Charlotte Brontë: A Fiery Heart

Unlike some biographies I've read (er, attempted to read) of Bronte's contemporaries, this didn't make me want to immediately stop reading anything written by the subject. Yes, she seems like she was a fairly complicated person (her opinions on anyone not British-yikes!-but probably not unusual) and not always a joy to live with, but those complications just make her so fascinating. And sympathetic. I'm not enough of a Bronte scholar/fan to know how well-researched/thought out this biography is, but I enjoyed it thoroughly.

I thought I owed Charlotte a decent biography after Graham Watson's skewed take on the author, but this one took a while to get through (and it's a library book!) To be fair, that's not Claire Harman's fault - Charlotte's life reads like: death, school, death, Brussels, death, obsession, published author, fame, death, death, death, marriage, death. There's not a lot you can do to liven up that sequence of events! I did get a bit teary eyed when Branwell, Emily and Anne died, though.

One question mark I have with this - and any - biography of Charlotte is the reliance on quotes from Elizabeth 'National Enquirer' Gaskell's own muck-raking and fictionalised biography. So the story of Branwell setting fire to his bed is dubious, but Emily show more attacking Keeper and being attacked by a rabied dog must be true because Gaskell, champion of 'second hand sources and gossip', said so? Okay then! Gaskell was a terrible 'friend' to Charlotte, both Watson and Harman have proved that to me, however unintentional. At least Harman doesn't make Charlotte out to be some ignorant bog-dweller living in abject poverty just because she didn't have a villa full of children in Manchester, however.

Still not a Bronte fan, for all I live in Bronte country, but I'm warming to the sisters - we would have got along perfectly well, not talking to each other, I think! show less

Claire Harman’s biography of Charlotte Bronte, entitled Charlotte Bronte: A Fiery Heart, leaves an impression on the reader. After finishing the book, I felt like I’d learned things I didn’t previously know about the reknowned British author, but more importantly, I feel almost as though I knew her—her life’s events and the times she lived in became familiar to me, as I read. I also came to understand Charlotte Bronte’s motives as a writer and where her work originated.

It’s Harman’s deft interpretation of research and accessible writing style that lend her work this clarity. Relevant detail and enlightening storytelling also make for stimulating reading. For me, this biography illuminated Charlotte Bronte and showed her show more in a new light. It’s only fair to note that this image includes facets that are less than desirable, such as her immature love for her mentor, Monsieur Heger; extreme stubborness, illustrated in her quest to see her first novel, The Professor, published after it had already been rejected twice, and the unforgettable mental picture of a petite, heavy-browed spinster with missing teeth. I am glad to know all these things about Charlotte, as well as all the good. I appreciate Claire Harman’s commitment to presenting a well-rounded portrait, based in reality, that leaves Ms. Bronte’s status as a literary icon intact. show less

I have always been intrigued by the Bronte sisters, curious of their lives and how they came to write some of my favorite books. Although sometimes when you look into the lives of creative people you admire they can really disappoint you. Not so with the Brontes! I only wish they could have had so much more happiness and recognition. Claire Harman's biography is the best type of biography, one that reads like a novel and, in my case, kept me listening and wanting to know more. I feel like I should write Miss Harman a fan letter I enjoyed her book so much. I want to re-read Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights and read anything else they wrote! I want to visit places they lived and walked and drive my friends and family crazy with facts and show more stories about them! Maybe I should slow down with the exclamation points...
Unfortunately I can't remember the narrator of the audio books name, but she was wonderful! She had a lovely smooth voice and strived to give different cadences and voices when she was reading letters or quoting people, without sounding silly. I will definitely need to own a hardback copy as well as the audio book, I'm hoping there are photos and drawings inside! show less

How did Charlotte Brontë create the character of Jane Eyre? Was ‘Villette’ really based on a doomed love affair in Brussels? How much of the real author is in these novels? If you have read Charlotte Brontë’s books, you will have asked yourself these questions. The biography ‘Charlotte Brontë: A Life’ by Claire Harman provides some fascinating answers.
This is the first biography of Brontë I have read and I wish I had read it sooner. Harman tells the enthralling story of the family whose losses, grief, hardship, isolation and disappointments populate the novels of the three sisters – Charlotte, Emily and Anne. It is impossible to write about Charlotte without writing about the family, and particularly about Emily, Anne show more and brother Branwell. Everyone knows the headline facts about the Brontës – Haworth parsonage, mother and siblings dying, Branwell’s addiction, and the imaginary kingdoms of Angria and Dondal in which the children lose themselves. But Harman makes the history accessible, telling the life of Charlotte in chronological order starting briefly with her father Patrick.
There are clear references to real life appearing in the novels and Harman casts light on the writing process of Charlotte and her sisters. For a novelist, this is required reading. Some of Charlotte’s experiences written about in letters appear directly in her novels, along with paragraphs lifted from journals and lines and passages lifted from works earlier abandoned. Harman extensively quotes Elizabeth Gaskell – who wrote the first biography of Charlotte Brontë published in 1857, based largely on Charlotte’ letters sent to her friend Ellen Nussey – and Charlotte’s correspondence with friends and her London publisher.
It is a tragic story but Harman is never over-sentimental. She is excellent at pairing characters, incidents and emotions in the novels with Charlotte’s real life.
A must read for any novelist who is a fan of the Brontë novels.
Read more of my book reviews at http://www.sandradanby.com/book-reviews-a-z/ show less

An excellent biography of Charlotte Bronte that shows her in a completely different light from what has before been revealed. Charlotte's own unrequited love may well have inspired the telling of Jane Eyre.

Moving, hard-to-put-down, sometimes heartbreaking, and utterly fascinating, Charlotte Bronte: A Fiery Heart is less massive than Juliet Barker’s The Brontes: Wild Genius on the Moors, but it’s a good choice for someone not ready to dive into the delights of Barker’s thorough, 1,000+ page tome. In spite of the title, Charlotte is the main but not only focus this new biography, because it also covers the lives of Emily, Anne, Branwell and their father--they were such a close family it would be impossible to leave any of them out. All four of the siblings were imaginative and obsessive writers so that from a very young age they were creating their own shared literary worlds. I especially enjoyed the way Harman related the novels the show more sisters published to their life experiences. Anyone who loves Jane Eyre, or who is interested in life outside of London during the middle of Victoria's reign, will find this biography fascinating. I read an advanced review copy given to me by the publisher; review opinions are mine. show less