The Bronte Sisters – a view from their hometown of Haworth
By Wave Of Nostalgia
The Bronte Sisters – a view from their hometown of Haworth
By Wave Of Nostalgia
As Haworth’s Indie Booksellers with a shop on the famous cobbled hill, we’re steeped in the Bronte culture and inspired by their writing.
It’s really difficult deciding which books should be on this list. The ones the sisters wrote are obvious, with Charlotte’s Jane Eyre and Emily’s Wuthering Heights in so many people’s top 10 and Anne’s Tenant of Wildfell Hall the number one choice of many Bronte aficionados. But which of the many works about the Brontes to choose, that’s the tricky bit…
Well, we’ve had to think long and hard. Here’s our list (which no-one will agree with!). Enjoy!
Jane Eyre: Chiltern Edition
Charlotte Bronte
£20.00 £19.00The best novel ever written? What a beautiful edition this is
Wuthering Heights: Chiltern Edition
Emily Bronte
£20.00 £19.00Loved by so many people. Again, a beautiful edition
Agnes Grey/The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
Anne Bronte
£16.99 £16.14Anne's two novels. The Tenant is known as the First true Feminist novel
Shirley, The Professor
Charlotte Bronte
£14.99 £14.24The books Charlotte wrote before and after Jane Eyre
The Brontes
Juliet Barker
£20.00 £19.00A big book full of insightful and well researched knowledge into the times and lives of the Bronte family. Includes excerpts of letters and photographs
The Brontes: A Life in Letters
Juliet Barker
£25.00 £23.75A must read for all Bronte enthusiasts – it is an absorbing and entertaining read giving a unique and intimate insight into the lives of one of the most important and best loved families of English literature
The Taste of Sorrow
Jude Morgan
£9.99 £9.49I Loved this book from the first page. I felt present in the time and lives of the Brontes. It beautifully links the past and the present - exactly what historical fiction should do.
Winifred Gerin: Biographer of the Brontes
Helen MacEwan
£28.69This book details the life of Gerin and how she believed that to understand the Brontes you need to totally immerse yourself in their environment. She moved to Haworth with her husband - this is her story.
The Life of Charlotte Bronte
Elizabeth Gaskell
£12.99 £12.34First published in 1857, this remains the most significant study of Charlotte Bronte. It was Charlotte's father Rev Bronte who approached Mrs Gaskell and asked her to write this biography. She may be said to have created, almost single-handedly, the myth of the Brontes.
The Mother of the Brontes: When Maria Met Patrick
Sharon Wright
£19.99This is the only book on Maria Bronte the mother of the Brontes. Beginning in Penzance where Maria was born, her journey to Yorkshire, a shipwreck and a love story. This book is an amazing account of the life of the Brontes' mother. It should have been called Mothering Heights!
At Home with the Brontes: The History of Haworth Parsonage & Its Occupants
Ann Dinsdale
£15.99 £15.19A book about the Parsonage when the Brontes lived there and also the building which has been home to several other families before and after the Brontes. Ann Dinsdale, the curator of the Bronte Parsonage, details the lives of these families with stories, pictures and photographs, mostly unpublished
Charlotte Bronte: A Life
Claire Harman
£14.99 £14.24An amazing read full of illustrations and photos – this book was written to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Charlotte Bronte's birth. It reveals Charlotte's life with all the drama and tragedy of a Gothic Tale. A fantastic read, beautifully produced, a thought provoking biography
Take Courage: Anne Bronte and the Art of Life
Samantha Ellis
£10.99 £10.44This is my favourite account of Anne Bronte's life. It will make you look at Anne in a different light and shines that light on her sisters not so favourably. Anne was a strong sister in fact I believe the strongest, but why do most people believe she was the shy, more vulnerable sister? Ask Charlotte! Sam Ellis will explain.
Bronte Poems
Emily Bronte
£12.00 £11.40A delightful collection of Emily Bronte's poems, a beautiful bound copy to carry with you always
The Bronte Sisters: Selected Poems
£9.99 £9.49
This slim volume is a selection of poetry from the three Bronte sisters, Ann, Emily and Charlotte. Their poetry is full of passion, expression of love and hope, fear and death
Heathcliff Adrift
Benjamin Myers
£7.99 £7.59This is a series of narrative poems exploring the imagined wanderings of Heathcliff. A beautiful thought provoking collection of poems which you will return to read again and again
I Am Heathcliff: Stories Inspired by Wuthering Heights
£8.99 £8.54
This book is curated by Kate Mosse and was commissioned for Emily Bronte's bicentenary year. These fresh modern stories pulse with the raw beauty and the pain of love.
Anne Bronte Reimagined: A View from the Twenty-first Century
Adelle Hay
£9.99 £9.49This is a sensitive and enriching look at Anne who for so long was underestimated. Who was Anne Bronte? Its time to find out.
The Brontesaurus: An A–Z of Charlotte, Emily and Anne Bronte (and Branwell)
Jon Sutherland
£9.99 £9.49This book takes us on an A-Z of the fascinating world of literature's most famous family, examining the lives and works of Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontes, not forgetting their brother Branwell. Insightful, humorous and thought provoking, an indispensable guide to the Brontes and their world.
Bronte's Mistress: A Novel
Finola Austin
£12.99This beautifully written novel is an insight into Mrs Robinson and her life. She was the mistress of Branwell, who loved her dearly. But was she the key to his downfall and were these events the spark for the sisters to begin their writing careers? When Mrs Robinson first meets Anne Bronte (who was the governess to the Robinsons daughters) you feel as if you are in the room as the scene plays out. Breathtaking!
The Vanished Bride: Rumours. Scandal. Danger. The Bronte sisters are ready to investigate . . .
Bella Ellis
£9.99 £9.49The Bronte sisters as Detectorists. A great gothic detective story. The author's love and knowledge of the Brontes comes across clearly. Loved it.
The Diabolical Bones: A gripping gothic mystery set in Victorian Yorkshire
Bella Ellis
£14.99 £14.24The second book in the Bronte mysteries series. If anything even better than the first
The Brontes: The Fantastically Feminist (and Totally True) Story of the Astonishing Authors
Anna Doherty
£12.99A great introduction for young people
The Oxford Companion to the Brontes: Anniversary edition
University of New South Wales) Alexander Christine (School of English and University of Birmingham) Smith Margaret (Formerly fellow of the Institute of Advanced Research in Arts and Social Sciences
£34.49 £32.76Recommended as 'amazing' by one of our Facebook friends
The Brontes and War: Fantasy and Conflict in Charlotte and Branwell Bronte’s Youthful Writings
Emma Butcher
£64.99It offers insight into how Charlotte and Branwell understood and reimagined conflict (both local and overseas) and its emotional legacies whilst growing up in early-nineteenth-century Britain. We haven't had chance to read this recommendation as yet. Your reviews would be great.
Glass Town
Isabel Greenberg
£22.00 £20.90The entrancing story of the Bronte sisters' childhood imaginary world, from the New York Times bestselling graphic novelist. Recommended by a Facebook friend.