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artemismatchalatte's review against another edition
4.0
I took a long time to read this book. It took me some time to get into. The first third of the book was incredibly slow for me but once I got to about page 80 I read the rest of this book in a day.
This is a story of the legendary literary family, the Bronte sisters. It mainly focuses on Charlotte and what led up to her writing Jane Eyre. After reading this book, it is very clear to me that Jane Eyre was almost an autobiography since most of the characters in the book are directly related to people she knew and events that happened in her life.
I was more interested in the pieces with Emily and Anne; who don’t enter the novel as characters until several chapters in. There are some small parts in the middle which are from their prospectives. Honestly, I preferred Wuthering Heights to Jane Eyre but I was still drawn in by both novels that I still was interested in reading this book. Though I have yet to read anything by Anne Bronte, I intend to read one of her novels soon since this novel really only wanted to read her books more. Anne seems to get less literary cred than her older sisters, Charlotte and Emily, and I wanted to see why. Even Charlotte herself in this novel puts Anne’s work down when comparing them all to each other. I’m not sure if that’s fair. Though she also seemed (somewhat understandably) bitter that her sister’s two novels got picked up before hers for publication.
This story is about many aspects of family; sticking together through unbelievably hard times, as well as realistic and sympathetic portrayals of sibling rivalry between the sisters and their work. They have to take turns caring for their ailing preacher father and their mad, alcoholic brother, Branwell. They turned to their craft to try make money after they had jobs as governesses to wealthy families.
Charlotte has the longest career out of her sisters since she survives all of her siblings; none of whom ever marry. But even she dies rather young, in childbirth, with her first child. This book seems to show how difficult the lives of the Brontes were and from this tough existence, came some of the best writing of the 19th century, if not all of English literature.
I gave this book 4 stars. If you are interested in the Bronte sisters, Victorian lit, biographies, women writers, or the stories behind novels, I would suggest this book for you. There were parts where the pacing was a little off for me but I also read this book at an odd pace so that could have been me rather than the text itself.
This is a story of the legendary literary family, the Bronte sisters. It mainly focuses on Charlotte and what led up to her writing Jane Eyre. After reading this book, it is very clear to me that Jane Eyre was almost an autobiography since most of the characters in the book are directly related to people she knew and events that happened in her life.
I was more interested in the pieces with Emily and Anne; who don’t enter the novel as characters until several chapters in. There are some small parts in the middle which are from their prospectives. Honestly, I preferred Wuthering Heights to Jane Eyre but I was still drawn in by both novels that I still was interested in reading this book. Though I have yet to read anything by Anne Bronte, I intend to read one of her novels soon since this novel really only wanted to read her books more. Anne seems to get less literary cred than her older sisters, Charlotte and Emily, and I wanted to see why. Even Charlotte herself in this novel puts Anne’s work down when comparing them all to each other. I’m not sure if that’s fair. Though she also seemed (somewhat understandably) bitter that her sister’s two novels got picked up before hers for publication.
This story is about many aspects of family; sticking together through unbelievably hard times, as well as realistic and sympathetic portrayals of sibling rivalry between the sisters and their work. They have to take turns caring for their ailing preacher father and their mad, alcoholic brother, Branwell. They turned to their craft to try make money after they had jobs as governesses to wealthy families.
Charlotte has the longest career out of her sisters since she survives all of her siblings; none of whom ever marry. But even she dies rather young, in childbirth, with her first child. This book seems to show how difficult the lives of the Brontes were and from this tough existence, came some of the best writing of the 19th century, if not all of English literature.
I gave this book 4 stars. If you are interested in the Bronte sisters, Victorian lit, biographies, women writers, or the stories behind novels, I would suggest this book for you. There were parts where the pacing was a little off for me but I also read this book at an odd pace so that could have been me rather than the text itself.
allynl21's review against another edition
4.0
I read this book for class and I really enjoyed it! Thinking about the type of life that Charlotte Bronte lives is amazing and seeing them fictionally linked to her novel Jane Eyre (one of my favorites) was so fascinating. Definitely recommend if you like Jane Eyre as much as I do.
mimima's review against another edition
3.0
I didn't know very much at all about the Brontes, and this book not only made me appreciate "Jane Eyre" more, but made me want to re-read "Wuthering Heights" (but I still haven't gotten around to that, yet)
moncoinlecture's review against another edition
4.0
Original review - in French - on my blog : http://moncoinlecture.over-blog.com/article-becoming-jane-eyre-quand-j-etais-jane-eyre-sheila-kohler-98206524.html
claudiaswisher's review against another edition
4.0
Disclaimer: I am a HUGE Jane Eyre fan. My mother and I read it together, we loved it. Mom spent lots of time in Haworth,England at the church, the graveyard, the museums. We love Jane.
This book was a wonderful treat. 'What if...' fiction always intrigues me, and this has the added advantage of being based on the facts of the Brontes' lives. From Charlotte's accompanying her father for surgery to her sad, premature death, we are allowed into the minds of the remarkable women who hid their identity from the world, and all published books that are still important today.
I knew the bare-bones of the stories of Jane and Cathy and Agnes Grey, but Kohler adds such lovely tidbits...and such sad characterizations of the men in their lives.
Dreams, conflicts, rivalries...they're all here. Support that only sisters can give, and meanness only sisters can dish.
The narrative was quite complicated, slipping in and out of present tense, in the limited POV of everyone in the family except Branwell, and even slipping into future at the end. This gave such a reflective feel to the story. One reviewer complained that there was little action...of course! There was almost no action in the lives of these amazing young women. The action was locked in their imaginations...they had the ability to take their quiet lives and create, invent, deep lives and characters who still resonate.
What sad, sad lives they led...losing mother, sisters, brother...losing loved ones. Charlotte outlived all her siblings, and died just as she was about to become a mother herself.
There were passages that brought me to tears, because I knew my mother would have nodded in recognition. She once told me of sitting in the church, looking out at the moors, and suddenly understanding where the sisters' dark, brooding, complicated stories came from.
My mother would have loved this book...I love it for the both of us.
This book was a wonderful treat. 'What if...' fiction always intrigues me, and this has the added advantage of being based on the facts of the Brontes' lives. From Charlotte's accompanying her father for surgery to her sad, premature death, we are allowed into the minds of the remarkable women who hid their identity from the world, and all published books that are still important today.
I knew the bare-bones of the stories of Jane and Cathy and Agnes Grey, but Kohler adds such lovely tidbits...and such sad characterizations of the men in their lives.
Dreams, conflicts, rivalries...they're all here. Support that only sisters can give, and meanness only sisters can dish.
The narrative was quite complicated, slipping in and out of present tense, in the limited POV of everyone in the family except Branwell, and even slipping into future at the end. This gave such a reflective feel to the story. One reviewer complained that there was little action...of course! There was almost no action in the lives of these amazing young women. The action was locked in their imaginations...they had the ability to take their quiet lives and create, invent, deep lives and characters who still resonate.
What sad, sad lives they led...losing mother, sisters, brother...losing loved ones. Charlotte outlived all her siblings, and died just as she was about to become a mother herself.
There were passages that brought me to tears, because I knew my mother would have nodded in recognition. She once told me of sitting in the church, looking out at the moors, and suddenly understanding where the sisters' dark, brooding, complicated stories came from.
My mother would have loved this book...I love it for the both of us.
lisa_bergin's review against another edition
4.0
A really interesting fictional account of how Charlotte Bronte wrote Jane Eyre. My only criticism, it was a bit short.
booking_along's review against another edition
3.0
this was quiet lovely.
but i felt a bit long winded interestingly enough since it only has 220 pages to begin with!
i loved charlottes perspectives, learning how she might have written jane eyre and what er life was like during that time.
the writing was also well done, fitting for what was told on most aspects.
but is ain’t see the need for the pov switch to a nurse for charlottes father, charlottes father or emily’s. there was no need for both of them to basically say that charlotte was seen in one way but light actually be someone else entirely different from her plain looks. it was already describe at least a handful of times during charlottes own side!
they didn’t bring anything to he story itself.
i also could have done without the description of the nurse masturbation while praying, or a description of how charlottes father forced her mother to have sex when ever he felt like it never considered her at all!
was it necessary to put that kn this book in way more detail and description than what i just used?
the answer is no by he way.
overall it’s a great book to read if you want a little widow into the life of the bronte’s and what might have inspired charlotte to write her much loved novel.
it’s a good book, just sadly not as great was i wished it would have been for me personally. but that could always be my current reading mood instead of the book itself.
but i felt a bit long winded interestingly enough since it only has 220 pages to begin with!
i loved charlottes perspectives, learning how she might have written jane eyre and what er life was like during that time.
the writing was also well done, fitting for what was told on most aspects.
but is ain’t see the need for the pov switch to a nurse for charlottes father, charlottes father or emily’s. there was no need for both of them to basically say that charlotte was seen in one way but light actually be someone else entirely different from her plain looks. it was already describe at least a handful of times during charlottes own side!
they didn’t bring anything to he story itself.
i also could have done without the description of the nurse masturbation while praying, or a description of how charlottes father forced her mother to have sex when ever he felt like it never considered her at all!
was it necessary to put that kn this book in way more detail and description than what i just used?
the answer is no by he way.
overall it’s a great book to read if you want a little widow into the life of the bronte’s and what might have inspired charlotte to write her much loved novel.
it’s a good book, just sadly not as great was i wished it would have been for me personally. but that could always be my current reading mood instead of the book itself.
tiff_reads_'s review against another edition
1.0
I might have been more inclined to give this fictionalized account of Charlotte Bronte's life more credit if Kohler hadn't told, rather than shown, the entire novel. "She did this," "He did that"--for the entire book! And last time I checked, first person dialogue isn't a crime. And the most dramatically ripe events of C. Bronte's life--the death of siblings, her engagement, and marriage--are all dismissed in two short paragraphs. Highly disappointing.
krisrid's review against another edition
1.0
I made it to only page 35 of this book before giving up. The writing was awkward, the characters felt one-dimensional and drab, and the story was depressing and dull. I gave up disappointed, and am moving on to the next book on my list.
sonshinelibrarian's review against another edition
3.0
This was an interesting little novel. It explores what might have been going on as Charlotte Bronte writes Jane Eyre, gets it published, and deals with the aftermath of fame and notoriety. The prose is spare and flits between different perspectives all in a third person that should feel close but remains distant. I enjoyed it and found the style intriguing, but it's not something I would return to.