The Brontes: Charlotte Bronte & Her Family

This biography reads like a novel, and remains highly respected by experts on the lives of the Bronte sisters: Charlotte, Emily and Anne. I recommend it to anyone who is newly-interested in the Bronte family and desires a highly-readable introduction to the drama and misery of their short, unusual lives.I first read this book, Fraser's biography of the Brontes, in the early 1990's just a few years after it was first released, and it so captured my attention that I proceeded at that time to read every novel by Charlotte and Anne Bronte (including a re-read of Jane Eyre, which I had first read during college). The generation of this level of interest on my part is is a testament to the quality of this book, Rebecca Fraser's biography.That said, I must admit that ultimately I concluded that developing an interest in the Brontes is largely a waste of time. Here's why:I found each novel interesting as I read it, but only a few years later I could not remember much if anything about any of the stories: that is how little they permanently impacted my life. Thus I must conclude that the Brontes' novels are ones which contain no lasting edification or import to those of us who read for the purpose of gaining insight into Eternal Values and seek to impact positively the future of the human condition.BTW: after reading Fraser's biography I did not 're-read' Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights (I thought I had read it in high school and, thus, already knew all about it) but just recently I realized, over 20 years later, that I never, in fact, read Wuthering Heights at all! (Despite a copy of it being on my bookshelf for most of my adult life! Crazy.) Having now tried in vain to read Wuthering Heights, I realize that this inaccuracy and oversight was providential: Wuthering Heights is a repulsive novel filled with repulsive characters, and I consider myself fortunate that Emily Bronte's misanthropic world of heartless cruelty and un-Christian cosmology was never foisted upon me by a high school English teacher! To say that Emily Bronte's motherless childhood 'damaged her into the dark side' is an understatement, to say the least.

The book arrived on time and was in very good condition. Unfortunately have not gotten to read it yet.

Charlotte Bronte offended gravely against the standards of her day. Her portrayal of female charcters was realistic. She was a clergyman's daughter and a clergyman's wife. The countryside of Haworth was bleak and appealed to Charlotte Bronte's austere father, Patrick Bronte. He was vocal in support of the Evangelical movement. He was naturally gregarious and volatile. In 1820 Patrick was appointed perpetual curate at Haworth. The Brontes were isolated, socially.Readers of JANE EYRE have wondered whether the Clergy Daughters School at Cowan Bridge attended by Charlotte and her sisters resembled the Lowood School in the novel. Charlotte and her brother Branwell had read all of Byron by age twelve or thirteen. There was a volcanic quality to Charlotte's writing. Branwell had charm and brilliance. He was precocious.At Roe Head School Charlotte met Mary Taylor. Ellen Nussey became another dear friend at the school. The two girls described Charlotte as tired and old. Mary Taylor's family was argumentative and intellectual. Mr. Taylor, Mary's father, introduced Charlotte to the world of George Sand and Eugene Sue. Miss Wooler, the school head, emphasized orderliness and method. School distanced Charlotte from Branwell. Charlotte returned to Roe Head as a teacher. Emily's period of being a student lasted only three months, whereupon she was replaced by Anne. Away from home, Charlotte missed writing Byronic tales.Branwell moved to Bradford seeking employment as a portrait painter. It was a competitive market and Branwell could not survive financially. By 1839 Branwell was becoming an embarassing problem to the family. He lost a job as tutor but started another job as a booking clerk for the railway. Charlotte was encouraged by Mary Taylor to go to Brussels. The Pensionnat Heger was recommended by the British Chaplain and his wife. Madame Heger welcomed Charlotte and Emily. Charlotte and Emily, ages twenty-five and twenty-three, were boarding with fifteen year olds.M. Heger, who taught some classes at his wife's school, understood contemporary literature. The following year, January 1843, Charlotte returned to Belgium. Emily remained at Haworth and Branwell and Anne were tutor and governess at Thorp Green. Subsequently Charlotte's correspondance with M. Heger was to cease and she began to write of love and betrayal in her poetry. She was to suffer from isolation adn a lack of employment. Her early novel, THE PROFESSOR, was published last.The sisters had poems published and then moved on to the publication OF AGNES GREY and THE TENANT AT WILDFELL HALL, (Anne), WUTHERING HEIGHTS, (Emily), and JANE EYRE, SHIRLEY, VILLETTE. Charlotte practiced self-abnegation. She sought in her writing to be guided by nature and truth. In one year Branwell, Emily, and Anne died. Charlotte was to marry. Her widower cared for Patrick Bronte at the end of his life.Rebecca Fraser does a wonderful job relating the Bronte story. The sense of place is expert, the parsonage at Haworth being very much present.

This is the most compelling biography I've ever read. It was a thorough and intimate recounting of Charlotte Bronte's life and an insightful depiction of the entire Bronte family. I was surprised by how much of a page-turner it became and how much Charlotte's personality came to life from the way Fraser compiled the available archival and historical documentation. And reading the backstory enhanced my understanding of all the Bronte's works, particularly Villette and Wuthering Heights. Some of the passages containing letters in their original French were tough on my rusty skills, but otherwise, the entire book was fantastic.

What a wonderful biography--it was as much of a page-turner as novel, because the Brontes were such an unusual, strange set of people. I learned a lot about the Brontes that I hadn't known, and the book illuminated C.B.'s novels for me. C.B. herself became much clearer to me as a person and I felt almost overwhelmed with sympathy for her. I'm awed by the immense courage she showed in everything she did--in leaving Haworth to go to Brussels, in going out as a governess, in getting her and her sisters' works out to the public, in visiting London as a famous author, and in just continuing to live and have hope after the crushing blows of her siblings' deaths one after another. Emily, too, is fascinating, both shy and wild, like an animal. The sense of tragedy hangs over the whole book because they all, except for the father, died so young. Charlotte outlived her mother and all her siblings, but she was only 39 when she died. I heartily recommend this biography.