Yorkshire, 1845, and dark rumours are spreading across the moors. Everything indicates that Mrs Elizabeth Chester of Chester Grange has been brutally murdered in her home – but nobody can find her body.
As the dark murmurs reach Emily, Anne and Charlotte Brontë, the sisters are horrified, yet intrigued. Before they know it, the siblings become embroiled in the quest to find the vanished bride, sparking their imaginations but placing their lives at great peril . . .
Charlotte, Anne and Emily Brontë were intelligent, passionate, imaginative, talented, ahead of their time, and authors of so many important and brilliant novels. Bringing that intellect to the solving of a fictional mystery, that seems to involve a murder, is an intriguing idea.
This was always going to be a divisive novel – it’s actually quite brave to try and portray such well-loved authors in a fictional tale. I adore the Brontës and so really, really wanted to adore this novel, because the author obviously loves them too. But, unfortunately, it fell short for me.
There’s a very thoughtful and poignant beginning. I have visited Haworth, the Brontë’s home, and the author has the details and the atmosphere absolutely spot on. And, although of course no one can be entirely sure, the way the sisters behaved, at least at first, felt ‘real’.
But unfortunately, as the story continued, I felt less and less involved and convinced. There were so many opportunities here to explore the barriers the sisters faced, but they became lost in melodrama with outcomes that didn’t feel authentic.
Lots and lots of potential here, that, for me, didn’t feel fully realised.
Alison Williams Writing 