What do You think about The Crimes Of Charlotte Bronte: The Secrets Of A Mysterious Family: A Novel (2000)?
I have never been so torn as I was when reading this book. For years, Jane Eyre has been my life novel, I absolutely adore it! The characters were depicted phenomenally, the setting was intriguing, and the plot was surely heart-wrenching. But of course the greatest part of it all is the complex beauty of Jane's character! I would kill to be like Jane... And apparently so would Charlotte Bronte. This book was so intriguing and, although a work of fiction, encourages readers to take off their rose-colored glasses when reading a Bronte's work. Regardless of whether its content is factual or the working James Tully's imagination, this novel ignites in readers a desire to uncover the truth of the Bronte family. Right now this book and I have a love/hate relationship, but I would recommend it all the same. Jane Eyre
—Kylie
"The story of the lives of the Bronte family is as haunting and tragic as their novels: three sisters and an alcoholic brother shut in the bleak and claustrophobic parsonage at Haworth."Noted criminologist James Tully became fascinated by inconsistencies he found in the accounts of the lives an deaths of the Brontes, and soon became enmeshed in seeking out the mysteries of Haworth. So dark and unexpected were the results of his researches he decided to tell the story in the form of a novel which brings to the fore many disturbing questions:"How did three sisters in a remote parsonage know so much about the darker passions of love?"Did Charlotte's husband, Arthur Nicholls, have a relationship with Emily that resulted in her pregnancy?"Poet and artist, drug user and alcoholic -- but was Branwell also an expert blackmailer?"Was Anne poisoned to stop her revealing the truth about Emily's death?"All of which leads to one final question: Was there a cold-blooded and calculating murderer at the heart of the Bronte household?"~~back cover"...an adeptly constructed, compelling tale that is all the more sinister for the possibility of its truth."~~BooklistI couldn't have said it better myself. Chapters are divided into the threads of the plot, followed by comments on the results of the author's research. I have never been particularly a Bronte fan, but this book was fascinating!
—Kate
This book is my guilty little secret. I love it. On those bitter winter days when it is too dark and dreary to do anything else, I curl up in my favorite chair, wrapped in a snuggie and with a pot of tea on the table beside me, I let myself be drawn into this fictional tale...There! I've admitted it and I'm still alive!As a young girl I was fascinated by the Bronte family and their untimely deaths, could never figure out why 'Wuthering Heights' began the way it did (even as an 11 year old, I thought the narrative switch...unusual) and so when this book came out so many years ago, I immediately bought it and I have never regretted it!I don't care that James Tully is the nemesis of Bronte fans all over the world, I don't even care that in the presence of said fans I must advert my eyes and tuck my head in shame....I have read this book once a year since it was published and I will continue to do so for as long as I like!Here's the thing...it's fictional! It's fun! It doesn't have calories!And I'm giving it five stars because I enjoy it every time I read it....so there!
—Mia
