What do readers think of Romancing Miss Bronte by Juliet Gael? Write your own review.

Before I began reading this fictionalized account of the Bronte sisters, I was vaguely aware of their lives and despite having read read Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. Throughout my reading, I found myself checking facts of their lives on the Internet, wondering if that was “how it had happened” or if this or that passage had come from a primary source. Gael’s writing is engaging and draws the reader in to the lives of these reclusive, painfully shy women who were so intellectual, but were so bound by their status as women and by their poverty that they had to pay to publish their early works under male pseudonyms. The sisterly bond and the loneliness Charlotte feels after her sisters’ deaths drive the work. The romance seems ancillary, just as the author seemingly intended based on Charlotte’s views of life and love at the time she married. The weaving of their actual works with Gael’s characterization of the sisters is fascinating. Gael suggests that Charlotte’s heroines were thinly veiled versions of herself at different times of her life. It has made me want to read all of their published work with a new portrait of the artist in mind. Had only my English teachers made the authors so real, the assignments of the Brontes’ works might have been more palatable. Even the bits about the walks on the moor, the family servants and the family pets seem well-researched, but seamlessly blended with fictional conversations that portray the sisters' struggle to reconcile their intense shyness with their passion for writing and their aspirations to become respected authors. The novel was a bit slow to start and bogged down a bit towards the end, but overall, it was a satisfying read, especially for those who already have a working knowledge of some of Charlotte Bronte’s books. I was saddened to find that the ARC did not include the promised Author's Note, but I will read it in the published book and hope to find that Gael admits to relying heavily on the reality of Charlotte's life in her creation of this story.

About 250 fifty pages into this 400-page book, I asked myself, "Who is romancing Miss Bronte?" At this point, Arthur Bell Nicholls had JUST admitted to himself his attraction to Charlotte but had not spoken of his feelings, so I could only conclude that it was the author, Juliet Gael, who was "romancing" her in a different way, by trying to turn her into a romanticized heroine admirable not for her beauty but for other, more endearing qualities. The real romance is Charlotte's life: her endurance in spite of personal and professional rejections, her devotion to a demanding family, the sacrificing of her own needs and desires to fulfill those of others. and her dedication to her own work. The book, then, is not quite what the title suggests--which is probably a good thing in my case, since I am not a reader of conventional romance novels. Although the writing does get bogged down in unnecessary details at times, overall, Gael creates a lively portrait of one of the great women writers of the 18th century. The inclusion of a number of the literati of the day (Lewes, Thackeray, etc.) and their reception of both Bronte and her successful novel Jane Eyre make for interesting reading. The complex relationships among the Bronte sisters is also carefully and believably drawn.

I really wanted to like this book, but, when, after 100 pages both Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights were already published, and I knew that the Brontes hadn't written any other books....Yikes! what would the remaining 300 pages be about? How plain, how sad the lives of the sisters...but a bit too drawn out for my taste.

Although the book started very slowly, I gradually got into it and was able to finish. I liked Juliet Gael's writing style, but thought she could have gone a little deeper into character development. I didn't end up feeling like I really "cared for" any of the characters in this book. I would like to read her future books to see how she progresses as an author.

Since 'Romancing Miss Bronte' is a fictionalization of Charlotte Bronte's life, much of the mystery usually present in a novel, the "what will happen next" element is of necessity diminished and can only be compensated by a thrilling conveyance of the characters' internal workings. To this end, somehow author Gael tries very diligently but doesn't always write convincingly or evenly.

The book is, despite its lack of depth, a good read and does give the reader at least some idea of Bronte's difficult life, as a daughter of a tyrannical clergyman, beset by poverty and plagued by a lack of physical beauty and social grace. The author also is quite thorough in her rendering of the relationship among Charlotte and her sisters, Anne and Emily, and the tragedy of her brother. I think the best drawn character in the entire work is that of Arthur Nicholls, Charlotte's suitor, who in the end wins her hand and heart and leads her to emotional places never before imagined.

Ultimately, I would recommend this book, despite its unevenness, but would strongly advocate also reading 'Becoming Jane Eyre', a much more sensitively written novel, based on the same subject.

This is a good read for anyone who is already a fan of the Bronte sisters. It is slow to draw you in, beginning with a more biographical feel. The author does manage to paint an accurate picture of the role of a poor woman in those times and the struggle the sisters went through to become authors. It isn't until after Charlotte's publication of Jane Eyre that the book goes deeper into their lives and we really get to see more of the characters. At times if feels more like being told things about the characters rather than being showed them, which was a little disappointing. Overall, a great read for Bronte fans and it made me want to go back and re-read all their books!

This novel tells the story of Arthur Bell Nicholl's courtship of Charlotte Bronte.Bronte dreamed of passionate, romantic love and Nicholls, her father's curate for eight years, seems to be a most unlikely prospect. He's described as " a sort of inferior appendage to the Brontes one that performed a host of needed functions but was never accepted as worthy or equal."(p.175)So my curiosity was piqued as to how he would win over the reluctant Miss Bronte.

The author does succeed in not only revealing Arthur's growing love for Charlotte over eight long years (!) but also portrays Charlotte's conflicted emotions regarding his attentions through the use use of Bronte's actual correspondence.

Unfortunately, Gael interrupts the narrative by telling the reader what to think.For example, "There was in Arthur Nicholls much to recommend him to Charlotte Bronte not least of which was the disparity between surface and soul."(p.22)I'd rather have that revealed to me through the writer's art!

A better book dealing with the identical subject matter is the novel The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte by Syrie James.Although not without its flaws, James breaths life into Charlotte and Arthur and allows her readers to draw their own conclusions.

Perhaps I might have missed the point of the story or failed to appreciate the depiction of how dull life was for the Bronte sisters. It had a sluggish start and then about halfway in, just when it seemed like it would pick up when the sisters were published, it paved the way for more mundane events. It was like reading about someone having a hot cup of coffee and the author making embellishments here and there, but it was still about drinking coffee. The narrative was more mechanical rather than lyrical. I had wanted to love this book, but it left little for imagining. Book club members might have a hard time discussing this book.