Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

"A fresh and modern view of Charlotte Bronte--as a woman searching for love and as a writer who helped change society's perceptions about her sex. Her moving, eloquent portrait will interest not only Bronte devotees but all contemporary women."--Kirkus Reviews

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

This compelling biography sets Charlotte Bronte in her rightful place as the central figure in a remarkable and gifted family. Fraser gives a full account of the parents, home, teachers, publishers, friends, fellow writers and finally the husband of the woman who chose the masculine nom-de-plume ``Currer Bell.'' The writings of Emily (``Ellis Bell'') and Anne (``Action'') are described and evaluated, as are the unpublished effusions of their wastrel brother Branwell. But the main emphasis is on Jane Eyre and Charlotte Bronte's other books, for which she was praised for literary skill, imagination and insightand castigated for ``coarseness'' and ``unwomanliness'' because of her insistence on depicting women with feelings as powerful and legitimate as those of men. This analysis of what was then called ``woman's place'' and how that stereotype has evolved and changed is a valuable feature of the book. In Fraser's scholarly and sympathetic telling, the sorrows, losses and hardships of the Bronte family, familiar to many, form a moving backdrop for the last survivor of six children who holds an enduring place among the immortals of English literature. Illustrations not seen by PW. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

School Library Journal Review

YA-- A detailed, comprehensive study of the Bronte family that shows the thorough research that went into it. This book contains many suggestions for the origins of characters, plots, and locations which both Emily and Charlotte used in their writing. It gives a wonderful but sad look at the society of the day as reflected in the lives of these educated yet poor sisters. Documentation and detailed notes are included.-- Barbara Weathers, Duchesne Academy, Houston (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Book Review

A major critical biography of the author of Jane Eyre, a novel that scandalized its Victorian audience. Raised on the wild moors of Haworth, England, Charlotte Bronte and her siblings--Emily, Anne, and Branwell--compensated for the bleakness of their surroundings by writing about imaginary kingdoms. Eventually, Charlotte, Emily, and Anne turned to writing novels, which they published with varying degrees of critical success. Anne's novels were virtually ignored, while Emily's Wuthering Heights was universally panned for its ""contemptible"" characters and lack of art. Charlotte's Jane Eyre created a sensation, however. Victorians were both intrigued and appalled by its heroine's independence, her seeming rejection of religous values, and her right to feel as passionately about life as a man. Almost overnight, Charlotte became famous, but tragedy soon followed. Within months, her tormented brother Branwell, Emily, and then Anne died of tuberculosis. Only Charlotte survived--a tiny, plain, almost toothless woman who despaired about her looks and longed for the romantic love she wrote about in her novels. Happily, she was finally able to marry in midde age her father's curate, a prosaic man who nevertheless was kind to her. But happiness was short-lived; nine months after their marriage, she became pregnant and died, at age 39, of the disease that had killed her sisters and brother. With scholarship and sympathy, Fraser, daughter of biographer/mystery writer Antonia Fraser, presents a fresh and modern view of Charlotte Bronte--as a woman searching for love and as a writer who helped change society's perceptions about her sex. Her moving, eloquent portrait will interest not only Bronte devotees, but all contemporary women straggling with loneliness and romantic yearnings. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.