tasmanian_bibliophile's review against another edition
4.0
‘Children, Charlotte has been writing a book – and I think it is a better one than I expected.’
While this book focuses primarily on the life and work of Charlotte Brontë, it starts with background sketches of the Reverend Patrick Brontë and his wife Maria Branwell, and chronicles the family’s history. Charlotte’s life was marked with sorrow and loss: her mother died when she was five; four years later her two older sisters Maria and Elizabeth died. Charlotte also outlived her younger siblings: her brother Branwell and sisters Emily and Anne died in 1848 and 1849. Charlotte herself died in 1855, three weeks short of her fortieth birthday.
In this book, first published in 1988, Ms Fraser traces the events and themes from Charlotte’s own life: the girl’s school at Cowan Bridge which served as the model for ‘Jane Eyre’s Lowood; and her time in Brussels which provided both background for ‘Villette’ and inspiration for ‘The Professor’. Ms Fraser also explores Charlotte’s position as a woman writer in an age when a woman’s role was narrowly defined.
For some reason, I didn’t read this book when it was first published – possibly because Charlotte has never been my favourite Brontë author and I was content with the information I had obtained from other books. I’m pleased that I’ve now read the book: while much of the biographic information is available elsewhere, Ms Fraser’s assessment of the influences on Charlotte and her research into Charlotte’s contacts with the wider world outside the Haworth Parsonage add to my understanding and appreciation of her work.
This book is the reissue of a book first published in 1988. There are plenty of works published about the Brontë family, a number of which are more recent than 1988 (including Juliet Barker’s excellent book ‘The Brontës’). I’d recommend this book to someone primarily interested in Charlotte.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
While this book focuses primarily on the life and work of Charlotte Brontë, it starts with background sketches of the Reverend Patrick Brontë and his wife Maria Branwell, and chronicles the family’s history. Charlotte’s life was marked with sorrow and loss: her mother died when she was five; four years later her two older sisters Maria and Elizabeth died. Charlotte also outlived her younger siblings: her brother Branwell and sisters Emily and Anne died in 1848 and 1849. Charlotte herself died in 1855, three weeks short of her fortieth birthday.
In this book, first published in 1988, Ms Fraser traces the events and themes from Charlotte’s own life: the girl’s school at Cowan Bridge which served as the model for ‘Jane Eyre’s Lowood; and her time in Brussels which provided both background for ‘Villette’ and inspiration for ‘The Professor’. Ms Fraser also explores Charlotte’s position as a woman writer in an age when a woman’s role was narrowly defined.
For some reason, I didn’t read this book when it was first published – possibly because Charlotte has never been my favourite Brontë author and I was content with the information I had obtained from other books. I’m pleased that I’ve now read the book: while much of the biographic information is available elsewhere, Ms Fraser’s assessment of the influences on Charlotte and her research into Charlotte’s contacts with the wider world outside the Haworth Parsonage add to my understanding and appreciation of her work.
This book is the reissue of a book first published in 1988. There are plenty of works published about the Brontë family, a number of which are more recent than 1988 (including Juliet Barker’s excellent book ‘The Brontës’). I’d recommend this book to someone primarily interested in Charlotte.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
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