This novel, based upon the literary Bronte family of the 1800s England, does not stray too far from what are well-known facts with the exception of a speculative love interest for Emily Bronte. The three sisters, Anne, Emily, and Charlotte, daughters of a clergyman, well-educated but raised in genteel poverty, became authors under male pseudonyms out of financial necessity. The story is told with just the right amount of detail. Bronte fanciers will love this, but most readers of historical fiction would like it for its word picture of life in the time and place of 1800s Yorkshire, England,

"The world cannot know what to do with a brilliant woman. A brilliant, penniless one is worse."

This book transported me to the brooding Yorkshire moors just as Wuthering Heights did almost 60 years ago. The Man in the Stone Cottage is beautifully written, giving more life to the Brontë sisters than historians recorded for us. Charlotte's longing for passion and a soul mate gave us Jane Eyre, who reflected the only respectable career for a highly educated woman, a teacher or a governess. The three Bronte sisters chafed at the restrictions society imposed on them, pouring their souls into their poetry and novels. Stephanie Cowell has put a spotlight on their brilliance in a time when women's value came solely from their bodies and housekeeping. Life was difficult for the Bronte sisters, but their books are timeless. Ms. Cowell's The Man in the Stone Cottage made me appreciate them in new ways, and I am grateful.
I look forward to rereading it once it's published.

This book tells the sweeping love stories of the Brontë sisters. From Emily’s secret love for a man who lives in an isolated cottage on the Moor to Charlotte’s infatuation and unexpected love. Stephanie’s story is well researched and has the right amount of imagination for a fictional novel based on historical figures.

Stephanie’s writing perfectly captures the sister’s grief, loss, freedom, captivity, ambitions and responsibilities. I made so many highlights while reading. I loved the connections it made to each of their novels. However, you do not need all the scholarly context to enjoy this book, it stands well as a story of its own. I have read a few fictionalised adaptations of the Brontës and find it interesting what authors choose to omit, include or add and how the characters can be portrayed so differently. If you are a fan of Karen Powell’s ‘Fifteen Wild Decembers’ then it is definitely giving this a read.

My one small gripe with the novel was ‘Where was Anne?!’ As all too common among stories of the Brontës Anne is reduced to a mere side character, even though she was a compelling author in her own right. Even Branwell had more pages dedicated to him than she did! The story changes perspective between Emily and Charlotte which makes the lack of Anne even more glaringly obvious. Perhaps this only bothers me as I am a die hard Anne apologist. However, it did not take away my enjoyment of this book overall. I would love to read Stephanie’s other historical novels but they seem difficult to find! I give this book 5 stars.

Thank you Regal House Publishing for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Stephanie Cowell has long been a master of the historical novel, having plumbed the lives of Monet, Mozart, the young Shakespeare—and in her new novel, The Man in the Stone Cottage, Cowell takes us to the desolate moor-country of 19th-century England, and to the pressed, brilliant lives of the Bronte siblings—Charlotte, Emily, Anne, and the drug-addicted and coddled brother, Branwell. Motherless children, and preceded in death by two older sisters, they are raised by a well-intentioned but feckless minister father—with virtually no money, and in a wind-tossed, bare-bones home. Cowell brilliantly evokes the harrowing search for romantic love and the North Star of the sisters’ lives, the fevered imaginations and literature, with understated and nuanced prose. She renders these extraordinary, incandescent lives as if they were ordinary. Cowell’s triumph is that in her matter-of-fact approach, she tells an even more remarkable story. Geniuses, like all the rest of us, are desperate for that basic, human thing: love.

Readers have long been interested in the lives of the Brontë sisters. The Man in the Stone Cottage, by Stephanie’s Cowell, is the fictional story of the lives of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne. Cowell makes use of what is known about the reclusive sisters, and her imagination adds the rest. It is a very interesting read. I was able to read an ARC on #NetGalley.

Published 16 September 2025

Set against the haunting backdrop of 1846 Yorkshire, The Man in the Stone Cottage follows the Brontë sisters—Charlotte, Anne, and Emily—as they navigate heartbreak, hardship, and a world that refuses to take their genius seriously. Amidst rejection, illness, and a brother bent on ruin, Emily finds solace in the solitude of the moors—and in a mysterious shepherd no one else can see.

Years later, Charlotte—newly successful with Jane Eyre—discovers a collection of hidden letters and a curious map, drawing her into a quiet, aching mystery surrounding her sister’s past. As she prepares to marry, she’s determined to uncover the truth: did Emily fall in love? And if so, with whom?

This book is a love letter to the Brontës in every way. As someone with deep Yorkshire roots, I found myself profoundly moved. My (Yorkshire) mother gave me Wuthering Heights as a teenager. I’ve walked those same moors, visited the Parsonage, and wandered Haworth’s cobbled streets more times than I can count. I even make regular stops at The Cabinet of Curiosities, a local gem of a shop that adds to the town’s timeless magic.

Reading this, I raged at Branwell—more pitiful than misunderstood—as he squandered opportunities while his sisters toiled for every word. I ached for Charlotte, Emily, and Anne—their dreams, their losses, and the indelible mark they left on the world despite everything set against them.

Cowell’s prose is lyrical and tender, her narrative respectful and evocative. It’s a beautiful imagining of Emily’s emotional world and a heartfelt exploration of sisterhood, grief, and artistic resilience.

Highly recommend for readers of historical fiction, literary biography, and anyone who’s ever felt the pull of the moors.

‘’What will we do with this paper, sir? Why, we’ll write great books. We’ll grow up and never marry.’’

Emily Brontë wrote only one novel. Just one novel. One. This novel became the measure by which every book of the Gothic genre is rated. It became controversial due to the mistaken, feminist approach of the Meanads who declared Heathcliff “ a monster”. It is worshipped on the altar of the literary masterpieces by the lovers of literature who know HOW to read. Her novel became one of the best novels ever written. For me, it is THE best novel ever written.

And The Man in the Stone Cottage is undoubtedly the finest novel about the Brontë family.

The West Yorkshire setting reflects the emotional and thematic core of the novel, mirroring the solitude and elemental strength that define Emily Brontë. Emily remains faithful to the stones, the moonlight, and the cold winds—guardians of memory, bearing the voices of the dead. In contrast, Charlotte’s spirit longs to soar beyond the moors, drawn to the vitality of London and its intellectual allure. Yet, the novel continually returns us to Emily: her solitude, her mystery, her quiet defiance.

‘’Why don’t people leave me alone?’’

Many have wondered how Emily could portray such a powerful, dark, and intimate relationship without ever having known love herself. Stephanie Cowell imagines a Scottish shepherd who melts the frost around Emily’s heart and temporarily draws her away from the world she so fiercely clings to. Though Charlotte’s story occupies much of the narrative, it is Emily’s presence that dominates. She exists not only in her own story, but in her sister’s thoughts and ambitions. It is Emily’s feral, mystical energy that haunts the pages of this remarkable novel.

‘’Where did this story come from? She thought of leaves against a corner of the church, a homeless boy she had once seen wth huge, dark eyes. And there was than ancient book of poems, particularly the poem about a wanderer. He was exiled from all he loved and roamed the cold seas and walked the paths of exile, just like the man in the stone cottage who had aroused such strange feelings in her.’’

The writing is truly exquisite. We can hear the winds howling, the branches knocking on the windows, the church bells, the leaves under the boots. We can see the stone cottage, Haworth, the moss on the graves, the silence of the empty church. The dialogue is beautiful, rich and elegant, poetic and moving. When you are as familiar with Wuthering Heights as I am, you understand that Cowell’s work is full of subtle nods and literary echoes—Easter eggs that deepen the experience and draw a clearer emotional thread between the two works.

‘’Because,’’ she mumbled slowly, her fingers peeling the polished bannister, ‘’the poems are from the inside of me. What all of you see isn’t the real me; it’s a shadow. If I don’t hold on, what’s real will be taken from me. Who I really am would be thrown away.’’

I have the audacity to confess that I’ve always felt a deep connection with Emily. In her silence, I saw my own aversion to the empty exchanges and performative interactions that fill our daily lives. In her rage, I recognised my own frustration. In her fierce privacy, I saw my own unwillingness to expose the intimate details of my life, because it’s nobody’s business.
After reading Stephanie Cowell’s novel, that connection felt even more profound. I felt it in my core—as if, through these pages, Emily had shared her deepest secrets with me. And now, I love her even more. This little heathen who wrote wonders…
‘’Ancient drystone walls ran far into the distance on the Yorkshire moor, and now last autumn’s heather and grass were covered with a light frost. A red grouse cackled from a wall and leaped into the air.’’

Lyrical and melancholic, sacred and bittersweet, this beautiful novel is a treasure for anyone who adores Emily Brontë. And for those unfamiliar with the Brontë family, it may spark a deeper curiosity, prompting them to explore the sisters’ works and extraordinary lives. If I sound opinionated—or even elitist—it’s only because years of encountering misreadings and shallow commentary about Emily Brontë have made me unapologetic. I can’t wait to own a physical copy of this book and place it among my most treasured volumes.

‘’We have always been here, they murmured. We are more real than you are. We are more real than he is, your man in his stone cottage, and he is dangerously real.
Live for us alone.
I know that ghosts have wandered on earth. Be with me always. Take any form, drive me mad, only do not leave me in this dark alone where I cannot find you. I cannot live without my life! I cannot die without my soul.’’

Many thanks to Regal House Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My reviews can also be found on https://theopinionatedreaderblog.wordpress.com/

I went into this book with woefully little knowledge about the lives of the Brontes, so although this is speculative I learnt a lot. This is my first 5* read of 2025 and left me feeling very very emotional. It is written beautifully and captures the spirit and experience of these women with painful clarity. I'm so thankful I got to read this novel, it's special. Thank you.

It's about sisterhood, it's about bonding, it's about leaning on to support, to have support. It was emotional, sometimes mysterious book which celebrated, explored Bronte sister's Emily, Charlotte and Anne's Life.

These are not my Brontës, but I must begin with saying that I loved this novel and feel like I’ve stumbled on a kindred spirit at a point when such experiences are rare and startling. Stephanie Cowell has not only the skill to write a clear, sharp historical novel as neat and intricate as origami, she also has a rarer thing: the knowledge of her subject – the Brontë family – to make every liberty she takes with biography succeed as credible and seamless with truth. The Man in the Stone Cottage gives us Emily Brontë at its heart, with Charlotte, Branwell, and Anne there as satellites orbiting a strange and vivid story that knits well with the available biography of the sisters.
I began reading this walking home from work because I couldn’t be fussed to hurry on an evening full of wind and machinarium sky. I leaned against a railing and read for five minutes, lost track of time, got a phone call, and startled to see it had been half an hour, I walked on. At home while I cooked, did the evening things, I read. The Man in the Stone Cottage is that kind of book.
It hasn’t had the flame edited out; it’s a quiet book that remains like a scent on the air in the head’s house. I first found the Brontës as a small, plain child who adored large, sometimes ugly novels. I am now an aged plain theydy who has spent almost half a century rereading the novels and reading every Brontë-adjacent thing I can find. I had no idea I would find Cowell’s book: there isn’t fanfare or online hype that I’ve seen, and the title and cover are unobtrusive. But I feel fortunate to have stumbled on the advance copy of this book and recommend it with enthusiasm and not a single reservation. Read on for what I liked and what I questioned.
My only real quibble is the usual one: Charlotte gets the treatment: as usual in Brontë fictions, she is the killjoy; Emily is the ethereal androgyne, the thin wire-of-fire. Luckily I expect this from all such novels and can set it aside the way one sets aside other mildly irritant tropes (see secondary character given name patterns in Jane Austen fan fiction).
The story, though: taking a story we know and giving it angles and nuances and settling just a little romance (for surely there must have been) on Emily works so well even when the writer doesn’t write as well as Cowell. Here’s the thing, though: Cowell can write. Her sentences are clear, precise, and sometimes lyrical. It was an absolute surprise to come across dialogue in a historical novel that didn’t once make me cringe hard enough to startle the cats. There was none of the assault by adverbs I have come to dread in similar works. There wasn’t the showy pretentiousness I anticipate, either – unlike the last two similar Brontë stories I read, this was never coy or selfish or… up itself.
I won’t spoil the story where it moves – skillful and wistful storytelling – from biography to fiction, but I was engaged and impressed, and finished the book with the feeling one has finishing a puzzle or a craft.
I hope Stephanie Cowell keeps writing similar books – I was less than halfway through The Man in the Stone Cottage when I added her name to my search-for list. This book gets all the stars, and I exhort you to read it. It belongs on the shelf with other excellent and absorptive historical fiction like Jo Baker’s Longbourn and Margaret Atwood’s Alias Grace.
I received an advance copy of The Man in the Stone Cottage by Stephanie Cowell from NetGalley in exchange for this honest review.

I received a free ARC ebook of <i>The Man in the Stone Cottage</i> from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.
The lives of the Brontes have been portrayed in numerous books, both fiction and nonfiction. This entry begins about 1846, when Charlotte has returned home from Brussels, brooding over her doomed love for a married man. Anne and Branwell are working as tutors while Emily is at home with her father, Patrick, a local minister. Their mother and two older sisters are already deceased. Their financial lives are tenuous at best, and all fear what will happen if Patrick completely loses his eyesight and his position. They would lose their leaky, drafty home and would have no resources.
Cowell does a wonderful job fleshing out the individual characters of the Brontes in this novel that is revealed through Charlotte and Emily's viewpoints. Patrick is overly optimistic about God providing and does nothing to ameliorate his grown children's fears. He spends hours in his study while his children fret and is more of a background character who is revered by his children. Charlotte, the eldest surviving sibling, is the planner, consumed with rescuing her family from what she views as inevitable disaster. Emily is a bit of a lost soul; she is a wanderer on the moors, distrustful of anyone outside her family. Branwell, the only male sibling, is viewed as their hero who will solve all their problems once he gets settled and actually chooses a path. Anne, the youngest, is Charlotte's willing companion in Charlotte's endeavors to save the family from ruin. All of the siblings adore each other, but Charlotte does lose patience with Branwell's drinking and lack of focus and commitment.
All of them have secrets. Their writings are private, and Emily is the most unwilling to share. Charlotte's endeavors to get their poetry and novels published to secure a financial future means she first must convince her siblings. Branwell, their expected hero, is left out since his drinking is problematic. Writing under male pseudonyms, the Bronte sisters become published authors with Charlotte's <i>Jane Eyre</i> a literary sensation. But the Brontes' lives are filled with loss and pain.
The title is a bit confusing for me. Yes, there is a man in a stone cottage who no one sees other than Emily. He greatly impacts Emily's life, and perhaps he is the motivation for her character, Heathcliff. The setting of the isolated village and the desolate moors has more of an effect on the characters. Loneliness permeates these characters.
Reading this wonderful novel will result in me rereading the Brontes' writing.

Both lyrical and gothic, the reader follows Emily and Charlotte Bronte as they try to navigate life. The ups, the downs, the hardships and the happiness. Using both fact and fiction, the reader is transported back in time to see how and why the Bronte sisters became authors. With a deep sense of family loyalty the sisters do everything they can to make sure their father is taken care of. Is the man in the stone cottage real? Is he the inspiration for Heathcliff? Beautiful writing style. Beautiful descriptions. Thank you NetGalley for a copy.

The man in the stone cottage seamlessly blends historical fact with fiction. Cowell manages to create a haunting and often heart-breaking reality to the lives of these brave young women, who wrote so beautifully buy died so young.

Offering us a scenario that informed Emily in her writing of Wuthering Heights, and inspired her character, Heathcliff. She meets a man whilst out walking on the moors, growing a friendship and visiting him at his cottage, but keeping him secret from the rest of her family. His existence is only uncovered by Charlotte after Emily’s death. The book also explores Charlotte’s heart break and rejection, their brothers struggles and the ailing health of their father.

This book is stunning, you can feel the isolation and bleakness of the West Yorkshire countryside, damp streets of Howarth and the contrasting bustle of London. The love felt between the siblings and their father is palpable, and whilst the ending was no surprise, it was no less tragic.

The Man in the Stone Cottage definitely had the atmospheric feel of the Brontës to it. This historical fiction book was told in alternating voices from Emily and Charlotte predominantly. I’m not sure if the “man” was fictional or based upon a real person, but it added interest to the story. Although he was a smaller part of the book than I had expected. I was interested in getting more of a feel and a differentiation between the sisters and their works and this book helped me to do that, as well as covering somewhat their brother Bramwell and their vicar father.

Ms, Cowell gave great descriptions of the Yorkshire countryside. There was not a great deal of joy in this book but that seems to be consistent with other things I had heard about the family. I’d recommend this for fans of the work of Emily, Anne, or Charlotte. Or anyone wanting to get more of a feel for their lives.

#NetGalley #TheManintheStoneCottage

I absolutely loved The Man in the Stone Cottage. It was as if a Bronte sister wrote it. This is a historical fiction about the famous sister. Equal parts whimsical and tragic. I loved this including the Authors acknowledgements at the end. Very well written and obviously well researched. The life of sisters so different but also so bonded by duty, experiences and a gift for writing.

With nothing but time over the next week, I wanted to start reading a few books. I started this one yesterday and stayed up until I completely finished it. I could not put it down.
Each family member has their own personality. The aging Rev Patrick who is struggling to hold on to his parish with his declining eyesight and refusal to accept any outside help. Branwell the son who should be helping support the family but causes nothing but heartache. Emily the introvert who could care less about publishing. Anne who wants to help her family in any way she can and looking to be published. Charlotte the eldest living daughter trying to hold it together and keep the family together by sacrificing her happiness.
This book has me wanting to learn more of the Bronte family.
The heartbreak, trials and deaths throughout the book keep you wanting for more.

The Brontë siblings struggle to support themselves and their family. While Anne and Bramwell work as teachers for a wealthy family, Emily and Charlotte look after their father and their home. Emily has been taking walks on the moor since childhood. During one of her walks, she meets a man who lives alone in a stone cottage on the moor. After Emily's death, Charlotte tries to find out who he was and what role he played in her sister's life.

I really like the book's mix of fact and fiction. What I appreciate most is that the facts were given the most space and then spiced up with Emily's story. Of course, it's hard to know exactly what the sisters were thinking and feeling at the time, but the story feels as if it could have happened.

I'm a little dissatisfied with the ending. Maybe because my personal interpretation of what happened didn't feel right. The "right" answer isn't entirely clear. As a whole, I like the book a lot. It was a nice evening read before bed.

Award-winning author Stephanie Cowell has done it again: taking a classical and beloved subject and reinvigorating it with innovative mystery. Lovers of the Brontës’ passionate writings have long-wondered how a reclusive and virginal woman like Emily Brontë could create such a complex man as Heathcliff and a tortured love affair as she did in “Wuthering Heights”. Was there something more to Emily than the public and/or literary sleuths discovered? Stephanie Cowell bravely tackles this question by presenting an intriguing explanation: Emily had a secret love interest in the form of a Scottish stranger who lives in an isolated stone cottage a long hike from the Brontë parsonage in the English countryside. Cowell infuses this intriguing love story amid the comings and goings of the fascinating Brontës, by alternating the point of view between Emily and her older sister, Charlotte. The characters come achingly alive in seemingly effortless prose, and their tragedies remind us of the utter waste of such promising and creative young people. The bonus to this profound story is the depiction of the women’s making of a novel: the compulsive drive, the imagined conversations, the constant rejections, the grief at the loss of the world once finished, plus the dazed aftermath of disbelief that your compulsive work is finally published. Brontë aficionados and those who are new to this amazing family will love this wondrous book. I highly recommend it.

"The Man in the Stone Cottage," by Stephanie Cowell is a historical fiction novel based on the lives of the Bronte sisters. Told from both Emily and Charlotte's perspective, the novel begins shortly after Charlotte returns home from Brussels to Haworth, England in December 1843. The Bronte sisters, Anne, Emily and Charlotte, along with their brother, Branwell, are all talented writers who have been dreaming up stories since their childhood. Their father, Patrick Bronte is the town pastor and patriarch of the family. Though the family has a modest income, Charlotte is especially worried about how to support the family if and when their father is replaced by a new pastor.

The novel delves into the lives of each Bronte sibling - Branwell’s struggle to find a fulfilling career, Anne’s role as the peacekeeper, Emily’s guarded personality and Charlotte’s fears of the family losing everything they have. Emily has a penchant for wandering on the moors and in so doing meets a mysterious and intriguing man she’s instantly drawn to. He is the man in the stone cottage, Emily’s secret, one she only ever shares with one sibling. Charlotte decides that their writings from over the years will be the ticket to their security. Their two works of art, “Jane Eyre” and “Wuthering Heights,” become the products of this decision.

This novel is extremely well researched and a very enjoyable read. The beginning was a little slow for me to get into, but as the plot got going, it was difficult for me to put down. I chose to read this because “Jane Eyre” is one of my favorite novels. Though this novel is historical fiction, it was fascinating to learn so much more about Charlotte and Emily. I had no idea the extent of their family and the circumstances surrounding the creation of two novels that would become so well-loved and popular that they are still widely read almost 200 years later.

I would highly recommend this novel to anyone that loves classic literature and loves Charlotte or Emily Bronte.

I received this eARC from Netgalley, because I liked the synopsis!
This book was actually very interesting and entertaining to read, exploring the devotion between sisters, and the secrets that can be kept between them or from each of them.
I couldn’t resist picking it up and I do not regret that, the story is almost accurate to history, but it’s very colorful And elegant.
This book was heartwarming, heartbreaking and extremely enjoyable all at the same time, I very much recommend it to anyone interested in historical fiction, female authors throughout history, and the Brontë sisters.