Book Club, Brontë, Literature, Reviews

Brontë’s Mistress Review

Finola Austin's compelling debut novel explores the allegedly scandalous relationship between the brother of the Brontë sisters, Branwell, and Lydia Robinson, the wife of his employer. Released in 2020, it's long been on my TBR pile. Thankfully it was nudged up the list after being chosen as February's novel for my Brontë-themed book club. The… Continue reading Brontë’s Mistress Review

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Brontë, Literature, Reviews

Brontë-Inspired Reads of 2022

I made my way through 43 books in 2022. It will come as no surprise that a few of them were inspired in some way by the Brontës. Here's a quick recap of those titles and my general thoughts on them. Have you read any of the titles below? If so, what did you think… Continue reading Brontë-Inspired Reads of 2022

Brontë

Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë

Anne Brontë's novels are firmly grounded in reality and the world around her. Agnes Grey and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall are narratives that forced the 19th-century reader into an uncomfortable examination of their society and their treatment of others, and they have a similar effect on the 21st-century reader. However, in a world (largely) without governesses and servants,… Continue reading Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë

Brontë, Juvenilia, Literary Archives, Literature

How Important is the Child Writer to the Parent Author?

When we think of the Brontë siblings, we conjure up images of brooding anti-heroes, poor governesses, and wild Yorkshire moors. In short, we tend to think of Charlotte’s Jane Eyre, Emily’s Wuthering Heights, and Anne’s Agnes Grey, novels seemingly written by three lonely and isolated sisters in their family home against the backdrop of the harsh environment of northern… Continue reading How Important is the Child Writer to the Parent Author?

Brontë, Juvenilia, Literature

The Twelve Adventurers and Other Stories: A New Edition

In 1826 a young Charlotte Brontë and her siblings dreamt up their shared fantasy world of Glass Town. The siblings worked on the stories and characters from this world, and later Angria and Gondal, as they grew up. History has not been kind to the Brontë juvenilia with the surviving writings being split up across… Continue reading The Twelve Adventurers and Other Stories: A New Edition

Brontë, Literature, Reviews

The Glass Town Game by Catherynne M. Valente

It's time for a spring clean at Brontë Babe Blog, so let's start with a refined version of my review of Catherynne M. Valente's 2017 children's novel, The Glass Town Game.  Plot Siblings Charlotte, Branwell, Emily, and Anne Brontë invent a fantasy world named Glass Town, acting out battles between their twelve toy soldiers and Napoleon.… Continue reading The Glass Town Game by Catherynne M. Valente

Brontë, Literature, photography, Poetry

A Walk Around Haworth in Bloom

A walk around Haworth in bloom Will help to lift a sense of gloom.A Sunday stroll along Main Street Where my heroes placed their own feet Can calm the mind and soothe the soul Of those grieving or not quite whole. This is home to more than just threeSisters who dared to dream and beSo… Continue reading A Walk Around Haworth in Bloom

Brontë, Literature, Reviews

The Curious Case of the Button and the Brontës: Spirits, Symbols, and Sleuths

My most recent Brontë-inspired read is one that has been in my TBR read ever since it came out back in 2019. I even started it once and then became distracted by something else, always meaning to return to it. When putting together my book club a few weeks back, I was collating lists of… Continue reading The Curious Case of the Button and the Brontës: Spirits, Symbols, and Sleuths

Brontë, Literature, Reviews

Wildfell Summer by Tracy Neis (Rock and Roll Brontës Book 3)

Over the past few years I've read and enjoyed the first two novels in Tracy Neis's Rock and Roll Brontë series, and I was eagerly anticipating the third book, Wildfell Summer. The first book in the series, Mr R., is based on Charlotte Brontë’s 1847 novel Jane Eyre. Neis’s novel reinvents Mr. Rochester as an ageing rock star… Continue reading Wildfell Summer by Tracy Neis (Rock and Roll Brontës Book 3)

Brontë, Juvenilia, Literary Archives, Literature

There Was Once a Little Girl and Her Name Was Anne Brontë

Reader, please join me in wishing Anne Brontë, the youngest member of our beloved Brontë family, a very happy birthday. Anne was born in Thornton, Yorkshire to Patrick and Maria Brontë on the 17th January 1820. Anne is best known for her two novels, Agnes Grey, which documents the trials of the eponymous governess, and The… Continue reading There Was Once a Little Girl and Her Name Was Anne Brontë