Among the many anecdotes and suggestions about writing, one of the most common is “write what you know”.
In the case of Anne, Emily and Charlotte Bronte, they knew a world of fantasy and drama that was far from the dreary, isolated Yorkshire town they called home. Raised by their widower parson father who some might have referred to during their lifetimes as eccentric, the young Miss Bronte’s and their brother Branwell developed a keen imagination and a heightened reality narrative style that the would become the backbone of the novels that the girls would write as adults.
Lena Coakley’s new book, Worlds of Ink and Shadow: A Novel of the Brontës, takes the reader back into the teenage years and the juvenalia that would later become the classic novels Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Agnes Grey and The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall. Wrapped in the fantasy worlds that the Brontes created as children, their characters within these worlds come to life and interact with their creators.
As a reader and a writer, to know where other writers have started is always fascinating, especially when it comes to the writers like the Brontes, who have become giants in the world of literature.
But, this book is not all peaches and cream. The beginning is a little slow for my taste. While Ms. Coakley has certainly done her research, a reader who is not familiar with the Brontes might not finish the book. A little too steep in Bronte mythology and juvenalia, the book is strictly for Bronte fans.
Do I recommend it? I would say yes, but I adore their books. Otherwise, I would stay away.
Writergurlny 