Oblivion: The Lost Diaries of Branwell Brontë

by Dean De La Motte

Oblivion: The Lost Diaries of Branwell Brontë is both a compelling reconstruction of the life of the famous literary sisters’ often-misunderstood brother and a dramatic, sweeping portrayal of a century in rapid transition to modernity. It is a meticulous, loving tribute to the language, structure and themes of the Brontës’ own works, as de la Motte at times weaves the very words of their correspondence, novels and poems seamlessly into his lively narrative.

Oblivion traces Branwell’s meandering journey across the north of England, from the Fells of the Lake District to the ocean cliffs of Scarborough, from the smoky streets of industrial Halifax to the windswept moors above Haworth, encountering such notables as Hartley Coleridge and Franz Liszt. Through him we meet poets, sculptors, booksellers, prostitutes, publicans, railway workers, farmers, manufacturers and clergymen; through his experiences we contemplate the ineffable but fleeting ecstasy of sex, the existence of God, the effects of drugs and alcohol and the nature of addiction itself, the desire for fame, and the bitter resentment of artists and intellectuals who feel unappreciated by an increasingly materialistic, mechanized society.

This sprawling story is a moving, thought-provoking page-turner that seeks not only to understand the roots of Branwell Brontë’s tragic end but also to unearth the striking similarities of character between him and his now-famous sisters.

800 pages, Hardcover

First published July 21, 2022

Reviews

[Taten Shirley · Rating 5 out of 5]

An impressive fictional yet highly-realistic account of the Brontë brother . . . Though I’ve never cared for Branwell, I do think the author makes him a sympathetic, albeit flawed, character.

[Deb Lancaster · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm giving this 5 stars, not because it's perfect (it isn't), not because I agree with everything (I don't) but because I thoroughly enjoyed it.

In my head, Branwell is less of a horny dickhead apparently powerless before the needs of little Branwell.

But you know, maybe he was.

I found Branwell annoying but also, maybe he was.

As a Brontë freak I recognised most, if not all, of the references,quotes, nods to and allusions. I enjoyed all that.

Probably least enjoyed the Maggie and young Lydia plots, which I was interested to read are totally fictional.

I'm yet to see someone take the position in a fictional account that Mrs R and Branwell didn't knock boots and it was all rather more pathetic and in his head.

But anyway, this is a great, soaring, exhaustive attempt to achieve the impossible, to know more about Branwell Brontë. And I really liked it.

[Gary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating historical fiction based on Branwell Bronte and his more famous sisters - Charlotte, Emily and Anne. The author - a faculty member at Salve Regina University in Rhode Island - does an excellent job of combining information and themes from multiple sources to create an engrossing story where Branwell documents via diary entries his struggles in finding a satisfying path in life. Although the book is long (almost 800 pages in the kindle edition) De La Motte keeps the story moving quickly with short chapters that are focused and entertaining. At no time did I feel the story lagged or have filler sections that forced me to read through chapters while waiting for the plot to become interesting again.
Historical fiction is not a genre that I typically read (full disclosure: the author and I went to grade school and two years of high school together) but I really enjoyed the story. He did not spend the first sections of the book trying to establish character backgrounds but jumps immediately into story and allows the reader to learn the different relationships as different aspects of the story are explored. I found myself stopping after many chapters doing my own research trying to determine which aspects of his life were real and which came from the authors imagination.
I really appreciated a section De La Motte adds in the afterword which tracks by chapter which books or poems influenced the themes in the story. Many of them come from the books written by the Bronte sisters so I found it interesting to see how he took those themes and turned them into the diary entries through which the story is told. While I was aware of the Bronte sisters, I had never read any of their books (although I have seen the Wuthering Heights movie with Laurence Olivier) or knew they had a brother. This book has piqued my interest enough to add their handful of novels to my TBR list.

[Hannah Woodland · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this imagining of Branwell's life.The author's research was second to none,and he weaved Branwell's timeline into the story perfectly.
The whole story was incredibly faithful to all information known about The Bronte's, and I found myself popping out of the book to Google things,events and people I never knew about prior to reading this.
I highly recommend this to any Bronte fans.It is a very different insight into what could have made Branwell tick. An excellent,informative and captivating read.

[Sheila Lowe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommend this book. The story is told through diary entries made by Branwell Bronte, and relates the time period perfectly. I learned a lot about the Bronte Family and the time period they lived in.

[Claire Thackray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliantly written! Well researched

[Alenka of Bohemia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A mammoth book that is not a perfect novel, but the author did a genius thing of putting "The Lost Diaries of Branwell Brontë" into the title, and that changed everything. Because if you told me these were indeed edited (or maybe even unedited) personal writings of the one Brontë sibling everybody had high expectations for - and yet he would not be known at all today had it not been for his sisters - I would believe you. Long rambling passages about life philosophy? Yes. A slew of names one needs to keep up with? Of course. The unreliable narrator of situations and other people? You bet. The expressions and vocabulary worthy of a Thesaurus? They are in! And Branwell himself, the man you pity but also dislike, because even in his own story, he is pitiful and weak? He comes to you from these pages with undeniable vividness. It is not a book neatly and carefully prepared with a balance of everything that makes a good novel. It stands there as an offering of something that feels real.