reading The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and plan to read through all the Bronte sisters' books now.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was very informative on the Brontës history and life from the usage of letters from Charlotte to Ellen and other letters as well. Learnt lots of things I didnt know and made my trip to the patronage more interesting.

[Susan Grimshaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

A heart rending biography of this brilliant but tragic family based on their own correspondence , [mainly Charlotte's] and beautifully illustrated. It is very readable and gives great insight into this unique family.

[gracie rogers · Rating 4 out of 5]

reading their letters always makes me cry

[angela · Rating 1 out of 5]

boring