The Brontës: Charlotte Brontë and Her Family

by Rebecca Fraser

"A fresh and modern view of Charlotte Bronte--as a woman searching for love and as a writer who helped change society's perceptions about her sex. Her moving, eloquent portrait will interest not only Bronte devotees but all contemporary women."--Kirkus Reviews

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, History, British Literature, Books About Books, Research, Womens

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Rebecca Fraser has worked as a researcher, an editor, and a journalist, and has written for many publications, including Tatler, Vogue, The Times, and The Spectator. She is a former president of the Bronte Society. She is the author of the introductions to the Everyman's Library editions of Shirley and The Professor. She is the author of Charlotte Brontë and lives in England.

Reviews

[N.N. Heaven · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was sorely disappointed in this book. First, it's mostly about Charlotte Bronte and not the whole family. Second, it's way too long. It could've used a serious edit. Third, I found quite a few inaccuracies and falsehoods woven throughout.

My Rating: 2 stars

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

On second reading, I still think this is quite a good biography of Charlotte and give it four stars on that account. However, I would argue with the title, because it really is a biography of only Charlotte; Fraser doesn't pay much attention to the other Brontes except as they affect Charlotte, and she often simply sees them through Charlotte's eyes. I thought this was particularly clear with Anne, whom Fraser sees as the "passive" and "virtuous" sister, as Charlotte saw her, rather than acknowledging her strength of character.

[Kristy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a well-researched, comprehensive, and enjoyable (and long) ride through the life of the weirdly unconventional AND very conventional Charlotte Brontë. To a much lesser extent, the other two Brontë sisters, Emily and Anne, their brother Branwell, and their eccentric father are included, but mostly in terms of how they interact and impact Charlotte. Because her novels are so very autobiographical, the book in some ways feels like Jane Eyre fan fiction and Fraser's novelistic approach to biography, as well as her extensive quotes from Charlottes very extensive correspondence add to the feeling of this being an unpublished Charlotte Brontë novel. One of my favorite scenes is when Charlotte and Anne head off to London unannounced to visit their publishers (who, until then, had never met their best selling authors and were under the impression that they were men) to prove that Jane Eyre, Agnes Grey, and Wuthering Heights were written by different people. The publishers were, to say the least, pretty shocked at being confronted by a very sharp, anxious, and tiny woman with very strong feelings on the matter. As an archivist, I'm grateful for Charlotte's extremely dedicated and open letter-writing habit as well as her two best friends, her publisher, and her literary pals who saved so many of her letters. This book is probably not for the casual reader, but if you want some context for the weird and wonderful novels of the Brontë sisters, this is a wonderful overview. I very much enjoyed it.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent account of the Bronte family.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first comprehensive biography of the Bronte's I have read, and I am surprised at how much is known about them. This is fairly long, but it contains many interesting details, which kept me from skimming even portions of it. There are many letters reiterated, Charlotte's as well as the individuals she interacted with. Among other things, they show how wordy Victorian style writing evidently was. Why say it it twenty-five words when you can use three hundred and fifty?! People of this era would likely find it impossible to convey their thoughts in a tweet message. Charlotte's good friend, Ellen Nussey, was one of the best information sources for everything Bronte. She seemed an impressive person, a uniquely loyal friend. She respectfully kept Charlotte's many letters to her (400 to 600) in defiance of Nicholl's order that she destroy them. I'm unsure what my opinion of Charlotte would have been if I'd known her. She was much more social than generally thought and seemed to have many friends who cared about her. But she also comes across as having been opinionated, moody, hard to know, and suffering from bouts of depression. She may have had a tendency toward hypochondria; understandable, having regularly lost her family members. I probably would have been amused by her sarcasm as long as it wasn't directed at me. She did not appear completely a product of her influences. She was concerned about the judgments of others and being socially accepted; however, she also possessed a strong individualism and assertiveness, not what you'd expect by her upbringing. The personalities of Emily and Anne appeared to have been more consistent with their reclusive environment. I always wonder about the recreational long walks these people regularly took in all kinds of weather on rough terrain with their horrifying shoes and cumbersome clothes. After reading this, I can reread Jane Eyre with new eyes.

[Christina Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want to start by saying this book is extremely comprehensive. The biographer REALLY paints a picture of the whole Bronte family. I felt I really knew the family as the book went on. I really enjoyed the parts about what influenced Charlotte to write Jane Eyre. I also enjoyed learning more about Emily. I loved how the biographer included original reviews of Charlotte’s books. When I reviewed pictures of the properties on which the Bronte’s lived, I noticed it was exactly what I had pictured from the biographers description. That’s how much detail the biographer put into this book. I appreciate the biographer gave Charlotte the respect she deserves as one of the pioneers of women’s literature.

[Anna Jung · Rating 3 out of 5]

On page 3, the author provides a description of Charlotte Brontë’s father based on his photographs. According to her, he “boldly and fiercely resembles a North American Indian, or perhaps some cunning old sea salt”. She writes that there’s “little such elegance” in his features (compared to the straight Greek lines), and there’s something “a little sly” about his eyes. I mentally facepalmed myself when I read that paragraph. Is it that difficult to describe a person without using racist stereotypes?

[Jane Gardner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first biography I read about the Bronte family and I loved it. Their story was as intense and tragic as any of the books the sisters wrote. I found the whole family interesting and yet sad because of the early deaths of their siblings and mother. They were so creative and intelligent inspire of their difficult lives that I could not stop reading until the end of the book. I highly recommend this book for readers interested in the lives of these talented authors.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did not imagine that when I picked this book up that it would lead me to reread Charlotte and Emily Brontë’s books, which I had read so long ago. I also waded through Charlotte’s Villette, luckily on my Kindle so I could translate the endless conversations in French. I am planning on reading Anne’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and Agnes Grey, and Shirley by Charlotte. I have also skimmed the poetry by Anne, Emily and Charlotte—who published as Acton, Ellis and Currer Bell.

Their Methodist father’s church was situated in an isolated area of Yorkshire, among the uneducated and struggling poor. The five sisters and one brother were dependent on each other’s company. Their mother died when they were young, and their father oversaw their education, teaching Classical languages, current affairs, poetry, and philosophy.

Charlotte and her younger brother Branwell were deeply enmeshed in an imaginary world they created, as if today’s Gamemasters and alternate reality players never left the world of the game to resume normal life. Even when Charlotte went away to school, her thoughts were in that other world.

Elizabeth and Maria contracted tuberculosis while away at school. Charlotte was also brought home. It was too late; the two older girls died, leaving Charlotte, Emily, Anne and Branwell.

Branwell was highly sensitive and passionate, and frustrated by his inability to find the recognition the whole family felt was due him. In his late teens he began drinking and taking opium. He found a position as a tutor, fell in love with the wife of his charges, and was dismissed. His was a life of, addiction, failure and early death.

Emily shunned society, preferring to stay at home and tend their father while Anne and Charlotte went to school in Brussels to prepare to be governesses. The girls excelled in their studies, but after a year were called home when their father needed cataract surgery. Only Charlotte returned for further education.

Charlotte, having lived in such a limited society, fell in love with the school master, the first man to give her attention apart from her family. Later, after publishing her book Jane Eyre, she fell in love with her publisher George Smith. Her suffering, knowing neither man was attainable, was chronicled in her novels.

Emily and Anne both died of Tuberculosis. Charlotte suffered great loneliness, and felt she was doomed to be alone. She was vilified and lionized for Jane Eyre, and did form some friendships. But she was limited by keeping her books a secret from her father, and hid behind her persona of Currer Bell.

Arthur Bell, who had been her father’s curate, reappeared announcing he could not get over his love for Charlotte. After great inner questioning, and with great fear, Charlotte accepted Arthur. He proved to be a perfect companion. Charlotte’s health had never been good, and she died within a year of marriage. Surely, had Charlotte lived, her writing, which she said rose out of her experiences, would have reflected a different kind of woman than the lonely and alienated creatures of her novels.

Reading Wuthering Heights after Jane Eyre, I was struck by the vast differences in style. Jane Eyre has passion and high emotion, and a strong but submissive heroine who stays true to her ideals. But Charlotte also seems to be working hard to preach the Christian Women’s duty and to adhere to constrained Victorian standards. Emily, on the other hand, has a distinctly modern style of writing, direct, clean, and fresh. Her characters are as twisted as the wind-driven trees on the Yorkshire moors. They are no role models!

I could not help but to compare the Brontës to Jane Austen. Jane was born at the end of the Age of Reason, while the Brontes were products of the Romantic Era. Both were clergy children, growing up in a parsonage and endeavored to adhere to the standard of the Christian woman of her time. Both wrote in childhood. Jane, like Charlotte, turned down several proposals, but she never found her man. At least Charlotte did marry, and had some months of wedded happiness with a companion who put her needs first. Both women died in their thirties. Both women had close ties to siblings and father, and an absent or alienated mother. And both wrote only what they knew, and were diligent in their adherence to Truth.

Jane Austen is most loved for her bright and sparkling novels, Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, and Emma. These books are alive with wit and irony, pithy insight, and unexpected turns of events leading to happy marriages. Mansfield Park and Persuasion are darker, their heroines victimized by situation, poverty, and powerlessness. Their heroines are more like Charlotte’s characters Jane Eyre and Lucy Snowe. And in the end, a happy marriage is the ultimate goal of the novels of both writers.

Emily, on the other hand, dared to show what can happen if convention puts asunder two souls who nature intended to become one. Readers may not like Marianne married to ‘old’ Brandon, or Jane taking care of the crippled and blind Rochester, but the characters at least have found their proper mates. Catherine and Heathcliff, Linton and Isabella, brought on their own unhappiness by not following their true natures to embrace their proper partners. And consequently, every family member suffers and is blighted.

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-written and exhaustively researched account of the life of Charlotte Bronte. The writing at times resembles that of the Victorians, with run-on sentences, confusing digressions and obscure vocabulary. But the style is curiously appropriate to the subject and won’t faze readers who love the novels of that period.

[Miss Lemon · Rating 3 out of 5]

An extremely well written biography...I'm sure. But I am a neophite since I could not settle into Rebecca's surgically detailed life of the Bronte Family. Learning that she was the President of the Bronte Society makes it clear how inch by inch, no fact, no nuance left behind was her style. Bronte Aficionados you will adore this book!

[Amy Tolle · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you love the Brontes and their classic novels, then you will love learning about the lives of Charlotte, Emily and Anne. I have read a number of Bronte biographies, but this volume by Rebecca Fraser, ranks as one of the very best, in my opinion. Thoroughly researched and beautifully written, Fraser captures hearts and souls that were the literary geniuses known as the Brontes.

[Jim Greene · Rating 2 out of 5]

Extremely in-depth biography of the English romantic sisters and writers. Concentrates almost completely on Charlotte Brontë. The greatest regret is the short shrift given Anne and especially Emily Brontë. Great for fans of the Brontes. Kind of tedious to the rest of us.

[Meredith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Charlotte Bronte was definitely a remarkable woman. I really enjoyed learning so much about her and her siblings. I have so far only read Anne Bronte's books, so now I heel the urge to pick up one of Charlotte's books.

[Mary Cassidy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was given to me recently by my BFF from when we were twelve. We shared our love of the Brontes in our teen years, and I have probably read Jane Eyre at least ten times, starting with when I was a teen, just for the pleasure of it, and most recently when I took a week long intensive study of it and Wuthering Heights at my alma mater--just for the pleasure of it. So I took my time and relished reading this biography. I probably would give it a four and a half stars if that were possible, but went for the higher rating out of respect for the intensive scholarship that was evident throughout, though it is also highly readable.

[Jennifer (JC-S) · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘Children, Charlotte has been writing a book – and I think it is a better one than I expected.’

While this book focuses primarily on the life and work of Charlotte Brontë, it starts with background sketches of the Reverend Patrick Brontë and his wife Maria Branwell, and chronicles the family’s history. Charlotte’s life was marked with sorrow and loss: her mother died when she was five; four years later her two older sisters Maria and Elizabeth died. Charlotte also outlived her younger siblings: her brother Branwell and sisters Emily and Anne died in 1848 and 1849. Charlotte herself died in 1855, three weeks short of her fortieth birthday.

In this book, first published in 1988, Ms Fraser traces the events and themes from Charlotte’s own life: the girl’s school at Cowan Bridge which served as the model for ‘Jane Eyre’s Lowood; and her time in Brussels which provided both background for ‘Villette’ and inspiration for ‘The Professor’. Ms Fraser also explores Charlotte’s position as a woman writer in an age when a woman’s role was narrowly defined.
For some reason, I didn’t read this book when it was first published – possibly because Charlotte has never been my favourite Brontë author and I was content with the information I had obtained from other books. I’m pleased that I’ve now read the book: while much of the biographic information is available elsewhere, Ms Fraser’s assessment of the influences on Charlotte and her research into Charlotte’s contacts with the wider world outside the Haworth Parsonage add to my understanding and appreciation of her work.

This book is the reissue of a book first published in 1988. There are plenty of works published about the Brontë family, a number of which are more recent than 1988 (including Juliet Barker’s excellent book ‘The Brontës’). I’d recommend this book to someone primarily interested in Charlotte.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

[rinabeana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though there are numerous biographies of Charlotte, I was given Rebecca Fraser's for Christmas so I started there. It is full of excerpts from letters and journals, which I find essential to biographies. Since the author cannot possibly get inside the subject's mind, first-hand sources generally give a better understanding. Granted, the author can arrange and edit the original sources to her own agenda in telling Charlotte's story. I found Fraser to be reasonably objective, though I thought she took some liberties in describing Charlotte's mood when writing. Any descriptors she used are certainly assumed, and it is easy to misinterpret the written word in the absence of vocal expression and body language. She also included some documents written in French which were not translated, so I have no idea what was said. Overall, I recommend the book, but have some tissues handy.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

A meticulous, intimate look at one of my favorite authors. While this book confirmed the picture I had in my mind of a passionate, puritan type soul with a strong love of the artistic & literary & a masterful hand at imagery writing; it also acquainted me with a slightly disturbing side - a woman who continued to write letters to a man (M. Heger) who ignored her & a woman with a "high falutin" (per William Makepeace Thackeray) attitude at times. Moreover, while the tragedies of the Bronte family are well known, they do depress when being examined as close at hand as this book allows you to do. Ultimately, I appreciated the time I got to spend with Charlotte as this book, with its abundance of details & use of correspondence between Charlotte & her acquaintances, makes you feel like you are there with her.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very readable biography of Charlotte Bronte, her times and her family.
Fraser makes a favorite topic of mine just as interesting as the first time I read about Charlotte and visited her Yorkshire moors.
She also debunks some of the myths begun by Elizabeth Gaskell. Gaskell was a contemporary and friend of Charlotte's and wrote her book while Charlotte's father, Patrick, was still living. I have to feel a certain sympathy for her because that had to have been difficult. Gaskell had to take into account the sensibilities of Charlotte's surviving father and husband and pay tribute to her friend. A certain censorship developed in Gaskell's book that is not in Fraser's.
This is well paced, links Charlotte's novels to her life and presents a study of how the novels and the author's life blend and differ. Well worth the time.

[Ellen Black · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was absolutely fascinating, yet soul-ripping. While the book focuses more on Charlotte Bronte than the rest of her family, the entire family's lives are included in this biography. Not one of these lives was even momentarily happy. Yet, the children were so talented. Sadly, though, because of their restricted lives, none of the Brontes could truly live, except through their talent,especially the girls. It was very painful to read about the abject dreariness and unhappiness that invaded the lives of these talented people.

Today, my daughter and I saw the newest Jane Eyre movie, and throughout the movie, I kept thinking, "I wish Charlotte and her siblings had found a way out of their hells, other than through death." I guess, sometimes, though, death is the only escape.

[Frrobins · Rating 4 out of 5]

This biography of Charlotte Bronte and her family was as thoroughly engrossing as their novels. It was very readable and I could not put it down! Frasier did a good job of placing the Charlotte's life and development in the context of the time which she lived in as well as the extreme circumstances of her life.

I only wish she had devoted a bit more time to Emily and Anne. That, and there were a few passages in French that were untranslated. Other than that, a great biography of an intriguing woman!

[Conchetta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Besides a view of the lives of the wacky Brontes it has a good description of the lives of middle class Victorian women. Jane Eyre was scandalous and very popular. Writing and being a governess were the only money making options for middle class unmarried women of the time.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a very detailed and analysed version of the Bronte family. It would probably not be as interesting if you hadn't at least read Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, but the more Bronte books you have read previously, the better.

I really loved it though.

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rebecca Fraser's writing was well-researched and readable. She had the benefit of abundant scholarly research on the topic, and she made it clear and understandable. She traced all the family's lives with the updated knowledge of what we know today vs. what was known then.

[Amy Wolf · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read nearly every bio of Charlotte that there is, and this is one of my favorites. Fraser does an impeccable job getting the facts straight & compiling an accurate portrayal of the author & her unusual family. A great place to start to learn about the Brontes.

[Courtru · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a pretty fascinating and engaging read if you're into the Brontes, Charlotte particularly. Those ladies had a rough life. It was a hard book to put down, although I had a tough time avoiding spoilers : )

[Tracy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't finish this book. I did feel that the author did a great job of representing many sides of the issues and identifying when she was making an assumption. I just found it too long and too depressing too finish.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-reading...inspired by today's Real Simple quote from Emily Bronte...

[Mel]

I've owned this for years (found in a dusty corner of the Ohio Bookstore in downtown Cincinnati) but never read it. It's officially on my summer reading list now.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A logical followup to Gaskell's biography of Charlotte. Now to finish Juliet Barker's divine work!