Half-Life of a Stolen Sister

This is a haunting, nuanced, interesting and amazing book. According to the author's acknowledgement, it took her 10 years to write. I began reading it and thought it might be a long read, but nope. I finished the last half of it in one evening.

The book is told as a series of letters, journal entries, observations, and thoughts by each of the Brontë sisters and Branwell. And their mother as she lays dying. And the telling (re-telling?) takes place in the modern era, so Branwell talks about going downstairs from the apartment with the baby on his shoulder to shop for diapers. Or all the children running through the streets to get to the park, where they can run wild and free. I saw it as a bit of overlay, of one time over another, with show more just enough hint of the "true" Brontë voice for the authenticity. There were passages where I wondered if Rachel Cantor had merged passages from their diaries, just for a moment, as she recounted an episode in their lives.

So yes, the book begins with Maria's death as she reaches out to her children. Then the perspective shifts to the two older sisters as they return, barely more than skeletons, from their horrendous boarding school. Several chapters then include Maria's sister, the children's aunt, who comes to take care of them just after their mother dies. And Patrick's advertisement for a new wife which could easily have been an authentic piece of writing.

It's haunting - it's as though the author has gotten into the heads of Lotte, Em, Annie, and Bran and given them emotions, thoughts, and experiences we only read about as a biography. Some time is spent in the creation of Glass Town, the created world of Emily and Anne, other time is spent with the sisters ignoring their brother, the Only Boy, and his toy soldiers. As the sisters age, we share their experiences as governesses (Lotte), then as hotel staff (Lotte and Anne), then in a journey to Rome (Lotte and Em).

It's also not an easy read. Children left to their own fate because a mother dies and a father is too involved in his own work to care for them is difficult to read. Em describing her self-hatred is difficult to read. Maria coming back as "just a skeleton" and covering her scars is difficult to read. But maybe that's the point: we're not just reading a few sentences in a biography or catching up on details on Wikipedia. We're reading the tragic history of this remarkable family. show less

If you love the Brontes and know their books and biographies well, this book is like the richest of chocolate cakes. A delight to be savored.

DNF; read 48 pages and it just wasn't grabbing me.