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There are currently 20 member reviews
for Romancing Miss Bronte
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Elaine, (Midland, TX)
Gael Has a Winner
Juliet Gael has a winner. The novel can be read and enjoyed without any knowledge of Charlotte Bronte. If you are aware of Charlotte’s family or life, Gael’s novel is accurate. I thought the ending came a little too fast. But that may have been because I was enjoying the book and wanted it to continue. The writing was true to the time period without being cloying. Some of the scenes in the book were so vivid, I “watched them” in my mind as I read them. At the end of this thoroughly enjoyable book (knowing more about Charlotte Bronte) you may want to re-read Charlotte’s books.
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Amanda N. (Murfreesboro, TN)
Romancing Miss Bronte
Gael's book completely transports the reader to the Yorkshire Moors of the Bronte sisters. The descriptions of the sisters writing their first novels and struggling to publish them under the pseudonyms of Currer, Acton, and Ellis Bell simply beg the reader to revisit the worlds of 'Jane Eyre', 'Agnes Grey', and' Wuthering Heights'. My one complaint is that the book sometimes reads as a straight biography rather than historical fiction. Sometimes it seems that the author can't decide which kind of book she wanted to write. On the plus side, Gael's meticulous research shines through.
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Deb Y. (Blanco, TX)
Lovely Charlotte
As I have said before, I have been very lucky in getting the books I have - this is another lovely book, one concerning Charlotte Bronte's love affair with, and subsequent marriage to, Arthur Nicholls. It is a tender story, with well-drawn characters. Well worth the reading.
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Rebecca W. (Mansfield, PA)
A Novel of Merit
Romancing Miss Bronte provides a convincing, yet tragic, portrayal of the Bronte sisters. Juliet Gael brings the women to life again for fans of Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre as she provides a rare look into the literary lives of moral women who walk the line between duty to their father and the fear of personal success. Gael's exploration of the connections between the literary characters and their authors provides fans with a rare and wondrous look into the hearts, minds, and souls of the Brontes.
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Mike H. (Knoxville, TN)
Romancing Miss Bronte
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It brings (fictional) life to the Bronte family by revealing a rich and, sometimes, intense focus on each of the family's members. I found the development of the the love story to be fascinating. Mr. Nichols' slowing evolving love for Charlotte allows her the necessary time to accept that she can have a rewarding relationship outside of the small, demanding one she has with her siblings and father.
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Wendy E. (Mechanicsville, VA)
Romancing Miss Bronte
Before I began reading this fictionalized account of the Bronte sisters, I was vaguely aware of their lives and despite having read read Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. Throughout my reading, I found myself checking facts of their lives on the Internet, wondering if that was “how it had happened” or if this or that passage had come from a primary source. Gael’s writing is engaging and draws the reader in to the lives of these reclusive, painfully shy women who were so intellectual, but were so bound by their status as women and by their poverty that they had to pay to publish their early works under male pseudonyms. The sisterly bond and the loneliness Charlotte feels after her sisters’ deaths drive the work. The romance seems ancillary, just as the author seemingly intended based on Charlotte’s views of life and love at the time she married. The weaving of their actual works with Gael’s characterization of the sisters is fascinating. Gael suggests that Charlotte’s heroines were thinly veiled versions of herself at different times of her life. It has made me want to read all of their published work with a new portrait of the artist in mind. Had only my English teachers made the authors so real, the assignments of the Brontes’ works might have been more palatable. Even the bits about the walks on the moor, the family servants and the family pets seem well-researched, but seamlessly blended with fictional conversations that portray the sisters' struggle to reconcile their intense shyness with their passion for writing and their aspirations to become respected authors. The novel was a bit slow to start and bogged down a bit towards the end, but overall, it was a satisfying read, especially for those who already have a working knowledge of some of Charlotte Bronte’s books. I was saddened to find that the ARC did not include the promised Author's Note, but I will read it in the published book and hope to find that Gael admits to relying heavily on the reality of Charlotte's life in her creation of this story.
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Deborah M. (Chambersburug, PA)
Somewhat Disappointing, but Still Enjoyable
About 250 fifty pages into this 400-page book, I asked myself, "Who is romancing Miss Bronte?" At this point, Arthur Bell Nicholls had JUST admitted to himself his attraction to Charlotte but had not spoken of his feelings, so I could only conclude that it was the author, Juliet Gael, who was "romancing" her in a different way, by trying to turn her into a romanticized heroine admirable not for her beauty but for other, more endearing qualities. The real romance is Charlotte's life: her endurance in spite of personal and professional rejections, her devotion to a demanding family, the sacrificing of her own needs and desires to fulfill those of others. and her dedication to her own work. The book, then, is not quite what the title suggests--which is probably a good thing in my case, since I am not a reader of conventional romance novels. Although the writing does get bogged down in unnecessary details at times, overall, Gael creates a lively portrait of one of the great women writers of the 18th century. The inclusion of a number of the literati of the day (Lewes, Thackeray, etc.) and their reception of both Bronte and her successful novel Jane Eyre make for interesting reading. The complex relationships among the Bronte sisters is also carefully and believably drawn.
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