Date published: June 2009
ISBN: 978-0061648373
Historical fiction
Paperback
Reviewed by Valerie
Syrie James has thoroughly researched the life of Charlotte Brontë and has created this book of her life as seen through Charlotte herself. She shares Charlotte’s thoughts and feelings of her infatuation with Mr. Heger, her professor in Brussels. Her interaction with her siblings, her writing career and her own love affair and the resulting marriage.
Ms James has written this work as a diary, but not in the normal day to day form, but more like a collection of memoirs. She has carefully sorted through all the available material about this famous family and cleverly puts it all together. We also learn about Charlottes earlier life, her difficult time at a parsonage, then at Roe Head school where she started writing her first novel.
I really enjoyed this story very much. It was very interesting and Ms. James captures the times very well. Charlotte’s relationship with her husband starts off very stormy. I believe that this part of the story is partly fictional as it read a bit more like a sweet romance story. I appreciated the notes in the book that explain just what is fiction and what is non-fiction. I especially enjoyed reading about Charlotte and her siblings. It was also quite entertaining to hear how they had to cope with the way men thought of women, and how they were intelligent young women who all dreamed of getting published. It was equally tragic to read about the untimely deaths of her siblings. This was an entertaining story that is perfect to take to the beach for a nice, light read.
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