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Bronte Biographies #2
Path to the Silent Country: Charlotte Bronte's Story
‘Path to the Silent Country’ is Lynne Reid Banks’ follow up to the critically-acclaimed ‘Dark Quartet: The Story of the Brontes’.
In Haworth Parsonage, in the rural landscape of the Yorkshire moors, Charlotte Bronte suffers alone.
She has experienced a triple blow - the death of her beloved sisters and brother.
Paralysed by misery and her only solace - religion - not bringing her any comfort, she turns to writing to escape her grief.
Charlotte is for the first time in her life able to travel to the capital, following on from the success of ‘Jane Eyre’ and ‘Shirley’. She immerses herself in London society, meeting influential figures from the literary elite.
But at every turn, her identity is questioned.
Returning to the parsonage, Charlotte is again crippled by loss. Her father becomes sick with bronchitis, and she herself is gripped by influenza. Not only this, the unrequited love of one George Smith plagues her, along with the amorous pleas of Mr Arthur Nichols.
'Path to the Silent Country' is a gripping fictionalised account of one woman's struggle to draw together a life shattered by grief.
It is a story of love sacrificed for the approval of an ailing father, and of courage in the face of public scrutiny. Above all, it is a story of defiance.
Praise for Lynne Reid Banks:
"Lynne Reid Banks communicates her story with clarity and conviction that establish her among the noblest of factual fiction writers" - Guardian
‘A novel which will open many eyes afresh to the lives of the remarkable and gifted Brontës’ — Yorkshire Post
Lynne Reid Banks is a best-selling British author for both children and adults. Her first novel, ‘The L-Shaped Room’, was adapted into a successful film, as was her children’s book ‘The Indian in the Cupboard’. Her account of the lives of the Brontës, ‘Dark Quartet’, won the Yorkshire Arts Association Award and was followed by a sequel, ‘Path to the Silent Country: Charlotte Bronte’s Years of Fame’.
Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent publisher of digital books.
In Haworth Parsonage, in the rural landscape of the Yorkshire moors, Charlotte Bronte suffers alone.
She has experienced a triple blow - the death of her beloved sisters and brother.
Paralysed by misery and her only solace - religion - not bringing her any comfort, she turns to writing to escape her grief.
Charlotte is for the first time in her life able to travel to the capital, following on from the success of ‘Jane Eyre’ and ‘Shirley’. She immerses herself in London society, meeting influential figures from the literary elite.
But at every turn, her identity is questioned.
Returning to the parsonage, Charlotte is again crippled by loss. Her father becomes sick with bronchitis, and she herself is gripped by influenza. Not only this, the unrequited love of one George Smith plagues her, along with the amorous pleas of Mr Arthur Nichols.
'Path to the Silent Country' is a gripping fictionalised account of one woman's struggle to draw together a life shattered by grief.
It is a story of love sacrificed for the approval of an ailing father, and of courage in the face of public scrutiny. Above all, it is a story of defiance.
Praise for Lynne Reid Banks:
"Lynne Reid Banks communicates her story with clarity and conviction that establish her among the noblest of factual fiction writers" - Guardian
‘A novel which will open many eyes afresh to the lives of the remarkable and gifted Brontës’ — Yorkshire Post
Lynne Reid Banks is a best-selling British author for both children and adults. Her first novel, ‘The L-Shaped Room’, was adapted into a successful film, as was her children’s book ‘The Indian in the Cupboard’. Her account of the lives of the Brontës, ‘Dark Quartet’, won the Yorkshire Arts Association Award and was followed by a sequel, ‘Path to the Silent Country: Charlotte Bronte’s Years of Fame’.
Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent publisher of digital books.
- GenresBiographyNonfiction
218 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1977
41 people are currently reading
219 people want to read
About the author
Lynne Reid Banks
89 books402 followersLynne Reid Banks is a British author of books for children and adults. She has written forty books, including the best-selling children's novel The Indian in the Cupboard, which has sold over 10 million copies and been made into a film.
Banks was born in London, the only child of James and Muriel Reid Banks. She was evacuated to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada during World War II but returned after the war was over. She attended St Teresa's School in Surrey. Prior to becoming a writer Banks was an actress, and also worked as a television journalist in Britain, one of the first women to do so. Her first novel, The L-Shaped Room, was published in 1960.
In 1962 Banks emigrated to Israel, where she taught for eight years on an Israeli kibbutz Yasur. In 1965 she married Chaim Stephenson, with whom she had three sons. Although the family returned to England in 1971 and Banks now lives in Dorset, the influence of her time in Israel can be seen in some of her books which are set partially or mainly on kibbutzim.
Banks was born in London, the only child of James and Muriel Reid Banks. She was evacuated to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada during World War II but returned after the war was over. She attended St Teresa's School in Surrey. Prior to becoming a writer Banks was an actress, and also worked as a television journalist in Britain, one of the first women to do so. Her first novel, The L-Shaped Room, was published in 1960.
In 1962 Banks emigrated to Israel, where she taught for eight years on an Israeli kibbutz Yasur. In 1965 she married Chaim Stephenson, with whom she had three sons. Although the family returned to England in 1971 and Banks now lives in Dorset, the influence of her time in Israel can be seen in some of her books which are set partially or mainly on kibbutzim.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
August 4, 2018
For some reason, I couldn't stop reading this. It's the story of Charlotte Bronte following the death of all her siblings until her own death. Their story was told in "Dark Quartet;" now, it becomes the story of Charlotte alone.
Charlotte Bronte, as well as her two sisters, published under a pen name at first. But the secret of Jane Eyre's authorship could only be kept for so long...and once it was out, her popularity knew no bounds. Her personality was ill suited to handle such fame.
"The infliction of strangers--especially of a sophisticated breed, with their epigrammatic style of conversation and their sharp, sly wit demanding constant ripostes--was an enervating torment to her; she could never be at ease except among those who spoke plainly and intelligently and who liked her for herself."
Fortunately, Charlotte doesn't have to be in the thick of it all the time; her home in Yorkshire is quiet, though trying in its own way. Also, her fame brings her in touch with a few true friends, especially Elizabeth Gaskell (who would later be asked to write the first biography of Charlotte).
The true story of Charlotte Bronte's struggles makes for fascinating reading. Especially the parts where she ruthlessly analyzes whether she is cut out for married life or spinsterhood...and if she marries for the sake of not being lonely, to what degree should she expect sympathy of mind and heart from a husband? There is no easy answer, but eventually she, sort of, finds her answer.
I am again impressed by the balance between biography and fiction that Lynne Reid Banks manages to achieve. The book certainly read as smoothly as a novel, but I was never assailed by doubts that the real Charlotte Bronte might not have said or felt something ascribed to her, and everything I read matched up to what I previously knew of her life.
There's no denying it, every single one of the Bronte sisters had an unfair life, cut tragically short. But their tenacity and creative genius still make a powerful impression, one worth reading about.
Charlotte Bronte, as well as her two sisters, published under a pen name at first. But the secret of Jane Eyre's authorship could only be kept for so long...and once it was out, her popularity knew no bounds. Her personality was ill suited to handle such fame.
"The infliction of strangers--especially of a sophisticated breed, with their epigrammatic style of conversation and their sharp, sly wit demanding constant ripostes--was an enervating torment to her; she could never be at ease except among those who spoke plainly and intelligently and who liked her for herself."
Fortunately, Charlotte doesn't have to be in the thick of it all the time; her home in Yorkshire is quiet, though trying in its own way. Also, her fame brings her in touch with a few true friends, especially Elizabeth Gaskell (who would later be asked to write the first biography of Charlotte).
The true story of Charlotte Bronte's struggles makes for fascinating reading. Especially the parts where she ruthlessly analyzes whether she is cut out for married life or spinsterhood...and if she marries for the sake of not being lonely, to what degree should she expect sympathy of mind and heart from a husband? There is no easy answer, but eventually she, sort of, finds her answer.
I am again impressed by the balance between biography and fiction that Lynne Reid Banks manages to achieve. The book certainly read as smoothly as a novel, but I was never assailed by doubts that the real Charlotte Bronte might not have said or felt something ascribed to her, and everything I read matched up to what I previously knew of her life.
There's no denying it, every single one of the Bronte sisters had an unfair life, cut tragically short. But their tenacity and creative genius still make a powerful impression, one worth reading about.
October 28, 2013
Dark Quartet, a fictionalised biography of the young Brontes, was one of my favourite books growing up. It achieved two extraordinarily difficult things: while emphasising the immense gifts of the "dark quartet", it also made them human and relatable; and- no less an accomplishment- it rescued Branwell Bronte from his traditional "ungrateful wastrel" status. I didn't even know there was a sequel until recently; as soon as this came to my attention, I had to sniff it out.
Although the earlier book is an extremely hard act to follow, Path to the Silent Country does its utmost. We see Charlotte, reserved nebbish that she is, catapulted into fame; her troubled relationship with her father, the increasingly querulous and eccentric Patrick; and her unexpected marriage to Arthur Nicholls, a man she always declared she despised. (But since she borrowed his middle name- Bell- as her pseudonym and used him in one of her books, she'd obviously noticed him more than she cared to admit). She isn't particularly sympathetic, nor is she intended to be- she jealously guards her sisters' memories, detesting Anne's book The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (which, IMO, is the best and most daring book by any of the Bronte girls) and denying what seems clear to the reader- she doesn't want them to rival her in acclaim. She also completely drops one of her friends in a fit of childish piqué. Possibly the reader is meant to believe that the narrow minded, decidedly ordinary Nicholls is her inferior, but honestly I felt they deserved each other.
Lynne Reid Banks is incapable of writing badly; you'd believe you were reading a genuine Victorian novel, her grasp of vocabulary and style are so good. If Path to the Silent Country has flaws, they're not her fault but history's- all the interesting, likeable Brontes are now dead, leaving us with Charlotte. Never mind!
Although the earlier book is an extremely hard act to follow, Path to the Silent Country does its utmost. We see Charlotte, reserved nebbish that she is, catapulted into fame; her troubled relationship with her father, the increasingly querulous and eccentric Patrick; and her unexpected marriage to Arthur Nicholls, a man she always declared she despised. (But since she borrowed his middle name- Bell- as her pseudonym and used him in one of her books, she'd obviously noticed him more than she cared to admit). She isn't particularly sympathetic, nor is she intended to be- she jealously guards her sisters' memories, detesting Anne's book The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (which, IMO, is the best and most daring book by any of the Bronte girls) and denying what seems clear to the reader- she doesn't want them to rival her in acclaim. She also completely drops one of her friends in a fit of childish piqué. Possibly the reader is meant to believe that the narrow minded, decidedly ordinary Nicholls is her inferior, but honestly I felt they deserved each other.
Lynne Reid Banks is incapable of writing badly; you'd believe you were reading a genuine Victorian novel, her grasp of vocabulary and style are so good. If Path to the Silent Country has flaws, they're not her fault but history's- all the interesting, likeable Brontes are now dead, leaving us with Charlotte. Never mind!
May 19, 2017
I have become entranced with the Bronte sisters. This lovely biography is about Charlotte, who finally found happiness in marriage but died much too soon. I have since downloaded a book by Anne Bronte and another by Charlotte. I also bought the biography of Charlotte Bronte by Elizabeth Gaskell. Can't wait to read them!
March 3, 2011
My surgeon's bill arrived today = NOT helping recovery. A horizontal chaise lounge continually calls me. Reviews and course work piling up but they will have to wait.
March 22, 2017
Lynne Reid Banks has done an excellent job of telling Charlotte Bronte's story based on letters and biographies of those who came before. I was shocked to learn that Bronte's novel, Jane Eyre, was not well received when it first came out in 1847, and why. From a 21st century perspective, I admired the character of Jane Eyre as a strong, independent woman. I watched as Miss Bronte struggled with the criticisms of the day, her own ill-health, and the loneliness of life on the moors, after the death of her sisters Anne, Emily, Elizabeth, and Maria. While reading this account of Bronte's life, you will also meet other famous writer's Elizabeth Gaskell, Harriet Martineau, and William Makepiece Thackeray. Banks has done a wonderful job of bringing the life and times of Charlotte Bronte to life.
August 24, 2018
I loved Dark Quartet so much I ordered the sequel as soon as I finished it, and once again Lynne Reid Banks came through. Out of the 5 Brontë siblings, I find it so shocking that timid Charlotte was the lone survivor; and it was so gratifying to see how she eventually blossoms in late life and love. I have to say I was utterly horrified at her destruction of the work of her sisters - how I wish the publishers had appointed someone else. Especially later, when Charlotte was unable to go through with burning her own writing.
Additional note: the Corgi edition I read was 237 pp long, I think it's funny how much neither cover art featuring her in profile really looks anything like Charlotte Brontë.
Additional note: the Corgi edition I read was 237 pp long, I think it's funny how much neither cover art featuring her in profile really looks anything like Charlotte Brontë.
September 19, 2014
A brilliant sequel to Dark Quartet.
Recommended read.
Recommended read.
December 4, 2023
In this continuation of Charlotte Brontë’s story from
Dark Quartet
, she is in deep mourning for her late sisters and brother but left in effect to see to her father’s welfare on her own (except for the two servants.)
Her true identity has finally been unmasked though and on a visit to London she finds herself a celebrity but the unkinder reviews Jane Eyre received distress her. In particular being brought up as the daughter of a cleric and steeped in that religion she is upset by the criticism that her book was unchristian. In Reid Banks’s account it was fellow writer and social theorist Harriet Martineau who explained to her people’s objections. Other literary luminaries of the time who pop up here include William Makepeace Thackeray, and Mrs Gaskell, the latter of whom she formed such a friendship with that she was entrusted to write Charlotte’s biography.
The main tension in the book, though, is her relationship with her father Patrick who acted very autocratically towards her and resented any time she spent away from him. (His main fear was that she would marry and thus fall prey to a then common fate, the rigours and dangers of child-bearing. How much of this is Reid Banks’s imagination or whether he was just being extremely selfish is moot.)
As told here a few men took Charlotte’s attention but none cast the same sort of spell on her as had her employer in Brussels, Constantin Héger. When Mr Nicholls, Patrick’s curate, expressed a romantic interest in her Patrick reacted violently and more or less banished him.
A commission to construct a book from her sister’s the papers brings her grief to the fore again but leads her to destroy the best of their remaining literary pieces, as being poems too personal to publish.
After the publication of Villette her writing ground to a halt, she had too much else on her mind and too much to do looking after her father.
It was her eventual marriage to Nicholls, after a promise never to leave her father reconciled him to the match, that would indeed prove disastrous as, despite perhaps thinking herself too old, she became pregnant and her body could not cope with the concomitant demands on it.
Attempting to fictionalise the lives of real people, especially ones about whom such a lot is known, can not be an easy endeavour. Reid Banks does it as well as can be expected.
Her true identity has finally been unmasked though and on a visit to London she finds herself a celebrity but the unkinder reviews Jane Eyre received distress her. In particular being brought up as the daughter of a cleric and steeped in that religion she is upset by the criticism that her book was unchristian. In Reid Banks’s account it was fellow writer and social theorist Harriet Martineau who explained to her people’s objections. Other literary luminaries of the time who pop up here include William Makepeace Thackeray, and Mrs Gaskell, the latter of whom she formed such a friendship with that she was entrusted to write Charlotte’s biography.
The main tension in the book, though, is her relationship with her father Patrick who acted very autocratically towards her and resented any time she spent away from him. (His main fear was that she would marry and thus fall prey to a then common fate, the rigours and dangers of child-bearing. How much of this is Reid Banks’s imagination or whether he was just being extremely selfish is moot.)
As told here a few men took Charlotte’s attention but none cast the same sort of spell on her as had her employer in Brussels, Constantin Héger. When Mr Nicholls, Patrick’s curate, expressed a romantic interest in her Patrick reacted violently and more or less banished him.
A commission to construct a book from her sister’s the papers brings her grief to the fore again but leads her to destroy the best of their remaining literary pieces, as being poems too personal to publish.
After the publication of Villette her writing ground to a halt, she had too much else on her mind and too much to do looking after her father.
It was her eventual marriage to Nicholls, after a promise never to leave her father reconciled him to the match, that would indeed prove disastrous as, despite perhaps thinking herself too old, she became pregnant and her body could not cope with the concomitant demands on it.
Attempting to fictionalise the lives of real people, especially ones about whom such a lot is known, can not be an easy endeavour. Reid Banks does it as well as can be expected.
May 9, 2024
If life is said to imitate art, the tragic history of the Bronte siblings is definitely a case in point. The author, Ms. Banks, has done a remarkable job at creating a window to take us inside a ghost ridden Haworth parsonage, empty of all living Brontes save Charlotte and her father, Patrick.
I find Charlotte to be as much a heroine in her own real life as any of her fictional characters, surpassing even Jane herself perhaps.
Im late to discovering this book and author, but better late than never as they say. I recommend it heartily
I find Charlotte to be as much a heroine in her own real life as any of her fictional characters, surpassing even Jane herself perhaps.
Im late to discovering this book and author, but better late than never as they say. I recommend it heartily
February 24, 2019
An entrancing book about the later years of Charlotte Bronte, following the harrowing death of her sisters Emily and Anne, and her brother Branwell.
Being completely unsuited to fame and becoming a bit of a public figure amongs the literati, including William Makepiece Thackery - this is a fascinating account of her rather exciting rebirth and eventually, her very happy though tragically curtailed last adventures
Being completely unsuited to fame and becoming a bit of a public figure amongs the literati, including William Makepiece Thackery - this is a fascinating account of her rather exciting rebirth and eventually, her very happy though tragically curtailed last adventures
June 23, 2024
Charlotte Bronte
A wonderful book so beautifully written. This was a very sad book as it illustrated the harsh reality of life during the nineteenth century with death a frequent and unavoidable occurrence. Even so there were some moments of happiness.
A wonderful book so beautifully written. This was a very sad book as it illustrated the harsh reality of life during the nineteenth century with death a frequent and unavoidable occurrence. Even so there were some moments of happiness.
February 13, 2019
A short and sweet fictionalized biography of Charlotte Brontë after the death of her siblings. Her life is so bittersweet, no matter which version you read of it.
April 8, 2016
Lynne Reid Banks turns her considerable powers of imagination to the final years of Charlotte Bronte's too-short life, weaving a story out of her letters and other existing accounts, cleaving to fact yet styled somewhere between fiction and formal biography. The lines between fact and speculation are blurry, so if you are expecting footnotes, look elsewhere. I haven't (yet) read Gaskell's acclaimed The Life of Charlotte Brontë, and I felt that this brief and focused portrayal prepares me for a more serious or scholarly account. Banks does a marvelous job of clearly conveying all that Charlotte Bronte suffered through, and what grace and fortitude she discovered in herself.
I particularly enjoyed Banks' inclusion of Charlotte's interactions with Harriet Martineau. Naturally, even dissenter like Gaskell could not approach the frankness with which Banks can delineate Martineau's atheistic principles and Charlotte's own complicated reactions to her ideas. The passages where Martineau exhorts Charlotte to throw over her "last comfort" in favor of the miracles of earthly existence may not be her words at all (I mean to find out), but they thrilled me all the same to think of Charlotte receiving these earnest exhortations from a friend too honest to deny Charlotte the peace she might find in a more secular philosophy.
Deeply religious as she was, Bronte demonstrated a wider sense of justice and more compassionate moral center than the received opinion of the day, which required that heroines that "fall" in any respect be consigned to tragic death at the end of a novel, however fervent their repentance and unmitigated wholesomeness thereafter, and that likewise any man who has ever stooped to extramarital dalliance should remain permanently unrewarded (thus no marriage to a pure woman ought be tolerated for such as Rochester.) While Charlotte's religious faith may have survived unshaken by Harriet Martineau's argument for rationality, I delight in the thought that she nevertheless benefited from the society of more "extreme" free thinkers.
I particularly enjoyed Banks' inclusion of Charlotte's interactions with Harriet Martineau. Naturally, even dissenter like Gaskell could not approach the frankness with which Banks can delineate Martineau's atheistic principles and Charlotte's own complicated reactions to her ideas. The passages where Martineau exhorts Charlotte to throw over her "last comfort" in favor of the miracles of earthly existence may not be her words at all (I mean to find out), but they thrilled me all the same to think of Charlotte receiving these earnest exhortations from a friend too honest to deny Charlotte the peace she might find in a more secular philosophy.
Your comfort, dear Miss Bronte, should not depend on belief in some vague palace in the skies in which your loved ones sit and wait for you. That is something you cannot be sure of, and in any case it is deferred. Your comfort is here. In your memories. In the knowledge that those marvelous women, your sisters, somehow produced masterpieces which will live on, and reach the minds and hearts of thousands. In the splendid fact that they lived, interacted with the world about them according to their separate destinies, and then gave place to those who are to follow them, as those before gave place to them. That is the only miracle we need--the beautiful, unchangeable law of existence. To worship this as rational beings, we don't need the impediment of fancies and extensions of our own natural powers of observation--all that is may be observed through the senses... For the rest--the suffering, sorrow, and injustice, the cruelties and stupidities, those elements of human life which cause believers so much bafflement--these are our tasks, and we are fitter to do them if we are not wasting our reasoning powers struggling to reconcile omnipotence and benevolence in a 'perfect' God. These ills are man's--his blunders, his responsibilities. You cannot imagine the sense of freedom which ensues when one breaks the last chain and accepts that no prayers but only constant endeavors can put these things right.... Shall I tell you what must sustain you? Your belief in man. Your love for your sisters and brother, dead or alive. And, most of all, your work. It is all within you, the strength to do what you have a will to do, and what put it there is the inviolable law of nature that makes flowers grow out of the branch of a tree."
Deeply religious as she was, Bronte demonstrated a wider sense of justice and more compassionate moral center than the received opinion of the day, which required that heroines that "fall" in any respect be consigned to tragic death at the end of a novel, however fervent their repentance and unmitigated wholesomeness thereafter, and that likewise any man who has ever stooped to extramarital dalliance should remain permanently unrewarded (thus no marriage to a pure woman ought be tolerated for such as Rochester.) While Charlotte's religious faith may have survived unshaken by Harriet Martineau's argument for rationality, I delight in the thought that she nevertheless benefited from the society of more "extreme" free thinkers.
February 7, 2017
I recently read and reviewed 'Dark Quartet: The Story of the Brontës', which is the first of the two books Lynne Reid Banks has written about the Brontë family. The first book covers all of the siblings and ends when all of them, except, Charlotte are dead. This second book is about Charlotte and how she is coping on her own.
It is historical fiction, but as with the first book, the characters are very well depicted, and, as far as I can tell, Lynne Reid Banks follow well the history of the family, as we know it. Charlotte, who has been used to have her siblings around her, and, mind you, for most of her life they have been the only social contact she had, feels the solitude heavy on her shoulders. However, there are highlights. Her fame, and that of her sisters, are rising and she is now much sought after.
Her publisher Mr Smith, of which she has a crush, although she is quite aware that nothing can come out of it, is trying to include her in his social circles when she is in London. She meets her favourite author Thackeray, although his behaviour is not to her approval and that puts her off. She manages, although it seems to be very difficult, to somehow enjoy herself while in London.
Her fame also put her in contact with other female writers like Elizabeth Gaskell (who were to write the first biography of Charlotte) and Harriet Martineau (considered as one of the first female sociologists) and whom Charlotte admired. At least until she gave an unfavourable opinion on one of her books!
Lynne Reid Banks manages to visualise the rather depressing character of Charlotte, as well has her father Patrick. It can not have been a happy house to live in during those years. Arthur Bell Nichols, her father’s curate, is deeply in love with Charlotte. His first marriage proposal is refused, we can imagine, probably more because the father does not like him, than Charlotte’s own feelings. He has to leave for another parish but keeps a correspondence with Charlotte. In the end it pays out and they marry.
This seems to have been the most happy time of Charlotte’s life. They visit his family in Ireland and are well received. Charlotte becomes pregnant which makes her very happy. Alas, happiness does not seem to be for her and her family and she dies before the child is born.
This books is a must if you are into the Brontë family. Historical fiction (I know not all love this kind of freedom with the lives of famous people), but I really love it. Especially when it is so well written and with a lot of respect to the real persons and their stories as in Lynne Reid Banks version. She makes these remarkable people come alive.
Thank you to Endeavour Press for the review copy. The views put forward are my own, personal ones.
This review appears on my blog: thecontentreader.blogspot.com
September 28, 2015
Poor editing
The subject is certainly interesting and I'm guessing the writing is good, but I find it impossible to go on reading this book. The editing is atrocious. There is the constant spell check problem, with the wrong word chosen instead of the correct spelling of the right word. However, this book adds a new editing problem. Suddenly in the middle of a sentence is a period, then the next word will be capitalized and the sentence continued. Simply too much trouble to bother with.
The subject is certainly interesting and I'm guessing the writing is good, but I find it impossible to go on reading this book. The editing is atrocious. There is the constant spell check problem, with the wrong word chosen instead of the correct spelling of the right word. However, this book adds a new editing problem. Suddenly in the middle of a sentence is a period, then the next word will be capitalized and the sentence continued. Simply too much trouble to bother with.
May 28, 2016
This was not as compelling as the previous novel (Dark Quartet), but only because Charlotte Bronte's life was not particularly interesting. Banks does a very good job of telling the story without becoming dull, and the tragedy of Charlotte's losses, bouts with depression and her death are well depicted.
August 9, 2016
Was surprised at this lively biography
Charlotte Bronte was a very creative though depressed and introverted person. She had so much grief at the loss of all her siblings. Her father seems to have been a great deal self absorbed. I thought I was rather shy until reading this as well as the Bronte family biography before this! Quite amazing lives overall.
Charlotte Bronte was a very creative though depressed and introverted person. She had so much grief at the loss of all her siblings. Her father seems to have been a great deal self absorbed. I thought I was rather shy until reading this as well as the Bronte family biography before this! Quite amazing lives overall.
November 3, 2016
Perfect follow-up.
This is exactly what I needed after the end of Dark Quartet.. I felt as if I was in the middle of the story at that time. This is complete now. Although I will now read Elizabeth Haskell's book. Whew....what a time and place!
This is exactly what I needed after the end of Dark Quartet.. I felt as if I was in the middle of the story at that time. This is complete now. Although I will now read Elizabeth Haskell's book. Whew....what a time and place!
January 1, 2017
This is a follow up to 'Dark Quartet' which I found more engaging as it dealt with the four Bronte siblings and the action was more varied. That said, I did enjoy this one, which focuses on Charlotte and her dealing with the loss of the siblings. Amazing family!
August 2, 2008
A great biographical novel for any Bronte fans with the added bonus of being an easy read - although my edition was in rather small print!!
March 15, 2016
A fascinating biography of Charlotte Bronte in the remaining years of her life after her siblings passed away. Such a brief and tragic life, yet richly lived as well.
March 8, 2016
I found this book about Charlotte Bronte's life drag for me a bit. This was about the time period after her sisters and brother both died and she lived in near seclusion with her Father.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews