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barbarasg's review against another edition
4.0
This was a very heartfelt and caring biography, which made it pleasant to read. Of course there are some problems because the book was published so shortly after Charlotte's death that most characters mentioned were still alive when it came out. So sometimes Gaskell didn't dare to write very frankly. However, the long intro in this version which explains and adds to those passages makes up for all that, so that the account still seems full and coherent. I really enjoyed this book. Even though Brote's life was quite sad, Gaskell depicts her as such an amiable character that you just have to love and admire her.
maplessence's review against another edition
3.0
3.5*
I should never think about reviews! Once I decide I have Something To Say, it just drags on & on!
I now have recent reads that prove that writing a biography or memoir when the subject or close friends & family are still living is no easy task. Memories differ, things happen that some want to forget. Take [bc:The Moon's a Balloon|57778|The Moon's a Balloon|David Niven|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1389072426s/57778.jpg|1045639] by David Niven where he allegedly borrowed other peoples' memories, amalgamated some of his own & for obvious reasons didn't want to admit that his second marriage was deeply unhappy. & the biography of Reg Spiers [bc:Out of the Box: The Highs and Lows of a Champion Smuggler|20694904|Out of the Box The Highs and Lows of a Champion Smuggler|Julie McSorley|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1404782893s/20694904.jpg|40014514] proves in the internet age that changing names won't give you any privacy.
So I can understand some of the difficulties Mrs Elizabeth Gaskell would have faced when the recently deceased Charlotte's father invited her to write the biography. Charlotte & Elizabeth were friends, but the friendship was relatively recent. It must have been a very delicate act balancing Rev Bronte's feelings & the truth. I guess to good Reverend didn't think there was anything very odd about his ideas on children's nutrition (the young Brontes lived mostly on potatoes, even though there was enough money for better food) because that is in the book! Even with EG's restrained writing Charlotte's father comes across as selfish & a bit of a nutter.
I think EG stands her ground on the subject of Branwell. As delicately as EG writes about him, there is no doubt that Branwell was a favoured & spoilt child. Except for one poem, I have never read any of his written works, but certainly his paintings can most charitably be described as uneven. On the other hand, just take a look of this painting of Charlotte's! Just full of joy.
I would like to read one of the CB biographies that show up in my GR recommendations. Or better still one about all three Bronte sisters. I think they will show a far more passionate & vital woman than comes across in EG's writing. The book comes to life when Charlotte's letters are used – CB is a most eloquent correspondent!
The edition I have is a 1971 by Heron Books. It's well illustrated & has extensive appendices, one of which mentions that EG was given access to some of the Brontes' juvenile writings, but gave them only the most cursory of studies. (in EG's defence they were tiny!)
I'm intending to reread Jane Eyre later in the year & will try another Bronte biography then.
I should never think about reviews! Once I decide I have Something To Say, it just drags on & on!
I now have recent reads that prove that writing a biography or memoir when the subject or close friends & family are still living is no easy task. Memories differ, things happen that some want to forget. Take [bc:The Moon's a Balloon|57778|The Moon's a Balloon|David Niven|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1389072426s/57778.jpg|1045639] by David Niven where he allegedly borrowed other peoples' memories, amalgamated some of his own & for obvious reasons didn't want to admit that his second marriage was deeply unhappy. & the biography of Reg Spiers [bc:Out of the Box: The Highs and Lows of a Champion Smuggler|20694904|Out of the Box The Highs and Lows of a Champion Smuggler|Julie McSorley|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1404782893s/20694904.jpg|40014514] proves in the internet age that changing names won't give you any privacy.
So I can understand some of the difficulties Mrs Elizabeth Gaskell would have faced when the recently deceased Charlotte's father invited her to write the biography. Charlotte & Elizabeth were friends, but the friendship was relatively recent. It must have been a very delicate act balancing Rev Bronte's feelings & the truth. I guess to good Reverend didn't think there was anything very odd about his ideas on children's nutrition (the young Brontes lived mostly on potatoes, even though there was enough money for better food) because that is in the book! Even with EG's restrained writing Charlotte's father comes across as selfish & a bit of a nutter.
I think EG stands her ground on the subject of Branwell. As delicately as EG writes about him, there is no doubt that Branwell was a favoured & spoilt child. Except for one poem, I have never read any of his written works, but certainly his paintings can most charitably be described as uneven. On the other hand, just take a look of this painting of Charlotte's! Just full of joy.
I would like to read one of the CB biographies that show up in my GR recommendations. Or better still one about all three Bronte sisters. I think they will show a far more passionate & vital woman than comes across in EG's writing. The book comes to life when Charlotte's letters are used – CB is a most eloquent correspondent!
The edition I have is a 1971 by Heron Books. It's well illustrated & has extensive appendices, one of which mentions that EG was given access to some of the Brontes' juvenile writings, but gave them only the most cursory of studies. (in EG's defence they were tiny!)
I'm intending to reread Jane Eyre later in the year & will try another Bronte biography then.
hanneke22's review against another edition
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
5.0
Despite her incredibly hard life, Charlotte Brönte is my new literary hero.
5 ⭐️
5 ⭐️
amandakirs's review against another edition
4.0
This book was very touching and quite well-written, in the style of Charlotte herself, which isn't surprising knowing now (after reading the book and so many of Charlotte's letters) how similar Charlotte and the author were in all opinions and thoughts. The book is comprised of narration by Elizabeth Gaskell and largely of letters written by Charlotte to various friends, editors, and authors. Fascinating and almost voyeuristic to read, this stunningly wide collection of Charlotte's own letters and words treat everything from the most trivial gossip to intelligent reviews of books written to friends. Also quite humbling and dispiriting, the letters show us how heartbreakingly sick they all were all the time and what struggles the brilliant family suffered through.
thedewdrop's review against another edition
3.0
Its an interesting little narrative (not particularly accurate) yet with plenty of titbits none the less, offering you an insight into the most famous Bronte sister (as an Anne-lover, this is a personal pet peeve of mine). It does lack some of Gaskell's typical charm, that you see in her narrative's I think; the writing is a little less quaint and a little more dull and heavy, something which I find in an awful lot of non-fictions from that time period; the sort of monotony that people associate with classics only really exists there, for me. It was still anything but a slog to get through, and I have no regrets reading this, but I wish I had lower expectations from the vividly accomplished author of the magnificent North and South writing in regards to another illustrious- and skilful- figure of her time. All in all, a good read that fell sadly short for me.
sbbarnes's review against another edition
3.0
Elizabeth Gaskell's biography of Charlotte Bronte was a groundbreaking work at the time of publication, and I think it holds up as a good biography. Beginning with the meeting of her parents and their move to Hayworth, the book shows detailed research and a willingness to really understand her subject. Gaskell combed through hundreds of letters, excerpting the most important sections (as she saw them).
In terms of content: Bronte had five siblings; her mother died young. The children were raised somewhat eccentrically by their clergyman father, the boy, Branwell, being educated entirely at home, and the girls being sent to boarding school. This boarding school, at least in Gaskell's portrayal, is a one-to-one equivalent for Lowood in Jane Eyre; it is terrible. The section where Gaskell describes the way food is prepared will leave you feeling sick. Two of Bronte's sisters die. She and Emily return home for a few years, and then she attends another, thankfully much better boarding school. Here, she meets friends for life, and later goes on to be a teacher at the same school. She, Emily and Anne dream of opening their own school in their father's house so they don't have to leave home; all three work as teachers and governesses. This dream doesn't really seem to be one of passion, it's more because they are all terribly sickly and don't do well away from home. None of them particularly enjoys teaching, but it seems the only way for women of their status to make a living. Emily and Charlotte go to Brussels to learn French so that they can teach it.
After their aunt's death and a return to England, Charlotte returns to Europe alone, and is seemingly desperately lonely. Her insomnia starts here. She returns to England when her brother starts his descent into alcoholism and opium addiction (allegedly, according to Gaskell, as a result of an ill-fated and well-publicized affair with a married woman). All the Bronte siblings are now at home (except I think Anne who is once again a governess). At this point, Charlotte is almost thirty and laments that she has achieved nothing in her life. Emily, Anne and Charlotte set about publishing a volume of poetry under pseudonyms, which doesn't do terribly well, but they persevere. Anne and Emily's novels Agnes Grey and Wuthering Heights are accepted for publication; Charlotte's The Professor is not until she produces Jane Eyre, which is an immediate sensation.
With the release of all three books, speculation that the authors are all one and the same emerges, which Charlotte and Anne put paid to by traveling to London and proving their identities. Branwell dies, shortly thereafter followed by Emily (who legit refuses to admit she's even sick). Anne only lasts a few months longer. Charlotte is devastated, but continues to write, and somewhat at her father's urging, becomes more involved in literary circles and begins corresponding and visiting with various authors of the time, including Elizabeth Gaskell. Shirley is published, and causes a storm in and around Hayworth. Eventually, Charlotte marries the curate who proposed to her a year earlier, after her father has come around on the idea of her being married (she's now well over thirty). Allegedly this is a very happy time, although modern readers are probably a little shocked at the idea that she is so happy with her domestic duties she stops writing. Then again, she dies after only nine months of marriage, so who knows what would have happened.
One of the bigger criticisms of this book is that Gaskell hid certain facts about Charlotte's time in Brussels, namely her passionate attachment to her landlord and teacher, a married man, whom she wrote several very telling letters. Gaskell had seen these letters and elected to not include these telling passages, instead blaming Branwell's descent for Charlotte's return to England, and religious differences for Charlotte not getting along with the man's wife. Honestly, I think Gaskell made the right call given that she was writing a biography of a friend at a time when both her husband and the man in question were still alive and contributing materials. Certainly now, when academics write biographies, it wouldn't do, but Charlotte's own father asked Gaskell to write this. How could you look a nearly eighty-year-old man in the face who watched every single one of his children die and tell him, hey, your daughter wanted to bone some Belgian dude. Also, Gaskell and Bronte both championed the idea of women being judged on their writing, not their gender, and that story would not help. I agree that current biographies, and current editions of this biography, should definitely include this aspect, but for the time? Definitely the right call. Plus, Charlotte's husband was pretty leery of publishing her letters anyway.
The letters are why this is a three star rating and not four stars, btw - they make up most of the book and it can get pretty hard to read because there's so little substance and so much letter. It's nice to see how much Charlotte corresponded with her friends I guess, and primary documents are better, but they are heavily edited (especially the gossipy bits, which is a shame - you have to rely on the modern annotation to know who is being talked about or it's just endlessly confusing). Also, with these letters, Gaskell leans pretty hard into sanctifying all the Bronte children and talking about how good and lovely they were (except Branwell, but he was led astray by an evil woman), even Emily, who appears to have been pretty aloof at times.
The hardest part about reading this is how depressing it is. It's kind of an endless parade of illness and sadness; someone is always sick or dying. Also, all the Bronte sisters suffered from some things I guess brought on by isolation? Today, we'd probably call it social anxiety, or just anxiety, but it's heartbreaking and also very relatable to hear Charlotte say she'd rather suffer any pain than go into the kitchen and ask for help because she's too shy.
In terms of content: Bronte had five siblings; her mother died young. The children were raised somewhat eccentrically by their clergyman father, the boy, Branwell, being educated entirely at home, and the girls being sent to boarding school. This boarding school, at least in Gaskell's portrayal, is a one-to-one equivalent for Lowood in Jane Eyre; it is terrible. The section where Gaskell describes the way food is prepared will leave you feeling sick. Two of Bronte's sisters die. She and Emily return home for a few years, and then she attends another, thankfully much better boarding school. Here, she meets friends for life, and later goes on to be a teacher at the same school. She, Emily and Anne dream of opening their own school in their father's house so they don't have to leave home; all three work as teachers and governesses. This dream doesn't really seem to be one of passion, it's more because they are all terribly sickly and don't do well away from home. None of them particularly enjoys teaching, but it seems the only way for women of their status to make a living. Emily and Charlotte go to Brussels to learn French so that they can teach it.
After their aunt's death and a return to England, Charlotte returns to Europe alone, and is seemingly desperately lonely. Her insomnia starts here. She returns to England when her brother starts his descent into alcoholism and opium addiction (allegedly, according to Gaskell, as a result of an ill-fated and well-publicized affair with a married woman). All the Bronte siblings are now at home (except I think Anne who is once again a governess). At this point, Charlotte is almost thirty and laments that she has achieved nothing in her life. Emily, Anne and Charlotte set about publishing a volume of poetry under pseudonyms, which doesn't do terribly well, but they persevere. Anne and Emily's novels Agnes Grey and Wuthering Heights are accepted for publication; Charlotte's The Professor is not until she produces Jane Eyre, which is an immediate sensation.
With the release of all three books, speculation that the authors are all one and the same emerges, which Charlotte and Anne put paid to by traveling to London and proving their identities. Branwell dies, shortly thereafter followed by Emily (who legit refuses to admit she's even sick). Anne only lasts a few months longer. Charlotte is devastated, but continues to write, and somewhat at her father's urging, becomes more involved in literary circles and begins corresponding and visiting with various authors of the time, including Elizabeth Gaskell. Shirley is published, and causes a storm in and around Hayworth. Eventually, Charlotte marries the curate who proposed to her a year earlier, after her father has come around on the idea of her being married (she's now well over thirty). Allegedly this is a very happy time, although modern readers are probably a little shocked at the idea that she is so happy with her domestic duties she stops writing. Then again, she dies after only nine months of marriage, so who knows what would have happened.
One of the bigger criticisms of this book is that Gaskell hid certain facts about Charlotte's time in Brussels, namely her passionate attachment to her landlord and teacher, a married man, whom she wrote several very telling letters. Gaskell had seen these letters and elected to not include these telling passages, instead blaming Branwell's descent for Charlotte's return to England, and religious differences for Charlotte not getting along with the man's wife. Honestly, I think Gaskell made the right call given that she was writing a biography of a friend at a time when both her husband and the man in question were still alive and contributing materials. Certainly now, when academics write biographies, it wouldn't do, but Charlotte's own father asked Gaskell to write this. How could you look a nearly eighty-year-old man in the face who watched every single one of his children die and tell him, hey, your daughter wanted to bone some Belgian dude. Also, Gaskell and Bronte both championed the idea of women being judged on their writing, not their gender, and that story would not help. I agree that current biographies, and current editions of this biography, should definitely include this aspect, but for the time? Definitely the right call. Plus, Charlotte's husband was pretty leery of publishing her letters anyway.
The letters are why this is a three star rating and not four stars, btw - they make up most of the book and it can get pretty hard to read because there's so little substance and so much letter. It's nice to see how much Charlotte corresponded with her friends I guess, and primary documents are better, but they are heavily edited (especially the gossipy bits, which is a shame - you have to rely on the modern annotation to know who is being talked about or it's just endlessly confusing). Also, with these letters, Gaskell leans pretty hard into sanctifying all the Bronte children and talking about how good and lovely they were (except Branwell, but he was led astray by an evil woman), even Emily, who appears to have been pretty aloof at times.
The hardest part about reading this is how depressing it is. It's kind of an endless parade of illness and sadness; someone is always sick or dying. Also, all the Bronte sisters suffered from some things I guess brought on by isolation? Today, we'd probably call it social anxiety, or just anxiety, but it's heartbreaking and also very relatable to hear Charlotte say she'd rather suffer any pain than go into the kitchen and ask for help because she's too shy.