First published not long after Bronte's death - Gaskill was a contemporary and a friend - the first edition suffered controversy, as many of the people referenced were still alive, and some objected to their inclusion. This edition is the 1st edition, with plenty of detail in the appendix to detail the differences with the changed 3rd edition.[return][return]Volume 1 details Bronte's younger years; with much contextual narrative as to both the Yorkshire people's personality type and that of the immediate family; the death of some of her siblings, and her mother at an early age; the solitude the family seemed to prefer and the ill health they all seemed to suffer from. The education is also covered - Charlotte's early schools giving inspiration for Lowood in Jane Eyre for instance. Time is also spent in Brussels learning French and German and provides yet more inspiration for those Bronte girls who were there (e.g. for "The Professor" and "Vilette".) [I am disappointed that this edition does not provide translation of those passages in French for those of us whose French is weak!][return][return]Volume 2 was much more interesting for me. This is the time that Jane Eyre (along with Wuthering Heights and Agnes Grey) is published. Less input now from Gaskell, with much of the Volume II provided by letters written by Bronte herself, and shows to some extent how she deals with the fame of having written such a book as Jane Eyre, along with dealing with all the gossip about whether the Bell family are male or female. At the same time she has to deal with her three remaining siblings dying in relatively quick succession ( ( )

La vida de Charlotte Brontë y de sus hermanos es trágica, digna de cualquiera de sus novelas. Huérfanos de madre desde muy temprana edad, educados en una destartalada vicaría de los páramos de Haworth por un padre estricto y bastante excéntrico, los Brontë debieron cultivar la imaginación para escapar de una vida llena de privaciones materiales y morales. La temprana muerte de las hermanas de Charlotte, junto con los continuos quebraderos de cabeza ocasionados por las calaveradas de Branwell –el hermano que el padre esperaba que fuese el genio de la familia-, no constituyeron precisamente un entorno agradable. Y, al contrario de lo que ocurre en sus novelas, la vida de Charlotte no gozó de un final feliz; murió a los 39 años, nueve meses después de haber contraído matrimonio.

What a remarkable discourse this is on the life of Charlotte Bronte, as assembled by her friend, Elizabeth Gaskell. Having been written so soon after her death, this biograph might perhaps lack in the objectivity which a later biography could present, but whatever might be lacking in that quarter is well made up for in spirit and understanding.

Much of Gaskell's approach is to quote from the considerable correspondence of Charlotte herself, which gives this a pointedly personal flavor. We are seeing Charlotte's life as she herself saw it, and while that cannot be all of the truth of a life, it can surely be most of what is significant.

I was struck by how much of what makes [b:Jane Eyre|10210|Jane Eyre|Charlotte Brontë|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327867269s/10210.jpg|2977639] so gripping is torn from actual experience. That Charlotte was subjected to many of the events at school that parallel those at Eyre's beginning is horrible to think and the death of her own sister, Maria, is the event that precipitates her character of Helen. With such a somber beginning to life, she had every right to expect more happiness and comfort in later years, but little of that was forthcoming.

Her determination in completing her novels in the face of some real criticism, is a testament to the strong character she possessed and her belief in God's presence in her life. She accepted herself as a faulted human being and she was welcoming of constructive criticisms that she felt might increase her understanding of her own foibles.

Speaking about stories she read when quite young, she says "...for I read them in childhood, and childhood has a very strong faculty of admiration, but a very weak one of criticism." I found that a poignant observation, for I too have a great love for some literature that came to me young and still impresses my soul although I would be forced to confess that they are inferior to other works which touch me less.

Of course, among the more touching parts of the biography are the deaths of her sisters, Emily and Anne. Our familiarity with them as authors no doubt increases our distress at their deaths, but I was struck at how perfectly her view of death aligns with what we ourselves feel upon the loss of those we love. Speaking of another young acquaintance, Charlotte says, "Wherever I seek for her now in this world, she cannot be found, no more than a flower or a lead which withered twenty years ago. A bereavement of this kind gives one a glimpse of the feeling those must have who have seen all drop around them, friend after friend, and are left to end their pilgrimage alone. But tears are fruitless, and I try not to repine." How hauntingly predictive of her own situation to come, but even in the face of her serious personal losses, she held to the last part of this statement and refrained from sinking into her sorrows.

I could quote at length from the letters she wrote regarding this loss. Having lost a close sister myself, I could feel the impact of all her words and feelings. Of Emily, "not a branch of fern, not a young bilberry leaf, not a fluttering lark or linnet, but reminds me of her." She was as expressive in her letters, as ever she was in her novels. I was delighted to read her own expressed opinion of Jane Austen, a curiosity that I never thought to have satisfied.

There is not a moment of boredom in this book and Mrs. Gaskell exhibits her own great talent of writing and exposition. I am ashamed at not having read all of Charlotte Bronte's writings and am quite anxious in the light of this better understanding of her character to now rectify the omission. I will happily undertake both [b:Shirley|31168|Shirley|Charlotte Brontë|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1422609409s/31168.jpg|2685457] and [b:Villette|31173|Villette|Charlotte Brontë|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320412741s/31173.jpg|40852693] before the year's end. I am also stirred to re-read Jane Eyre and the works of both Emily and Anne. ( )

How this book made it onto The Guardian's 100 best nonfiction books ever list in 2017 is truly beyond me. At times beautiful but mostly boring and painful. ( )

Criticism and rumours were already circling by the time Charlotte Bronte died in 1855. To set the record straight, Bronte pere and Charlotte's husband of less than one year, Arthur Bell Nichollls, engaged Mrs. Gaskell, herself a famous novelist as well as friend in later life, to write the official biography. After serious research--including travelling to Brussels to interview the French teacher for whom Miss Bronte conceived a passionate attachment--Mrs. Gaskell produced a portrait of a small, underdeveloped woman typically dressed in sombre colours, intelligent, passionate--never in public--devoted daughter and all-round good Christian. Much of the data is presented through letters from friends and relatives, even some of Charlotte’s own.

I was surprised by the lack of “gothic” elements usually found in descriptions of Miss Bronte’s (and her siblings’) early life. Seemingly the Bronte noir meme is a later construction. I was also surprised by the accusation of “coarseness” attributed to her novels. When Currer Bell was revealed to be a woman, and unmarried, reviewers, male and female, deemed her passionate stories unsuitable and stemming from displaced sexual energy. I understand that if Miss Bronte had been married when Jane Eyre was published, the novel (and authoress) might have been better received.

I think Charlotte Bronte was a classic INFJ (Myer Briggs type): the most important thing was to communicate the richness and passion of her inner life. This is borne out in records of her behaviour in society--quiet to the point of taciturn and dull, unless a subject close to her beliefs and principles arose at which point she could not prevent herself from joining in. Miss Bronte famously disliked the works of her close predecessor, Jane Austen, describing the stories as “on the surface” of life. Yet, Miss Austen’s characters change, develop and usually become wiser whereas Jane Eyre or Lucy Snow experience no similar kind of growth. I believe this confirms my INFJ type attribution : like the author, Jane and Lucy always possess full consciousness and full personhood; their goal is to find a partner worthy of their inner life and passion. Think of young Jane confronting Aunt Reed.

Whether or not Mrs. Gaskell hid details that would possibly detract from the portrait of the author as dutiful daughter and sole survivor of the Bronte siblings, does not affect the quality of her affection nor admiration for Charlotte.

On a sad note, Mrs. Gaskell reveals that Charlotte was pregnant when she passed away on March 31, 1855.

8 out of 10 Highly recommended to fans of Jane Eyre and Victorian fiction. ( )