Wednesday, December 30, 2009

The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte by Syrie James

The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte is a remarkable novel told from the viewpoint of the author of Jane Eyre, Villette and other tomes. I was wary of reading this as I was afraid that it would be cheesy or poorly written or just plain ridiculous. However, I was treated to a fantastically written and fascinating story. The novel is narrated by Charlotte and details not only her life at Haworth with her parson father, sisters Emily and Anne and brother Branwell, but her two years in Belgium. I had known a bit about the Brontes before I read this, but I discovered through this novel just how hard their lives were yet also how resilient the family was and what literary genius they possessed. Charlotte's story is not a truly happy one, though she did have moments of pleasure in her life. I found myself really admiring this amazingly talented woman and author and sobbing over her terrible losses. Jane Eyre is one of the best novels ever written, in my opinion, and Charlotte deserves accolades for this feat alone. If you are a Bronte fan or want to learn more about this extraordinary family, I highly recommend this brilliant novel . Syrie James has done a wonderful job of portraying life from Charlotte's viewpoint and I am looking forward to reading her first novel, The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen.

1 comment:

  1. Anbo, I really wanted to read this so I checked on the website of the EIGHT libraries that make up our lending circle, and not a single one of them had it! Maybe next time I'm in Pueblo I'll go check it out.

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