TEST
Biographical novels are difficult to write well. They are usually written about familiar subjects, so the reader knows the story. They require abundant research—if the reader knows the story well, she also knows when you’ve tinkered with the facts. And all readers of historical fiction, romance and otherwise, know one of the greatest perils of too much research—too many facts thrown in to prove just how much research the author did to make the past come alive.
As a recovering English major, I know the story all too well. Three sisters, Emily, Charlotte, and Anne, and one lesser-known brother, Branwell, children of a pastor, grow up on the English moors in relative isolation. They spend their childhood writing tales set in imaginary worlds, and as adults, they write some of the best-known and most beloved novels of the Victorian era. They all die tragically young, with no idea of their literary legacy.
If you’re an author, how do you make your version different? How do you take this story of women of unusual talent and passion, this story that so many people know, and make it your own? Juliet Gael has done this, and quite well, with Romancing Miss Bronte. Rather than describing the sisters’ lives in minute detail, she starts right before the “real action” of their lives begin. Emily, Charlotte, and Anne are young women with few prospects, living in very respectable poverty at Haworth Parsonage. Their brother Branwell is an emotional wreck, spurned by a married woman with whom he has fallen obsessively in love. The sisters are toying with the idea of starting a school, but they all know that working with children won’t really suit them. Then Charlotte has the idea that changes everything: They should each write a novel. They do, and the rest is literary history.
The focus of this novel centers on Charlotte, the best-known and longest-lived of the three sisters. Like her brother, Charlotte experiences an early love that is both one-sided and obsessive, an infatuation with her married schoolmaster in Brussels. She writes passionate letters to him, but receives nothing in return. Though she eventually stops writing to him, this early romantic experience shapes her ideas of love and what romance should be. As she and her sisters write their first novels, Charlotte tries to fictionalize the relationship—ineffectively. While her sisters’ novels are selected for publication, Charlotte’s is not. Undaunted, she begins again, writing Jane Eyre, regarded as her masterpiece (and a staple of English Lit classes at all levels).
As the healthiest and most sociable of the three Bronte sisters, Charlotte becomes their representative to the outside world. On her first trip to London, she meets George Smith, a dashing and eligible bachelor who is captivated by her intelligence. Though she knows that he couldn’t possibly take an interest in a backwards country girl like herself, Charlotte enjoys the intellectual flirtation. Her fascination with George keeps her from noticing a man who does love her—her father’s curate, Arthur Nicholls. He is the man who does the titular romancing. Even though readers who know the Bronte story are aware of the outcome, there’s still plenty of tense, will-they-or-won’t-they moments. Though this love story only occupies the final third of the book, it’s so beautifully written that I think romance readers will appreciate its subtlety and tenderness.
Gael avoids lengthy descriptive passages in favor of dialogue, which keeps the story moving. There are a few factual info dumps in the book, and when they happen, they seem jarring and out of place. They usually involve details about lesser-known figures, especially Branwell, and are thankfully brief. The author deviates very little from the known biographical details of the Bronte sisters, and quotes extensively and directly from some of Charlotte’s letters.
After I finished Romancing Miss Bronte, I found myself wanting to go back to the sisters’ novels yet again to see what new secrets would be revealed to me. If you’re a fan of the Brontes, you might feel the same way.
Grade: B+
Book Type: Historical Fiction
Sensuality: Warm
Review Date: 28/05/10
Publication Date: 2010/04
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Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.