Charlotte Brontë

January 18, 2016
The story of the Brontës may be well-trod, but in the hands of skilled biographer Harman (Jane’s Fame), their personalities come to life in a fresh, vigorous, and very readable fashion. Drawing on prodigious research, both old and new, Harman creates an expert portrait of life at Haworth Parsonage and of its eccentric inhabitants. At the center is Charlotte, whose Jane Eyre became a literary sensation, and who would outlive all of her siblings. It is impossible to speak of Charlotte without also telling the story of her complicated family members, especially her stern, self-absorbed father, Patrick; her talented but dissolute brother, Branwell; and, of course, her sisters and fellow novelists: strong-willed Emily (Wuthering Heights); and patient, introverted Anne (The Tenant of Wildfell Hall). But Charlotte and her remarkable writings remain the focus, as Harman leads her from secluded girlhood and the imaginary world she created with her siblings to her celebrity upon the thunderclap publication of Jane Eyre (“that intensely interesting novel,” as Queen Victoria called it). In telling Charlotte’s story anew, Harman has created a work that will appeal both to readers meeting the Brontë clan for the first time and to those already steeped in their lore. Illus. Agent: Zoe Waldie, Rogers, Coleridge & White.

Starred review from January 15, 2016
Accomplished biographer Harman (Jane's Fame: How Jane Austen Conquered the World, 2010, etc.) returns with a lively account of the life of Charlotte Bronte (1816-1855). After the deaths of her two older sisters in 1825, Charlotte, at age 9, was the eldest of the four surviving Bronte children. Isolated in the parsonage at Haworth on the Yorkshire moors, they built for themselves a fantasy world centered on an imaginary African kingdom; their sojourns there over the years resulted in a torrent of related prose and poetry, written solely for each other in matchbox-sized books. As they matured, Charlotte, Emily, and Anne directed their literary talents to the depictions of more realistic topics, resulting in Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and the other novels for which each ultimately became famous. Groundbreaking in many ways, their works were driven by fury at the constraints on occupational and social choices available to Victorian women and, upon their pseudonymous publications, aroused reactions ranging from astonished enthusiasm to disgust. Neither deferential nor awestruck, Harman clearly feels strong affection for these reclusive, dysfunctional siblings. She confidently makes sympathetic characters of Charlotte and her sisters, even while conceding that they were by all accounts difficult and generally unpleasant company. The author remains focused on her subject's life story, expending little space on general information about the historical setting and explaining just enough of the content of Bronte's novels that readers unfamiliar with them can understand their significance, the public's reactions to them, and the extent to which Charlotte drew upon her own experiences in their production. She vividly portrays a life of loneliness, anguish, tragedy, and suppressed rage in serene and elegant prose with frequent flashes of ironic humor; the underlying scholarship is extensive but never obtrusive. A delightfully engaging biography of a highly talented but deeply troubled prodigy of English literature.

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Starred review from March 15, 2016
While many writers treat the talented and intriguing Bronte sisters (Charlotte, Emily, and Anne) as a unit, award-winning literary biographer Harman (Jane's Fame: How Jane Austen Conquered the World, 2010) extracts the fiery, feisty Charlotte, perhaps the most well-known of the talented trio, out of the family cocoon and straight into the hearts and minds of readers who cut their literary teeth on Jane Eyre. According to Harman, who has unearthed a treasure trove of correspondence, Charlotte's remarkable fiction was grounded in her own fervent passions. Harman reveals two episodes of unrequited love which she argues fueled Charlotte's writing, experiences that now serve to humanize a lionized literary figure who has too often been set in stone and trapped in a narrowly held view of her time, place, and circumstances. Timed to coincide with the two-hundredth anniversary of Bronte's birth, Harman's knowledgeable and refreshing new look at a familiar yet largely unknown and routinely trivialized life is a welcome tribute to a worthy subject.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

Starred review from February 15, 2016

In 2016 several events will celebrate the bicentenary of Charlotte Bronte's birth, including exhibitions hosted by the Bronte Society. With this biography, Harman (Jane's Fame) contributes to the celebration. Many Brontean memoirs exist, including one written shortly after the novelist's death by her friend Elizabeth Gaskell. Harman cites a number of these accounts in her comprehensive notes and bibliographic sections. The author draws heavily on recently published correspondence that had not been available to earlier biographers. These letters provide a new perspective on the renowned author of Jane Eyre, especially when Harman depicts her struggles as a teacher/governess, her unrequited passion for a Belgian professor (experiences that inspired Villette), and her heartrending descriptions of her siblings' last days. This work spans more than the 38 years of the writer's brief life, also tracing her parents' beginnings. It concludes with a passage of the increasing literary celebrity that followed Bronte's difficult death from hyperemesis gravidarum (a complication of pregnancy). Her father witnessed this fame, having outlived all six of his children. VERDICT This excellent biography makes a significant contribution to Brontean studies and will attract readers interested in Bronte as well as British literature in general. [See Prepub Alert, 9/14/15.]--Erica Swenson Danowitz, Delaware Cty. Community Coll. Lib., Media, PA

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2015

Those who love Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre intuitively know that she had a "fiery heart," but award-winning biographer Harman lets it beat out in the open. Here we see Bronte falling in love with the husband of the headmistress at a school where she worked and suffering unrequited love for her publisher before entering into a happy marriage. Harman draws on letters not available to previous biographers--just in time for the 200th anniversary of Bronte's birth.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2016

In 2016 several events will celebrate the bicentenary of Charlotte Bronte's birth, including exhibitions hosted by the Bronte Society. With this biography, Harman (Jane's Fame) contributes to the celebration. Many Brontean memoirs exist, including one written shortly after the novelist's death by her friend Elizabeth Gaskell. Harman cites a number of these accounts in her comprehensive notes and bibliographic sections. The author draws heavily on recently published correspondence that had not been available to earlier biographers. These letters provide a new perspective on the renowned author of Jane Eyre, especially when Harman depicts her struggles as a teacher/governess, her unrequited passion for a Belgian professor (experiences that inspired Villette), and her heartrending descriptions of her siblings' last days. This work spans more than the 38 years of the writer's brief life, also tracing her parents' beginnings. It concludes with a passage of the increasing literary celebrity that followed Bronte's difficult death from hyperemesis gravidarum (a complication of pregnancy). Her father witnessed this fame, having outlived all six of his children. VERDICT This excellent biography makes a significant contribution to Brontean studies and will attract readers interested in Bronte as well as British literature in general. [See Prepub Alert, 9/14/15.]--Erica Swenson Danowitz, Delaware Cty. Community Coll. Lib., Media, PA

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.