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    Romancing Miss Brontë: A Novel
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    Romancing Miss Brontë: A Novel
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    Romancing Miss Brontë: A Novel
    Audiobook14 hours

    Romancing Miss Brontë: A Novel

    Written by Juliet Gael

    Narrated by Rosalyn Landor

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    In this astonishing novel, a brilliant mélange of fact and fiction, Juliet Gael skillfully and stylishly captures the passions, hopes, dreams, and sorrows of literature's most famous sisters-and imagines how love dramatically and most unexpectedly found Charlotte Brontë.

    During the two years that she studied in Brussels, Charlotte had a taste of life's splendors-travel, literature, and art. Now, back home in the Yorkshire moors, duty-bound to a blind father and an alcoholic brother, an ambitious Charlotte refuses to sink into hopelessness. With her sisters, Emily and Anne, Charlotte conceives a plan to earn money and pursue a dream: The Brontës will publish. In childhood the Brontë children created fantastical imaginary worlds; now the sisters craft novels quite unlike anything written before. Transforming her loneliness and personal sorrow into a triumph of literary art, Charlotte pens her 1847 masterpiece, Jane Eyre.

    Charlotte's novel becomes an overwhelming literary success, catapulting the shy and awkward young woman into the spotlight of London's fashionable literary scene-and into the arms of her new publisher, George Smith, an irresistibly handsome young man whose interest in his fiercely intelligent and spirited new author seems to go beyond professional duty. But just as life begins to hold new promise, unspeakable tragedy descends on the Brontë household, throwing London and George into the background and leaving Charlotte to fear that the only romance she will ever find is at the tip of her pen.

    But another man waits in the Brontës' Haworth parsonage-the quiet but determined curate Arthur Nicholls. After secretly pining for Charlotte since he first came to work for her father, Arthur suddenly reveals his heart to her.

    Romancing Miss Brontë is a fascinating portrayal of an extraordinary woman whose life and work articulated our deepest human longing: to love and be loved in return.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateApr 27, 2010
    ISBN9780307736383
    Unavailable
    Romancing Miss Brontë: A Novel

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    Reviews for Romancing Miss Brontë

    4/5

    132 ratings43 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Getting into this book was slow going for me BUT once I did I fell in love with the characters. I cried like a baby at the end. I love historical fiction and this was very true to history and wonderfully written!
    • 4/5
      It is not the first time in history that emotional turmoil and personal tragedy of an artist tends to result in profound outpouring of talent, and it obviously happened in the case of Charlotte Bronte. This book deeply moved me. Prior to reading it, the personality of Charlotte Bronte and her writer sisters, Emily and Anne, were but a hazy notion in my mind, having mostly the association with "Jane Eyre" and "Wuthering Heights". Thanks to the author's excellent research and a great skill of storytelling, their lives emerged as vivid as can be.
    • 5/5
      Through reading this novel, I learned to love Charlette Bronte like I never have before. Much of it follows her actual life and what doesn't possible could. It was gripping account of a real woman and the loves and struggles that made her who she was, and made her novels what they are. Well done Ms. Gael
    • 4/5
      Apparently other reviewers shared my trepidation on reading an historical fiction book on the Brontes. In addition, I think the title was somewhat misleading. It led me to think that it was going to be a romance novel, while instead it referred to Arthur Nicholls, the clergyman who fell in love with Charlotte Bronte and eventually married her. The novel is well written in that the story of the sisters lives seems well imagined through dialogue and character behavior. While the action is based on truth, the actual scenes developed by Miss Gael to carry the characters through the books seem believable, while the personalities of the sisters play off each other nicely. Each sister is given a well-fleshed out personality which contributes to the conflicts they had in deciding whether they should share their writing talents with the public. Their concern is that they could not retain their privacy if they revealed to the world that they were first female and second, the Bronte sisters.Gael gives us a touching book that aquaints us with the sisters so well that their deaths seem personal and quite sad. I found myself realizing just how sad the real lives of the family must have been. Not only did the sisters all die before their time, but they had to deal with their father who would be left alone after losing children far too early. While the story focuses on the relationship between Arthur Nicholls and Charlotte, Gael creates a realistic balance by allowing the reader to develop relationships with Charlotte's sisters which then causes us to feel their loss along with Charlotte and her fatherAltogether, the book is entertaining, sympathetic to the Bronte sisters, and worth the read.
    • 4/5
      Really glad to have the chance to read this fictionalized account of Charlotte Bronte's life - especially with Jane Eyre coming to the theaters soon.
    • 3/5
      Wonderfully written and really a beautiful story. However the book dragged on and felt like a history textbook at times.
    • 3/5
      Audiobook - I enjoyed this books as I really love the Bronte sisters works. I found that at times it felt like I was reading a history book and it did feel a little longish. But overall I really enjoyed the book.
    • 4/5
      A touching and moving romance, "Romancing Miss Bronte" captures the spirit of Charlotte Bronte. Miss Gael has done a remarkable job recreating the style and voice of a long-loved writer as she tells the story of the author's life. The characters are believable, likeable and engaging, making this work of fiction feel true to life.
    • 4/5
      Gael's novel was moving and interesting; the characters, though stiff and a bit awkward seem true to life. I was captivated despite the slow pace, which actually seems to suit the work.
    • 5/5
      A wonderful read! Moving, charming, beautifully written, this story draws readers into the world of Charlotte Bronte and her family. This book will appeal to anyone interested in a biography that feels like a novel. I was instantly immersed into the dreary and tragic world of the Brontes, warmed by the closeness and excitement of the three sisters, as they begin to pursue their dreams to be published authors. I do not have ample words to do justice to this amazing book, but rarely do I find a gem like this, in which I am completely mentally and emotionally immersed in the world of the characters. Having read Jane Eyre more recently, this book piqued my interest. I am now on to read the other works of Charlotte Bronte and her sisters.
    • 4/5
      Quite good. definitely recommended to fans of historical fiction, or those who like even fictionalized biography.
    • 4/5
      Sweet, poignant and lovingly crafted, but in need of some tidying, Romancing Miss Bronte by Juliet Gael is a quick, light read. Its strongest point is that it provides inspiration for further, serious study of the Bronte sisters. The book starts with the famous Bronte sisters attempting to put their fine European educations to work. They aren't really suited to being governesses, which is the only semi-scholarly pursuit available for well-educated women, so they take on male pseudonyms and get published. Focusing on one sister in particular, the author of [Jane Eyre], [[Charlotte Bronte]], the novel explains her themes of sadness, longing and the overall tangible quality of the emotions she imbues her characters with by giving weight to Charlotte's own life experiences (some of which Gael imagines and some of which are very real). I could definitely see this being adapted into a screenplay/movie down the road. I liked the story enough that the inattention to editing wasn't a deal breaker for me. The mistakes were distracting though. For example, on page 148, at the end of the second paragraph, there is a comma where a period should be; on page 188, Anne Bronte wishes Nichols "Good grant you a safe journey...", rather than "God grant you...."; on page 113, an upside down, as opposed to right side up, apostrophe makes it into the Guardian's office.It was a fun read that I'll enjoy passing along to a fellow bookmoocher.
    • 4/5
      Though I expected the 'romancing' part of Romancing Miss Bronte to take up more of the novel, I was pleasantly surprised by this Early Reviews pick. At the beginning, I found the book extremely slow and stilted and it took time to appreciate the vivid personalities of Charlotte Bronte and her family. As I moved through the book though, I found that the story picked up the pace at about the time Charlotte was publishing Jane Eyre, and just continued to pick up from there. When Charlotte's three sibling passed in about the middle of the book, I was afraid the book would then take on the sad silence that the Bronte house did, but enter Arthur, a man who had been admiring Charlotte from afar for many years and the romance bloomed in the last part of the book nicely.I am not well-versed in the Bronte's stories, but now I might feel compelled to revisit some books which I probably did not appreciate enough when I read them in high school.
    • 4/5
      I am loving this book! I was always a fan of Jane Eyre and this book reminded me why. Half fiction and half imagination, I kept trying to figure out which was which. I even took time to read biographical pieces of the Bronte sisters to find out the true goings on of the household. The first half of the book definitely held my attention more than the ending, but I truly enjoyed it. I plan on going on to read all the Bronte's books either again or for the first time. If the author calls that a success, so be it!
    • 4/5
      I'm not quite finished with this book yet, but it's so good that I had to write about it. Having read the two big Bronte novels (Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre) in both high school and college, and knowing a little about their personal lives, I thought I had the highlights of their lives fairly figured out. Not so! This book is a joy to read, after a somewhat slow start, and it's clipping right along. I can't wait to see how Ms. Gael wraps things up. Fair warning though, you will want to read the rest of the Bronte canon once you're finished with [Romancing Miss Bronte]. I'm glad I have 3 sitting on my shelf and a long holiday weekend in my sights!If you're a fan of the Brontes or historical fiction in general, you can't go wrong with this book!
    • 3/5
      Sorry, Early Reviewers group...but this wasn't for me. The novel was just simply too sad. I'm sure it's my fault that I didn't like it enough .....the first 50 pages or so read very slowly and I just couldn't get in the mood for such sadness. I think I probably need to read more uplifting books.
    • 4/5
      This was a beautifully written novel with a prose that flowed and seemed to vibrate with feeling as you read it. It seems only fitting that this novel should capture the life of a Bronte sister as beautifully as they themselves would have written it. I highly recommend this book to all the fans of the Bronte sisters and to anyone who craves the beautifully written words of an incredible novel.
    • 3/5
      Romancing Miss Bronte tells the story of the sisters Bronte and their literary beginnings and eventually moves on to the lone surviving sister Charlotte, focusing on her eventual romance with Arthur Bell Nicholls and her remaining days.Being a lover of the Bronte's I had mixed feelings about Gael's story. While it is entertaining and inspired me to look further into the lives of the Bronte's, it's primary failing is its simplicity. The story was well told but compared to a story by the Brontes it lacks that feeling one gets when really immersed in a story. It was more like a beach read, sugary and easy.Having said that, this story will appeal to many people who are looking for a story that is historical fiction in nature and not bogged down in wordy, lengthy, and difficult to understand syntax. I would certainly read another work by Gael but I would approach it without any preconceived notion that the narrative would mirror the works of the author it was fictionalizing
    • 4/5
      This book started out quite slow. Once it picked up (about 50 pages or so in), it progressively got more interesting. As a huge fan of both Charlotte and Emily Bronte (I haven't read anything by Anne, yet), I found this book to be engaging and enjoyable. I am looking forward to reading the authors notes on this book as I'm wondering how much is fact vs. fiction (obviously I know the basics are accurate, but what about George Smith, etc?) Overall, I recommend this to any fans of the Brontes, as well as those who like historical novels.
    • 3/5
      'Romancing Miss Bronte' by Juliet Gael, my most recent Early Reviewers book, was a very inconsistent read. Some parts of it were absolutely awash with brilliantly rendered emotion (particularly when the author incorporates some of Charlotte Bronte's own writings) -- I wept, I felt my heart tighten, I was saturated with sympathetic feelings -- but then some parts, particularly in the beginning, were awkwardly written and felt stilted. It took quite a bit of time for the novel, which fictionalizes and speculates on Bronte's emotions throughout the latter part of her life, to settle into its tone and mode.The facts here are relatively solid -- extraordinarily solid when compared with similar but less respectful texts -- and Gael obviously appreciates Bronte's work and genius. In fact, I suspect that Juliet Gael really wanted to write the definitive biography of Charlotte Bronte, but knew only about 5 people would read it, so she settled for inventing some emotional context and slathering it across the latter half of Bronte's life. The resulting problem, unfortunately, is that Gael is not Bronte -- her skill quite obviously falls short, particularly when rendering the circumstances of the "romance" between Charlotte and her curate husband. This is an interesting read for people who like to put themselves in a well-known author's shoes, and I appreciate its attempts at humanizing the record of Bronte's life. Overall, though, the novel is mixed blessing -- shining moments and awkward moments in almost equal measure.
    • 4/5
      I received this book from the LibraryThing Early Reviewers giveaway. I initially thought that this book would be about a love affair involving one of the Bronte sisters, but in fact, it read much like a novelized biography of Charlotte. This, however, made the book all the more appealing to me. I have not read a biography of any of the Brontes, so I am not sure how much research is behind this book (since it was an ARC, the Author's notes are not included - I would be interested to read these), but it read as though the author was very knowledgeable about the time period and the people of the day. I do feel that the title was a bit misleading, as the romance that occurs in the book is one-sided and limited to the latter third of the book - almost an afterthought. Perhaps this is because after her heart is broken, love, for Charlotte, is also an afterthought. The plot is engaging, the characters complex and diverse, and the writing solid. The pages flew by. I do wish that there had been more about the other two sisters - they faded into the background a bit, but the relationship between Charlotte and her father and her brother were more strongly developed. The life of Miss Bronte is quite tragic, but the book does not become maudlin. If anything, the author might be criticized of being too matter-of-fact about illness and death through most of the book - but one also might argue that at the time, these things were much more prevalent than today, and the subject was handled well enough in the end that I was quite moved.I thought Charlotte stood out as a very real-feeling and well-developed character with a strong sense of independence that conflicted with her sense of duty. The author evoked a sense of an alternate time period without becoming overbearing or ponderous, and I was engaged in the story from start to finish - there was no time that I thought that the story lagged. I do think that the book can do with a bit of "tightening" as there were some typographical errors and a few places where a sentence seemed "stuck in" to force foreshadowing.
    • 4/5
      The title of this book suggests a lighthearted romp through a pseudo-history and, while it cetainly has aspects of a pseudo-history, lighthearted it is not. Charlotte's failed love affair with her Brussels professor and the sheer penury of her life with her family, ensures a bleak and fairly unrewarding life for the young woman. Ultimately, she consents to a marriage with her father's curate, Arthur, whom she does not love. The book suggests that she and Arthur have the potential for a warm and affectionate relationship and, for a moment, the reader is assured that Charlotte will have achieved some measure of happiness. As was so often the case in that era, however, her marriage, and the opportunity to conceive a child, serves as her death warrant.Gael's novel is a pleasant hybrid of biography and novel, easy to read and easy to enjoy. Those who have already read "Jane Eyre" and "Wuthering Heights" will probably enjoy the book more, and be able to understand the voice of the sisters. The later stages of the relationship between Arthur and Charlotte struck me as anomalous, oddly out of keeping with the sense of reserve seen in the rest of the book, but not enough so to seriously mar enjoyment of the story. Recommended.
    • 3/5
      This book wants to be many different things at once. It wants to be a romance novel, and tell the story of a secretly passionate curate and a hesitant authoress. It wants to be a biography, and relate to us the history of the Bronte family. It wants to be historical fiction, and ponder what the characters said or thought as they made history. And it wants to be an index of letters, and have the actual people tell their side of the story. This makes for shaky narration, unfortunately. One moment, we are taken along on a scene where Charlotte Bronte and her sisters are having a cozy domestic conversation, the next moment, the author interrupts with "Little did they know..." to tell us the future, only to dump us back into the scene, but the moment is disturbed and lost. There are a lot of the author's interruptions that proceed in this manner, and I feel that if Gael had a better idea of what sort of book she wanted to write, and the focus to follow through in that direction, the book would have been a better read.However, Gael's characters are interesting, and her literary portrait of Charlotte Bronte does well to explore exactly what sort of woman was Charlotte Bronte, who fell unluckily in love with a married man in Brussels, became the dutiful mistress of her father's household after the death of her mother and elder sisters, enjoyed anonymous celebrity as a famous author, and consented to be the wife of her father's curate. She is a complicated character, simultaneously dutiful and rebellious, a very private woman who revealed her inner soul through her semi-autobiographical characters. As the star of Gael's novel, Charlotte shines brightest of all. Her sisters Emily and Anne, sadly, do not get the time or development to be strong characters in their own right; they are only portrayed through the feelings of Charlotte and their own domestic habits. In fact, most of the characters are portrayed as they are seen by Charlotte, with the exception of Arthur Nicholls, at first her secret admirer, later her besotted husband. He gets the full romance novel treatment, and the reader is revealed his inner torment and desperate pining. At times he is exhausting, but the author will never linger too long in his character (perhaps mercifully realizing that we can only take so much of his carrying on before we're begging to be sent back to sensible Charlotte again.)In summary, it's a book that needs a lot of work (not least in the spelling department, as my Early Reviewer copy will prove), but has potential to be a satisfying novel for Bronte fans, or specifically Charlotte Bronte fans, as the others are reduced to marginal stepping stones on Charlotte's way to the roles of famous author and devoted wife.
    • 4/5
      I probably shouldn't even be reviewing this book right now, since I'm still feeling choked with emotion, but the number one thing I require in a book is that it make me feel something. Indeed, Romancing Miss Bronte made me feel something. In all honesty, it is a bit of an odd book, with a bit of an identity crisis. Is it a novel? Is it fictionalized history? Is it a biography? It seems to bounce back and forth between these genres, sometimes lapsing into lyrical, descriptive prose and other times presenting facts in a clinical manner. I thought these inconsistencies would bother me, but the truth is, they didn't. At the end I felt like I knew Charlotte Bronte. The real Charlotte Bronte. I felt like she was represented as a real woman, and not just as a character in this book. I wanted her to succeed, I wanted her to be happy, I wanted her to be in love. And most of all, I wanted to read Jane Eyre! (Which is now waiting on my bedside table.)Overall, I found the time spent with Miss Bronte and her family to be well worth the rather substantial investment. It certainly made me feel something and despite the differences between us in time, space, and situation, I found myself relating to Charlotte in a personal way via some universally transcendent themes - a difficult parental relationship, an unrequited love, an inconvenient dream and passion. Thank you, Ms. Gael, for introducing me to Charlotte and Emily Bronte, I look forward to getting to know them both a little better.
    • 4/5
      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 yet 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 19th 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.
    • 4/5
      You've read Jane Eyre but what do you know about the woman who wrote it? Romancing Miss Bronte details the story of Charlotte Bronte after she studied abroad in Brussels. She returns to live in her childhood home with her father the Reverend Patrick Bronte, brother Branwell, and her two sisters- Emily and Anne. While she loves the quiet rural life, it lacks the stimulation her mind requires. She can not remain idle for long; she convinces her sisters to go into a group adventure and publish their writings anonymously. While they did not receive overnight notariety, their lives were changed forever and it was not a easy road for the entire family. Her romance came toward the end and was not what she expected. I have not read Elizabeth Glaskell's (love her) biography on Charlotte Bronte but the book peaked my interest and may have to check it out. The book has also inspired me to read CB lesser known books. A good read for fans of period piece novels. It was hard to put down- a must read!
    • 4/5
      I thoroughly enjoyed this novel about Charlotte Bronte and her family. I have not read her biography by Elizabeth Gaskell, but I might after this book. I'm guessing this author, Juliet Gael, stayed true to the major points in Charlotte's life. The romance was long in coming, but it did come. And it was nice and sweet.I will probably seek out some of Charlotte Bronte's lesser-known novels now - though this book did give away some of the endings.
    • 5/5
      Romancing Miss Bronte is an historical fiction concerning Charlotte Bronte, the author of Jane Eyre, Shirley, and Villette.Frankly, I wasn't expecting to like this book, as I'm picky regarding historical fiction and romance novels.But I did like it. Immensely.Overall, the story was entertaining, and felt pretty authentic. It's obvious that the author did her homework. Charlotte Bronte went through some tough times - and if you know nothing about Miss Bronte's history, this book is an interesting introduction to them.
    • 4/5
      Having never read anything about the Bronte family, but knowing the tragic story, I was delighted that this was included in the book. I enjoyed the kindred spirits of the Bronte sisters and fell easily in love with each one of them. The authoress, Juliet Gael, did an excellent job in describing all the various personalities within Charlotte's circle of friends and family. I enjoyed the brotherly love and deep affection George showed towards Charlotte. I was a bit perturbed how the author left their relationship so strained. It didn't suit Charlotte's character to not resolve the unspoken words between the two of them. I was also very fond of Arthur. He was so honest, loyal, passionate, kind, and persistent. While reading the courtship and marriage of Charlotte and Arthur I would get butterflies in my stomach. His unconditional love and constant wish to be beside her at all times was heartwarming. However, I did dislike to specific quirks about their relationship. I find the title of this book a misnomer. The romancing of Charlotte was really a small part of the book thrown in at the end. I would have liked more, especially considering that the authoress has such a gift for words in this regard. The other annoyance was the fact that I never read an utterance of "I love you" from Charlotte to Arthur. She comes to love him deeply, I believe, but the authoress never made the point of having Charlotte saying out loud her feelings. I thought it unfair and unreal.I read this book in one sitting because I was completely enthralled and couldn't put it down. I will say, however, that it drags a bit between the death of Charlotte's sisters and her courtship.I had to force myself through this part, but the wait was well worth it.I would say overall that if you would like to read an encompassing story about the Bronte family with a bit of happiness thrown in there for Charlotte, I would highly recommend this book.
    • 4/5
      Many of us have imagined what life was like for a particular artist. What contributed to his or her work of art, are there biographical reasons for certain characters in novels, for a fascination with particular models in art, an event which spurred a composer to create a given opus? In recent years, various novelists have taken these musings, hopefully along with biographical research, and created novels of the lives of well known artists and writers. Such imaginings are not confined to novels. The movie Fur was created as "an imaginary biography of Diane Arbus." Juliet Gael's portrayal of the Bronte siblings is an excellent addition to the genre of imaginary biography. Not only is it written well, but Ms. Gael wrote it as if she were writin in the 19th century. Dialogue is not composed of fragments as in contemporary novels, although fragments are more realistic renderings of speech. She describes the scenes in the moors and Scotland, Wales and Ireland as British 19th century writers were wont, illuminating the beauty of craggy shores and beautiful vistas, paying close attention to the scenic as 19th century authors did. Gael's portrayal of home life at the Brontes is rich in detail, down to the companionship of the family dogs, and making clear the English love for dogs and their constancy in domestic life. I am not a fan of most imaginary biographies,but this is one I couldn't put down. It left me with a deep desire to reread the Bronte novels, especially now that I know the reasons they were written and what in their lives prompted them. I did know that the deaths of the sisters in Jane Eyre were based upon the Bronte sisters experience in a vile boarding school, but not the rest of the family dynamics.Moreover, Ms. Gael made Charlotte such a realistic person that I feel as if I really knew this person. She is not portrayed as a saint without emotion or desire. She is a well-rounded, believable woman with deep feelings. The descriptions of unrequited love read as if the author herself has had such an experience.