A great book for anyone that wants to learn more about the Bronte's but doesn't yet have any real knowledge about them and/or their work. Or wants a bit of a better understanding of their works after reading it but haven't yet read any other non-fiction books about the Sisters.

I would have liked a bit more actual non-fiction information, more than an overview of their lives and a pretty small view into their individual stories.

Also this book lacked editing, since it has quite a bit of repetition in it that i am not sure if its an ARC issue or a book issue.


Overall not bad and good for any reader that just wants the overview, if you want more than basics? Not the right book for you!

Actual rating 3.5/5 stars.

This is my first Bronte biography and I don't think it was necessarily the best place to start. Whilst it did give an overview of the lives of the infamous sisters, as well as their lesser well-known parents and brother, it did so in a disjointed fashion that often had paragraphs discoursing on other subjects that interjected on the chronological order I was expecting. These interlopers were fascinating and covered subjects such as the differences in traditional parenting compared to how the Bronte children were raised. I appreciated how this brought a new perspective to the hordes of Bronte biographies available, even if I was a little momentarily disorientated reading it as a novice to this history. If I had read another, perhaps more formal, biography before this one I certainly would have appreciated this fresh approach far more.

This is a great book for amateur Brontë enthusiasts. In the first half it will give you an overview of the life of the Brontë sisters and in the second half it goes into the individual sisters and their works.

I had a fair bit of background knowledge, but it was still interesting to see it all in one place and go through everything again. It really inspired me to read the Brontës more.

Still, this was only a 3 star read for me. For 2 reasons:
-Especially in the first half Rayner tries a bit too hard to put the story of the Brontës in a social context. There are too many extended asides about pedagogy, psychology and whether it can be proved that there is an afterlife. Yes, we are dealing with three especially talented sisters, but you can try a bit too hard to explain it all.
"Two people meet and their offspring inherit a genetic history that goes back through the centuries" or "Their irish and Cornish inheritance brought the Brontë children a mixture of natural talents"
Don't all our genetic histories go back (even more than) centuries? And does having an Irish or Cornish ancestry automatically say something about your talents?

-The second reason might have something to do with the ARC, but I felt that the text lacked editing. There were a lot of repetitions, sometimes it seems like two versions of the same paragraph were following each other. And then there were the wonky sentences that just needed a bit more work.

Overall definitely an interesting read for Brontë fans to get some background, but do not suspect a high level scholarly work.

Such a wonderful book and I recommend it. I love the writings of the Bronte sister and this book adds to my interest in the family. I enjoy learning more about writers and what not only inspires them, but leads them to their writings and thoughts. This book is perfect at fueling my desire to learn more.

[Excerpt]:
I requested this book initially because I want to start reading more nonfiction and/or memoirs/biographies, which are genres that I pretty much ignore in favor of fiction. But recently I’ve decided to expand my reading interests so that I’m not reading on a rotating schedule of fantasy, romance, YA contemporary, dystopian, and Stephen King.

I read Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights only once (each), and I absolutely fell in love with Jane Eyre (partly because I watched the 2011 movie version first, the one with Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender, and knew a little about the story), and to a lesser extent Wuthering Heights, although it was harder to understand and definitely more depressing. When I saw The Bronte Sisters was up for request on NetGalley, I figured what better way to get into nonfiction than to read about one of my favorite authors, Charlotte Bronte, and her lesser known sisters.
[Full review on my blog!]

Since Wuthering Heights has been my favorite book since my university days, I was immediately attracted to this book. And, of course, Jane Eyre is deservedly revered. I knew very little beyond the basics of their lives so gaining further insight here was fascinating. It seems quite amazing to me that they were able to succeed as they did given the difficult family,social and cultural times in which they lived. On top of everything else of course there were significant money constraints. Given this milieu, it seems quite incredible not only that they produced such great fiction but they tackled such strong, "indelicate " (for the time) subject matter. The author has produced a very fine book, well-written and insightful. I am sure to reread it.
Thank you to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC for my honest review.

I am in two minds about this biography of the three Brontë sisters.

It was very interesting to get a wider context to the lives and works of Charlotte, Emily and Anne, and I enjoyed reading about the enigmatic sisters. The writer succeeds in painting a picture of their lives, their characters and the circumstances in which their works of literature came into being.

However, I did feel at times the book was quite repetitive and jumbled, which especially the first half the narrative suffers from. Of course, the subject is three sisters, who were touched by much the same events in their lives, such as the loss of their mother at an early age, the death of their two older sisters and the demise of their brother. I just found the way their life story did not flow that well. The second half, in which the author talks about each sister in turn, felt a little more focused and I enjoyed learning about all three women.

I read Jane Eyre in November and was not the biggest fan. I do wonder how I would feel now I have read Charlotte’s own story. The same goes for Wuthering Heights, which is on my shelf still to be read. I think that knowing more about these extraordinary women who wrote novels that still endure today, will enrich my experience reading their works in the future.

This is a very comprehensive look at the life and times of the Brontë sisters and if you do feel inclined to pick up any of their books, I think reading this biography will help understand the authors better and through them, their books. I simply feel it would have been a stronger read if it had been a bit more condensed and edited.

I am fascinated by the Brontes so am always interested in any new books about them but at times it can feel like everything has already been said. This is an interesting take on the Bronte myths and realities and I really enjoyed reading it.
Highly recommended for anyone who loves the Brontes and the novels. The author does a great job of linking all the various strands of novels, reality and family together and it will be a great addtion to the Bronte study canon.

I was lucky enough to get my wish granted by Netgalley and get this fascinating book about the Bronte sisters. Having a thorough understanding about the sisters, their lives, their experiences just made me appreciate their books so much more! This is perfect for those who love the Bronte sisters!

4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Catherine Rayner sets before us the cultural, societal and family background which gave birth to three writing sisters. She looks at each and considers how they helped shape the lives and minds of Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë and how they helped shape their writing which in turn reflected their lives and thinking.

The hardship of life in the times to which they were born may only have touched them indirectly here and there but the hierarchy of society was felt directly, especially as women, this and the heartbreak of loss suffered throughout their relatively short lives was so strongly imprinted in them that it could not but influence their writing. Catherine Rayner explores how this manifests in their youth and as adults.

Much has been written about the Brontë sisters, indeed the family, and this will be a fine addition to them.

Rating: 3*

With thanks to Pen and Sword Ltd via NetGalley for an eARC of this book in return for an honest opinion.

Historically vivid, written well. For any one who is a history and literature buff. this will be right up their alley. I enjoyed it, having never read much about the Bronte sisters.~ I liked the authors style of writing and though it was a biography, it read smoothly like a fiction novel. Curious about The Bronte sisters? Looking to read a biography but don't know what to read? This book is an excellent place to start.

There are many books and biographies about the Brontë family, and one may wonder if there is anything new to say on the subject. This was an enjoyable read for me, the author doesn't just relay by now well-known biographical facts, but examines the societal and cultural world the sisters grew up in, and how this influenced their literary success. Personally, I don't think I can ever read enough about the lives of these remarkable women.

Una biografia corretta e curata, che purtroppo non aggiunge nulla, se qualcuno conosce già le vicende della famiglia Bronte, a lavori più completi come quello monumentale di Janet Baker, o a punti di vista più personali, come nel bellissimo Take Courage: Anne Bronte and the Art of Life di Samantha Ellis, o a presentazioni più originali e stuzzicanti come The Brontë Cabinet: Three Lives in Nine Objects di Deborah Lutz.
Tre stelle, quindi: perché mi sento di consigliarlo a chi si avvicina al mondo complesso e affascinante di una famiglia straordinaria, anche se un bronteiano più esperto troverà poco pane per i suoi denti.