Book review | The Invention of Charlotte Brontë: Her Last Years and The Scandal That Made Her
By Graham Watson | Published by The History Press
Is Elizabeth Gaskell to Charlotte Brontë what James Boswell was to Dr Johnson?
Did Brontë’s friend and biographer create, in The Life of Charlotte Brontë, the Charlotte we think we know now?
The Invention of Charlotte Brontë: Her Last Years and The Scandal That Made Her, by Brontë specialist and literary historian Graham Watson, delves deep into the story behind Gaskell’s image-defining work.
What follows is a gripping read of the biography’s hazardous path.
It almost didn’t make it. The first edition was withdrawn following threats of legal action. The second edition was published and again withdrawn. It was only on the third attempt that a heavily redacted third edition appeared and finally found its way to a public who had been mesmerised first of all by Jane Eyre and then by the extraordinary novels which emanated from one family of sisters in Haworth.
Why so many legal threats? Gaskell had to upset quite a lot of people from Brontë’s past to tell what she felt had to be told about the character and background of the ‘utterly unique’ woman and novelist she had come to know.
It’s a picture of a woman on a mission to hunt down all living sources who had known Charlotte Brontë or her family in her desire to convey Brontë’s life as fully as she could.
I was unaware that the publication of The Life of Charlotte Brontë had provoked nearly as much scandal and fascination as Jane Eyre itself and I felt fresh admiration for Gaskell’s professionalism and dedication to a task which almost finished her off.
‘Catch me writing another biography!’ she exclaimed when it was all done.
A fascinating and eye-opening narrative that’s as readable as a novel.
Author: Graham Watson
Imprint: The History Press
ISBN: 9781803995373 hardback
Illustrations: 20
Published: 30 May 2024
