The Bronte Family: Passionate Literary Geniuses (Lerner Biographies)
Grade 5-9-In this well-written and solidly researched title, Kenyon enthusiastically portrays each personality in this distinguished literary family. With a sporadic education and few friends, the motherless Bront' children drew on their own experiences and relied on one another to critique their writings. The women realized that in order to protect their privacy and not be thought a "silly lady scribbler," they needed to assume the male pen names of Currer (Charlotte), Ellis (Emily), and Acton (Anne) Bell. Charlotte and Anne eventually traveled to London to set the record straight after an unscrupulous publisher claimed that Currer Bell had written Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Agnes Grey, and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. Kenyon knows her subject well and draws readers into the Bront's' world, taking the siblings from childhood through their literary careers. Black-and-white reproductions of the family, Emily's drawings, and photos appear frequently throughout, as do well-documented quotes from family members' letters. The bibliography includes books, journal and magazine articles, and Internet sources. A boon for report writers and fascinating pleasure reading as well.Kathleen A. Nester, Downingtown High Ninth Grade Center, PACopyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.