Charlotte Brontë

E.F. Benson

really liked it 4.0 · Rating details · 7 Ratings · 3 Reviews

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Unknown Binding, 313 pages

Published January 28th 1971 by Books for Libraries Press (first published 1971)

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Apr 17, 2017 SarahHannah rated it it was amazing

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I LOVED this book. Okay … it’s true that Benson could re-write a telephone directory and I’d give it 5 stars, but I really think this is a fascinating (and provoking) view into the life of Charlotte and all the other Brontes. I haven’t read the Gaskell and I won’t now. I’m not super into biographies but this is so beautifully written (Fred!) and so well reasoned. After I got started again after a lull I found myself transported. When Charlotte can’t get any pupils for the school and Emily declar I LOVED this book. Okay … it’s true that Benson could re-write a telephone directory and I’d give it 5 stars, but I really think this is a fascinating (and provoking) view into the life of Charlotte and all the other Brontes. I haven’t read the Gaskell and I won’t now. I’m not super into biographies but this is so beautifully written (Fred!) and so well reasoned. After I got started again after a lull I found myself transported. When Charlotte can’t get any pupils for the school and Emily declares it a “No go” I actually thought “Oh no!!! What ARE they going to do???” I think this goes back to the idea that it takes a novelist to write a biography. And I don’t think Benson betrays this by straying into fiction.

On the down side, I absolutely agree that Anne is slighted. I read Agnes Grey and TTOWH just before I read this and I think it’s unfair. I also agree (with Ally) that Benson doesn’t seem to like Charlotte very much. Yet at the same time he has such sympathy and insight. I found the Bramwell/Emily Wuthering Heights theory fascinating. I know this must be unpopular but I found his reasoning compelling. Not about the ‘evidence’ from Bramwell’s friends but from the changes in style and the odd switcheroo with Lockwood in the first chapters. But I’m interested to hear what others have to say about this, because in addition to being easily led by any theory, I also have very little Bronte knowledge. Benson mentions the use of Yorkshire dialect but some very helpful marginalia in the book (was that you Al?) reminded me that Tabby was an integral part of the family. I don’t know! I can’t tell!

Back to Charlotte. I finished this with a huge lump in my throat. Yes, there are times that he doesn’t seem to like her very much. But he’s so sensitive and fair. At the end you aren’t wondering why it isn’t a biography of Emily. I think it’s beautiful.

This book is about to start another voyage over the oceans and I look forward to hearing what the next reader has to say ☺
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Nov 07, 2017 Grier rated it it was amazing

I gave this five stars in spite of his comments about Anne's work being mediocre.

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Jun 12, 2016 Ally rated it really liked it

I enjoyed this book a lot. It was precisely and carefully written, stating the facts and pulling apart the saintly whitewash Mrs. Gaskell and other previous biographers had done to Charlotte's life. He does a thorough job of getting at the real Charlotte behind all the myth.
I'm not even sure the author liked Charlotte very much, but that didn't stop him depicting her honestly, with the facts that he had before him.
The book ends very abruptly with Charlotte's death. The last few chapters seem a ...more

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