The Invention of Charlotte Brontë: A New Life

Literary scholar Watson explores in his vivid debut biography the mystery and sensation that surrounded Charlotte Brontë. He begins with an account of how literary London was gripped by the publication of Jane Eyre. Brontë released the book under the male pseudonym Currer Bell, but those in the know, including novelist Elizabeth Gaskell, were privy to rumors that Bell was a woman. Watson details how Gaskell ferreted out Bell’s real identity through mutual contacts and arranged a meeting with Brontë, beginning a yearslong correspondence that would prove foundational in the creation of the Brontë mystique. Piecing together letters collected from Brontë’s friends, family, and publishers, Watson deftly shows how the painfully introverted Brontë manipulated anecdotes from her “comfortless childhood” into “a story of self-justification and self-glorification honed over years.” Brontë died during a difficult pregnancy in 1855, just five years after she and Gaskell met. Her death led to a scramble among her friends to profit from their proximity to her and touched off conflicts over how best to shape the narrative of her life. Watson masterfully covers the contentious biography Gaskell wrote, which she had to rewrite twice to placate those upset about their portrayal. This fast-moving account of literary fame satisfies. (Aug.)