My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This was my first foray into the world of biographical non-fiction. As a general rule I dislike anything that isn't fiction; but, after coming down from my Jane Eyre high, I found myself with a desire to learn more about the author of my favourite book. Sure, I understood the novel from a literary critical perspective, but I wanted to know what it was that influenced Charlotte Bronte to write it. And I found out many surprising things about the novel through this biography.
It wasn't as dry as I expected; I admit to harbouring the assumption that biographies were much like history books, with the date and the event written in simple, stark format. The composition was surprising, with this in mind. It was entertaining, at times sad; it never plodded along, save for the beginning (I was wondering why I was reading about her father when I had no interest in him - it made sense to me later). I was completely sucked in - I was told so many times over the course of reading this to put the book down and join the outside world for a while! The author handled her subject's character with grace and a clear respect for Miss Bronte; even I, with little previous knowledge, quickly became aware how easy it would be to portray Charlotte in a negative light, because certainly some of the things she does are questionable at best, condemn-able at worst.
I cried when Emily and Anne died; I bawled when Charlotte did. Of course, I knew it was coming - I wasn't living under a rock entirely, so I knew the basic timeline of each of the sisters' lives. But it is one thing to see it written as plain fact, and quite another to see it in the evocative, emotional language utilised by Claire Harman. I also really appreciated the consideration of the circumstances of Charlotte's final illness; the research is such that, instead of projecting the general impression that she died due to weakness from pregnancy coupled with consumption, the author produces a modern explanation, with sound logic, that her death resulted due to the pregnancy-related condition referred to as hyperemesis gravidarium, famously suffered by Kate Middleton during her pregnancy with Prince George.
This was a fantastic introduction to a previously unexplored genre. I think I found my niche - author biographies it is for me. I'm definitely going to read more Claire Harman.
No comments:
Post a Comment