Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Invention of Charlotte Brontë:
When truth is stranger than literature.
Quick synopsis:
The story of how Charlotte Brontë’s death grew her legend.
Fact for Non-History People:
It is estimated that Jane Eyre has sold over 2 million copies.
Fact for History Nerds:
Jane Eyre netted Charlotte £500 which was 25 times her governess salary.
My Take on The Invention of Charlotte Brontë:
A few years ago, I took one of my very rare forays into fiction and picked up Jane Eyre. No, I was not trying to better myself. I was trying to impress a woman. (Good news: It worked! Temporarily!) Lo and behold, I truly enjoyed the novel and became more interested in the woman who wrote one of the classics of English literature. As always, I found out that truth was stranger, and better, than fiction.
Graham Watson looks to illuminate the latter part of Charlotte’s life in The Invention of Charlotte Brontë. There are many things I loved about this book, and it starts with Watson jumping to the time right after Charlotte is unmasked as the author of Jane Eyre. For the uninitiated, Charlotte published under a pseudonym for a multitude of reasons which become quite clear in the narrative. By jumping ahead, Watson can slowly reveal the challenges (to put it lightly) of Charlotte’s life when the details become relevant. For someone who already knew about her life, it let me skip a lot of well-trodden (and supremely depressing) material.
Watson is most interested in showing the absolute mess that was Charlotte’s death and its aftermath. Mostly, we get to see how the two men in her life, who can be charitably described as “difficult”, are powerless to carry on Charlotte’s legacy while fellow novelist Elizabeth Gaskell performs an act of superhuman literary resurrection. However, her efforts are not without seemingly endless controversy. Drama abounds.
I particularly liked Watson’s prose and storytelling choices. He is liberal with quoting directly from the letters and sources. Most importantly, his own writing is charmingly old-fashioned. That may sound like a criticism, but I mean it in the best possible way. It’s as if he wants to make the excerpts and his own commentary seamless as if he was writing in the same time period. As it is Watson’s first book, I can’t tell if this is just how he writes or if this was a choice. Either way, it was perfect for this subject.
If only Charlotte’s father and husband could have been so complementary. Luckily, we will always have Elizabeth.
(This book was provided as a review copy by Pegasus Books.)
Verdict:
One of my absolute favorites of the past few years. Buy it here!
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.