The Silver Cup, A Tale by Charlotte Brontë

Reader, it's been a while since my last post looking at the Brontë juvenilia, so let's get back into the swing of things with a look at Charlotte's short story, "The Silver Cup, A Tale." Background and Manuscript The story first appeared in the October 1829 edition of the Brontës' Blackwood's Young Men's Magazine. It…

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…

Brightly Burning by Alexa Donne

Brightly Burning is a 2018 re-imagining of Charlotte Brontë's 1847 novel Jane Eyre. What makes this re-telling so unique is that it merges science fiction and young adult fiction to present a modern twist on the tale that is set in space. Plot Sometime in the future, a new Ice Age has engulfed Earth and…

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.…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Tales from the Genii

Reader, I'm delighted to share with you the news that Tales of the Genii is now available to purchase. The beautiful little red book pays homage to the Brontë siblings' famous tiny books featuring stories set in their fantasy worlds of Glass Town, Angria, and Gondal. Best described as a companion piece to the stories and poems…

Reading Challenge 2021: The Breakdown

Like everyone else on the planet, my 2021 didn't exactly go as planned, nor did my reading challenge. Let's have a look at what I set out to read, and what I actually managed to complete. It was a year in which I discovered my new favourite living author, more Brontë-inspired fiction, and re-discovered my…