For the Brontaholic, or even the mild imbiber at the Haworth well, this book is a must. Everything you have ever wanted to know about the lives and works of this extraordinary family is here and much more besides. To give some idea of how comprehensive this companion is, there is even a perceptive section on film adaptations of the works. The Brontës’ juvenilia are extensively covered, which give much insight into their early imaginative worlds, and it is fascinating to see how that youthful creativity worked its way into their later mature works.
Some topic headings are Letters by the Brontë Family, Books Read by the Brontës, Natural History and the Brontës, and Portraits by the Brontës. But, understandably, the writings take centre stage; entries on individual works have sections on composition, manuscripts and their locations, plot summaries, public reception and short biographies.
I went straight to the entry on Emily, whose Wuthering Heights is unique, and some of whose poems are also unforgettable, and I was not disappointed. Charlotte’s quoted comment on Emily summed her up: “Liberty was the breath of Emily’s nostrils; without it she perished.”
Equally telling is the comment of a family servant, who described the child Emily with “the eyes of a half-tamed creature” who cared little for anybody’s opinion and was happier with her pets. (Her watercolour of beloved dog Keeper is reproduced in the book.) In Law Hill, the Halifax school where she taught, Emily told the pupils that “the house-dog was dearer to her than they were”! She was indeed entitled to write “No coward soul is mine” as the opening line of one of her poems.
The father, Patrick, a poet active in local social issues, emerges as having a strong intellectual influence on his children, especially Branwell and Charlotte. Branwell’s reputation is rescued from the obloquy often heaped upon it; he comes across as a committed, ambitious writer, anxious to establish himself nationally, encouraged to some extent by Coleridge’s favourable attention.
The Brontë family story begins and ends in Ireland and the Irish links are well covered in this treasure trove of a book.
