As a bold and gifted child, Branwell Bronts final retreat into laudanum, alcohol, and death. Dame Daphne du Maurier wrote more than 25 acclaimed no...
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reviews
Mar 05, 2009
Salma
rated it: 
I've always been a little obsessed with the Brontes- I don't know, maybe I was their cousin or something in a past life. I'm also a proclaimed Daphne DuMaurier fanatic. So imagine my excitement to find Ms. DuMaurier's biography of that mysterious, supposed-genius brother, Branwell Bronte. This book is short, as was the life of its subject and his sisters. But this review's gonna be long, so bear with me.
Now, I'd heard rumors- mostly college professor gossip- about Branwell during th More...
Now, I'd heard rumors- mostly college professor gossip- about Branwell during th More...
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May 22, 2011
Sarah
rated it: 
An exercise for the reader who has a passing familiarity with both the life of Branwell Brontë and the writing of Daphne du Maurier: just imagine for a moment what you think a biography of Branwell Brontë written by Daphne du Maurier might be like. This book is pretty much exactly what you'd expect it to be: full of feeling, sometimes ridiculous and overreaching, morbid, with occasional lurid speculations and unexpected psychological conjectures. Still, for the right person there's something enj
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May 05, 2010
Margaret
rated it:
Hm, this is a tough one to review.
On the one hand, du Maurier shows a marvelous understanding of Branwell and his imaginary "infernal world", and how living in his fantasy life affected his real life. Her storytelling ability is well used here, her writing is excellent, and her research shows, as the book is full of apt quotations from Branwell's own works (poetry and letters) as well as those of his sisters and friends.
On the other hand, she's just full of biz More...
On the one hand, du Maurier shows a marvelous understanding of Branwell and his imaginary "infernal world", and how living in his fantasy life affected his real life. Her storytelling ability is well used here, her writing is excellent, and her research shows, as the book is full of apt quotations from Branwell's own works (poetry and letters) as well as those of his sisters and friends.
On the other hand, she's just full of biz More...
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Sep 20, 2010
Bettie
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Feb 02, 2008
Sandhya
rated it:
This is a hauntingly beautiful story of Branwell Bronte, the magnificently talented brother of the Bronte sisters. Ironically though, while all of them, Charlotte, Emily and Anne got their share of fame, Branwell alone perished in anonymity and died a lonely death at the shockingly young age of 31.
The most interesting part of the book is that it raises speculations on whether Charlotte's Bronte's Wuthering Heights was actually Branwell's brain child.
In any case, the stor More...
The most interesting part of the book is that it raises speculations on whether Charlotte's Bronte's Wuthering Heights was actually Branwell's brain child.
In any case, the stor More...
Jun 14, 2008
Justwinter
rated it:
When world's collide. In my youth I tore through everything Bronte. I also read every Daphne du Maurier book I could lay my hands on. Imagine my delight when I found she'd written a biography of Branwell Bronte.
I read somewhere once a description of du Maurier's fiction as 'romantically macabre.' Poor drunken Branwell perfect suits her world of Light Gothic.
Is it a great biography? No, it's a bit over-the-top and dated. Certainly there are far more accurate and current Br More...
I read somewhere once a description of du Maurier's fiction as 'romantically macabre.' Poor drunken Branwell perfect suits her world of Light Gothic.
Is it a great biography? No, it's a bit over-the-top and dated. Certainly there are far more accurate and current Br More...
May 13, 2009
Linda
rated it:
I was shocked to learn that du Maurier wrote this book. The Brontes have always intrigued me, and there hasn't been much written about Branwell, (though he is surely the catalyst of much that went on in the Bronte family.) A very interesting book for anyone wanting to know more about Branwell and his sisters.
Jun 01, 2010
Michael
rated it:
This is thanks to Bettie.
Hopefully it will help to dispel some of the confusion around the characterisation in 'Wuthering Heights'.
Fingers crossed, and in we go (A bigger splash!).
1842 (?) and Branwell is reading excerpts to his cronies; the book? an early (?) version of 'Wuthering Heights'. So is he passing off Emily's work as his own? Or is it a collaboration?
Interesting responses: ditch the book, no one will want read about a man who is destructive with no motiv
Hopefully it will help to dispel some of the confusion around the characterisation in 'Wuthering Heights'.
Fingers crossed, and in we go (A bigger splash!).
1842 (?) and Branwell is reading excerpts to his cronies; the book? an early (?) version of 'Wuthering Heights'. So is he passing off Emily's work as his own? Or is it a collaboration?
Interesting responses: ditch the book, no one will want read about a man who is destructive with no motiv
Jul 22, 2008
stephanie
rated it: 
i read half of this and decided that was enough. there was interesting and devistating facts about his life and the lives of his family/friends to enjoy but the rest was a little bit dull. maybe i am just too short attention spanned these days, but i found myself skimming pages for something interesting sometimes. i think this would be a very valuable source if i were writing a paper on him and his famous sisters who i still love as always. when i went to their parsonage on a trip with byui
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Feb 16, 2011
Janet
rated it: 
I don't think this was my kind of Daphne du Maurier or maybe I wasn't in the mood for this book at this time.
Nov 21, 2010
Leanne
rated it:
Read when very young (13-16). First I'd ever heard of the Brontes. Liked du Maurier's style.
Apr 08, 2008
Alisa
rated it:
Informative, but not as delicious as I had hoped. A rather_rehabilitative_ view of Branwell, portraying him as pathetic troll, rather than Heathcliff's wicked prototype.
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