We also see the catalyst for this early creativity – the present of twelve toy soldiers that Patrick Brontë made to Branwell Brontë in July 1826, and which he then shared with his sisters.

I was pleased to see that this was referenced by the author, and emphasis was placed upon how the eldest sisters were always remembered. I said ‘by then’ in the preceding paragraph because the eldest Brontë sisters, Maria and Elizabeth, had tragically died from tuberculosis before the writing adventures had begun. This is all contained within this marvellous book. The action takes place in both Haworth and Glass Town It took Charlotte’s voyage to Roe Head School in Mirfield to liberate Emily and Anne Brontë, at which point they created their own fictional worlds of Gondal and Gaaldine – one that Emily in particular found solace within throughout her life. At this point the writing was carried out by Charlotte and Branwell Brontë only. The earliest incarnation of the, by then, four Brontë siblings’ creative world was Glass Town, which later expanded into the world of Angria. I don’t want to give too much of the plot, or the ending, away, but the title places this firmly in the early days of the Brontë writing – the days when the ‘scribblemania’, as Charlotte called it, took hold, resulting in the tiny little books that we can still marvel at within the Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth. In part that’s because of the format – this is a graphic novel not a genre I’m overly familiar with, but I know they’re very popular, and to be frank if they’re all up to this standard I can see why. Nevertheless, I’ve never before read a Brontë related book like Glass Town. I’ve read many books on the Brontës, from the sublime, such as the weighty fact filled biography by Juliet Barker and the series of books by Winifred Gerin, to the ridiculous where pages are spent describing the author’s car problems. Before I begin my review it’s only fair to say that I was sent a copy of this book free of charge by the publisher Jonathan Cape – but regardless of that fact I’m going to give my honest and full opinion of this book.

As the name suggests it tells the story of the Brontë juvenilia, but it does so much more than this too. Today I’m going to be reviewing a new Brontë book – Glass Town by Isabel Greenberg. Anne Brontë: Writer Of Genius, Woman Of Courage.Please enter your email address to subscribe to my Anne Bronte blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Isabel greenberg glass town