My thanks for the ARC goes to NetGalley and Regal House Publishing, Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Titles. All opinions are my own, and I'm voluntarily leaving a review.

Genre: Historical Fiction, Book Club Fiction, Gothic Fiction, Family Drama, Books About Books, Books About Authors, Women's Fiction, Literary Fiction
Spice Level: An affair is mentioned along with longing for men
Language: I just finished the novel, and I don't remember one swear word

THE MAN IN THE STONE COTTAGE, a stunning novel that kept me mesmerized and questioning what was real and what was delusion.

This is seriously one of my favorite books of the year. It's a slim novel but so dense with rich content. The writing is very approachable and it's easy to read. But the themes! The questions it made me ask! And of course, the Brontës and their desolate lives are the key to all of the other questions I asked of myself.

Emily—taciturn and isolates herself
Anne—quiet and attached to Emily
Charlotte—yearns for more
Bramwell—troubled and depressed
Patrick (the father)—stubborn and grieving

Do I need to know the Brontës' novels before reading this book? No, but it will enrich your experience, especially with the gothic elements

Is this novel historically accurate? The author did extensive research and includes real people and overall, real situations, but the author had to take artistic liberty. I felt like it was accurate enough that I was absorbed in the world.

Is the man in the stone cottage real or imaginary? I could make an argument either way. At one point I was convinced he was a delusion, but at another, I was sure he was real. This is one of those novels with an ambiguous ending and up for personal interpretation. I finished it today, and I am not sure which way I would vote.

- For anyone who love any of the Brontës' books, this is a must read.

- If you enjoy historical novels, especially set during the Victorian era, run out and buy this book.

- For book clubs, this book will give you an opportunity for debating and sharing your questions—it's the perfect book club fiction.

- If you dream of the moors, this book is for you.

It is truly fascinating, and I think everyone should read it.

Yes, I highly recommend this book if you hadn't caught on to how I feel about it! It would get more than 5 stars if that was an option.

Happy reading!

Stephanie Cowell's novel, The Man in the Stone Cottage, is a captivating historical account of the 19th-century Brontë family. Cowell masterfully crafts a narrative that transports readers into the lives of this remarkable family, offering a glimpse into their daily struggles and literary beginnings. With meticulous attention to detail, Cowell skillfully develops each character, allowing readers to form vivid mental images of the Brontë siblings. The novel focuses on the complex relationships between Charlotte, Emily, Anne, and their brother Branwell, who reside with their father, a local pastor, following their mother's untimely passing. As the story unfolds, Anne and Branwell depart for a nearby town to assume positions as live-in tutors for a wealthy family, leaving Charlotte to bear the responsibility of managing the household. This weighty obligation significantly influences Charlotte's life and writing. Meanwhile, Emily's more carefree nature affords her greater freedom during this period. Cowell's engaging narrative is both well-crafted and concise, rendering the book an effortless and enjoyable read. However, readers may find themselves reluctant to bid farewell to the characters they have grown to cherish. This book undoubtedly merits a 5-star rating.

It’s 1846 in Yorkshire, England, and the only members that are left of the Brontë family are Charlotte, Anne, Emily and their father and brother. Their mom and two sisters are already in the tomb. The little family is close as always, especially the sisters, who share everything. The girls try to get published in order to support their family, while their brother just adds to his bar tab and their aging father is going blind. As they struggle and face rejections, Charlotte is suffering from being spurned by the man she loves, while Emily wanders off. Is it to see a lover? No one has ever seen him, and Emily is given to fancy. Years later, after Emily has died, Charlotte wonders if the mystery man was real or a figment of her sister’s imagination.

This is an enjoyable attempt by the author to imagine the secret lives of the Brontë sisters. It was fun to learn possible motivations behind the writing of "Jane Eyre” and “Wuthering Heights”. The scenic descriptions are vivid and the character development is great! Told from varying viewpoints, we learn about the characters' motivations and feelings.

The Man in the Stone Cottage is a quietly compelling read with a fresh and original premise. The pacing is steady and assured, gradually drawing the reader into a world shaped by long-held secrets and shifting loyalties. As a long-time fan of the Brontë canon, I particularly enjoyed the reimagining of the Brontë family dynamic — it added a thoughtful, emotionally layered dimension that felt both familiar and newly imagined.

While the writing felt a little uneven in places, the strength of the concept and the clarity of the narrative drive kept me engaged. It’s a novel that leans more on atmosphere and character than high drama, and its quiet momentum builds toward a satisfying close.

A reflective, slightly offbeat take on literary legacy and family tensions, ideal for readers who enjoy a twist of history with their suspense!

This is a story that revolves around the lives of the Brontë sisters, a fictionalized version of the lives of the family, with the majority of the story focuses on Charlotte, Anne, and Emily, but there is more to the stories of their family and the differences in their lives, as well. There is a son who seems to have chosen a different kind of life, a somewhat darker and disturbing life, which often affects their family, as well..

This is occasionally somewhat focused on the differences that seem to seep into their lives, especially the strange tendency to be somewhat reclusive, as well as wanting to be known.

Overall, an interesting glimpse into the lives of the Brontë sisters.


Pub Date: 16 Sep 2025

Many thanks for the opportunity to read Stephanie Cowell's fictional story of the Brontë sisters lives

With historical facts and a magical imagination, Stephanie Cowell has recreated the adult lives of the Brontë sisters. Having been to Haworth and the Brontë parsonage, I was enthralled by Cowell’s descriptions. The majesty and moodiness of the moor comes alive in both a vivid reality and a mysterious otherworldly character. The spirit of place is truly alive and well in this novel. Cowell’s depiction of each sister, Charlotte, Anne, and Emily, impresses upon the reader the nuances of their different personalities and shared interests in writing. Branwell’s character also shows the love between family and his tragic fate.
I thoroughly enjoyed this story and found the voices of the characters compelling. Thanks to NetGalley and Regal House for an advanced copy.

This was such an emotional read it made me cry on some of the chapters, I thought the story was moving and beautiful. I read the other stories by this author and I think this one was really good as well.

The Bronte sister’s life is known to us yet still mysterious and their stories are timeless and evoke human emotions so raw and brilliantly expressed that it leaves the reader powerful and lasting impressions.

Despite their early education and talent, they were dealt hardships in their short lives. As children they were left much on their own because of their mother’s death in 1821 and the death of their elder sister’s Mary and Elizabeth. These sad circumstances left them to take care of each other.
As they grew older, their father Patrick Brontë eyes were failing him and with the potential threat of his income as a minster and rectory being taken from him and their brother Branwells inability to establish employment for various reasons, they faced homelessness or the workhouse.

Charlotte, the driving force to publish their writings, begins to seek a publisher for her work and encourages her sisters to do so as well.
Stephanie Cowell has masterfully written a story about the cherished Brontë’s adult life in Yorkshire and brilliantly weaves in a story of Emily meeting a mysterious man on one of her walks on the moors.

Cowell’s ability to take readers to time and place is truly wonderful and adsorbing. I couldn’t put this story down. I will certainly purchase a physical copy of this book when it comes out.

Stephanie Cowell is such an amazing writer. I adore all her novels. I am grateful to be able to read an early online digital copy of The Man in the Stone Cottage. My favorite chapters were the ones concentrating on what I like to call a' Wuthering Heights' influenced love story between Emily Bronte and Johnathan the shepherd. Chapters also focus on Charlotte and Emily while concentrating on highlights of both siblings personal and professional lives.

I cried through the chapters that mentioned sisters Charlotte and Emily's remembrances of their departed mother, Maria Bronte. I swear Stephanie Cowell has a way of writing sibling familial love, tragedy, and trauma so beautifully.

The Man in the Stone Cottage by Stephanie Cowell is a warm and wonderful book about a family we think we know so well but perhaps a writers imagination can show you another beautiful perspective of a family's life.

I really enjoyed The Man in the Stone Cottage by Stephanie Cowell. It’s a fictional but believable look at Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë, based on what we know about their lives. Cowell does a great job bringing their struggles, talents, and relationships to life in a way that feels real. The book shows the challenges they faced both personally and as writers, giving fans a fresh perspective on these famous sisters. Definitely a great read if you like historical fiction and the Brontës!

When writing about classic authors it’s essential to get your facts straight, and other than the imaginary ‘Man in the Stone Cottage’ the writer has certainly done her homework. Having lived near Haworth, and knowing it and the Parsonage well as a native, I can say I recognise what is described. The Bronte’s also seem to reflect the real family as they are usually thought of. There’s a real challenge in adding a fictional figure to a real life story, and I felt that in this instance, though he took the title of the book, he, and his relationship with Emily, didn’t feature anywhere near enough. It felt largely incidental, that he would crop up from time to time but really didn’t take a title role, and that was a shame. The Brontës are very much woven through English culture, so if you’re going to weave fact and fiction together it needs to be compelling and convincing and I felt it fell a little short. But it was an enjoyable read, nonetheless.

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.