'“There is one place,” said the voice in my head, “where you have always found consolation and refuge in times of need: your imagination."'

Syrie James has taken the abundant resources available about the Brontes, and turned it into an amazing fictional account of their lives, as seen through the eyes of sister Charlotte. Not actually in a daily diary form (for which I'm grateful - I'm not a fan of those!), the set-up here is Charlotte looking back over her life, from the dreadful boarding school that would later serve as inspiration in her novels to how she and her sisters started writing and their brother's mental health issues. This book takes you into the Brontes world; I was a little sorry to see it end.
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Intriguing historical fiction carries the plot through the seemingly never-to-end 6 to 8 year prelude of Charlotte's marriage to Arthur Nicholls. Syria James causes Charlotte, Emily, Anne, and their father to become lively and imaginative characters whose quirks and prejudices are wildly out in the open after the sisters finally share their writings. ( )

I've read so many of these Brontë-inspired works that they all seem to mesh together. I can't remember if it felt more like Charlotte and Emily: a novel of the Brontës or The Secret Adventures of Charlotte Brontë or maybe Romancing Miss Brontë: a novel. Yes, that's the one. I think. I'm OK with them all blurring together into a shared history. These have become a nice warm blanket I can get out and snuggle in when the mood strikes.
At times the writing felt a little more Austen than Brontë. Charlotte sometimes feels Austen-like to me. But it was very engaging and I felt myself blissfully immersed in Haworth again. ( )

Bittersweet. Sometimes read a bit like a Jane Austen novel, which was strange, because that really wasn't the Bronte style. But so interesting to see the whole family story and the publication story, and the love story, all in one place. I'm glad I listened. Also, the narrator is one of my favorite narrators, which is how I found this book. ( )

In the same vein as James’ novel on Jane Austen comes this take on Bronte’s life. She flows easily back and forth between known fact and conjecture about the author’s thoughts and romantic feelings. For me, the romance didn’t feel central to the story. Instead it’s more about the bond of the Bronte sisters and their struggle to find their voices despite their circumstances. James clearly did a lot of excellent research about Charlotte’s life and an afterward even clarifies the few bits that aren’t factual.

I loved it because I was able to learn more of the facts of Charlotte Bronte’s life in an accessible way. I knew the general story, but this clarified quite a few things about her family for me. I cared less about the romantic relationship, though that was part of the true story as well. The book really made me want to read Elizabeth Gaskell’s biography of Bronte. The two authors’ friendship added such a sweet aspect to Charlotte Bronte’s life, especially after all of her sisters had passed away and she had no one left to talk about her writing. I can’t imagine that kind of loneliness. Not only did she lose her family, she also lost her community of fellow writers.

BOTTOM LINE: A great one to pick up after reading Charlotte Bronte’s work. It’s not an earthshattering book, but if you love the Brontes, and I do, this novel is a wonderful way to see what their lives were like. It makes their bodies of work even more impressive when you take into account all the obstacles they overcame to get published.

“One man cannot be everything to a woman, nor should he be expected to be.”

“It’s not easy, but a clever woman can find time to do the things that matter to her.” ( )