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The extraordinary creativity of the Brontë sisters, who between them wrote some of the most enduring fiction in the English language, continues to fascinate and intrigue modern readers. The tragedy of their early deaths adds poignancy to their novels, and in the popular imagination they have become mythic figures. And yet, as Patricia Ingham shows, they were fully engaged with the world around them, and their writing, from the juvenilia to Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, reflects the preoccupations of the age in which they lived. Their novels, which so shocked their contemporaries, address the burning issues of the day: class, gender, race, religion, and mental disorders. As well as examining these connections, Ingham also shows how film and other media have reinterpreted the novels for the twenty-first century.
The Bront"s is a lively, accessible, and critically topical exploration of the novels of the three sisters, and includes a chronology of the Brontës, websites, illustrations, a comprehensive index, and suggestions for further reading.
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Active Table of Contents

Wuthering Heights
Jane Eyre
Pride and Prejudice
Sense and Sensibility
The Scarlet Letter
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* Search C.M. Harbin in Kindle Store for more Classic Collections! ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

i realy consider this story a formidable one .
it was realy love story , i was very proud of jane eyre and also of mr. rochester . it was a crazy love and it shows that the good person must be considered at the end. ... Read more

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This study shows how, after extensive 'practice' in the Juvenilia, Bronte developed subtlety in the use of narrators, structure, language, imagery and allusion to create novels open to constant reinterpretation, in print and on film. ... Read more

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The courtship, wedding, extraordinary honeymoon tour and the brief happiness of Charlotte Bronte's marriage are the concerns of this text. It is the story of a solitary successful writer, her short-lived happiness and her tragic death when six months pregnant. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Still in Love with Charlotte
As a Bronte scholar, I read Charlotte in Love with a critical eye, finding Brian Wilks' repetitive use of common Bronte ideas and common Bronte quotes almost boring at times. Then I started to realize that just because Wilks repeated something didn't mean he was lazy in his research. He merely drove his points home with good research and well-placed (if somewhat overused) Bronte information. In the overarching progression of his telling of Charlotte's life, Wilks can seem to go back and forth on the timeline, which frustrated me at points. I was eager to get on to the parts that the title promised me. I wanted to hear about Arthur Bell Nicholls, his courtship with Charlotte, their clandestine meetings when Patrick Bronte was squinting at his books in his study, etc. That section of the book was brief but delicious. Like a fine truffle, it was consumed all too quickly, and I had to go back to read it again. Wilks' repetitiveness had gotten into me, it seems.

The inevitable end broke my heart as all biographers' stories of Charlotte do, but this time Wilks was able to provide a twist. His inferences from Arthur and Patrick's letters and future actions give an extra air of sadness. I'm so glad I hadn't read this prior to my visit to Haworth Parsonage; I didn't need the extra pathos when entering Charlotte's room that day. Wilks lays it on subtly, but expertly and surprisingly with an anecdote from Arthur's burial. Overall, I consider it a good read for Bronte fans (especially the final quarter of the book) and an excellent resource for new fans.

From Fantasy Author Sandy Lender ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Brilliant Book
I loved this book!I read it in one day, because I could not put it down!The twisted plot really keeps one rivited right until the end.Really good read, and it is a real shame that this little known book is out of print.I would love to see a pubishing house pick it up for a reissue.

An enjoyable continuation for Bronte's incomplete piece
Charlotte Bronte wrote a very short beginning to a novel, entitled 'Emma', which she never finished. Another author has picked it up and, based on various clues and the pieces's introduced characters, has continued the piece. The plot is gothic in the Bronte style, and the prose is very good and true to Bronte's style. The characters, as developed by the author, are engaging, and Emma herself is an impressive creation. One doesn't know how Bronte herself might have continued this piece, but the continuation/completion by this author make up for a satisfying, well-written story. I found it in a library and can't find it since- I am only sorry no one knows about it, and thus it's so hard to find! Bronte fans everywhere should have been treated to this well-done sequel.

Awesome!
This book rox! I don't know why most people don't know about it...it's so good! The whole plot is so twisted and intertwined with each other! The characters are cool! The conflict -- well, that's what the story's about! Not only that, it's full of suspense that once you start reading it, you just can't put it down! It keeps your knees bouncing and you bite your nails as you read through, wishing that you could read a bit faster. You think -- "I just want to know what happens to MArtina!" and when you find out you go "I just want to find out about GuS!" and so on till you're finished. And when you finish with the book, you'll have a nice, warm tingly feeling running through your veins. ... Read more

Product Description
Careful selection of 47 poems by talented literary siblings. 23 poems by Emily (including "Faith and Despondency" and "No Coward Soul is Mine"), 14 poems by Anne (including "The Penitent" and "If This Be All") and 10 poems by Charlotte (including "Presentiment" and "Passion"). Reproduced from standard editions. Publisher’s Note.
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Customer Reviews (6)

Great poetry
This book of poetry is wonderful and it is great to have. I'm glad that I had the time and the money to get this. It is a must read for all female aspiring writers.

Bronte Poems
A wonderful book for any person interested in reading poetry from the Bronte sisters. Even though they were well - known for their novels ( Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, Villette...), their poetry wasn't really known that well. This book presents it in a readable format. I recommend it for any Bronte fan. It's good to know about their novels, its even better when you are familiarized with their poems. : )

Ah, the successes and faults of the Brontës...
This is a rather small book composed of various poems by Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë. It's divided into three parts; one for each author.

I gave it three stars because it's a good collection, but not really a good read. I find the Brontë's poetry rather dry and cumbersome compared to their books, but it's still worth a look if you're a true fan. Emily is by far the best poet of the three, and at a whopping $2.00, you're not out much if you decide you don't like it... and you definitely get all that you paid for with this one.

Total Chick Bait
Yep, this book is fine for getting college chicks to dig you.Just have a copy of it on your bedside table and they will think you are sensitive and will be all over you. Don't bother to read the book - just keep it in plain sight.

READ ME! READ ME! READ ME!
I enjoyed the selected poems. I saw a lot of the same passion in the poems that I have seen also in many of their novels. If you enjoyed the poems you should be sure to get a hold of the Tenant of Wildfell Hall written by Anne Bronte and my utmost favorite Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte is definitely a book I would recommend. ... Read more

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Elizabeth Gaskell's "The Life of Charlotte Bronte" is the official biography of Charlotte Bronte. Having been invited by the Bronte family to undertake the endeavor of writing Charlotte-s biography, Elizabeth Gaskell drew upon an exhaustive collection of letters, interviews of those who knew the author, and recollections of her own experiences with the author, whom she was a personal friend of. Elizabeth Gaskell as a fellow Victorian female writer brings great insight into the life and accomplishments of the talented Charlotte Bronte. ... Read more

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* An anthology of writings by some of the most influential women in history on the often misunderstood and misrepresented female drug experience.* With great honesty, bravery, and frankness, women from diverse backgrounds write about their drug experiences.

Women have been experimenting with drugs since prehistoric times, and yet published accounts of their views on the drug experience have been relegated to either antiseptic sociological studies or sensationalized stories splashed across the tabloids. The media has given us an enduring, but inaccurate, stereotype of a female drug user: passive, addicted, exploited, degraded, promiscuous. But the selections in this anthology--penned by such famous names as Billie Holiday, Anais Nin, Maya Angelou, and Carrie Fisher--show us that the real experiences of women are anything but stereotypical.

Sisters of the Extreme provides us with writings by women from diverse occupations and backgrounds, from prostitute to physician, who through their use of drugs dared cross the boundaries set by society--often doing so with the hope of expanding themselves and their vision of the world. Whether with LSD, peyote, cocaine, heroine, MDMA, or marijuana, these women have sought to reach, through their experimentation, other levels of consciousness. Sometimes their quests have brought unexpected rewards, other times great suffering and misfortune. But wherever their trips have left them, these women have lived courageously--if sometimes dangerously--and written about their journeys eloquently. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

SISTERS Give The Wildest Ride
Being on the fringe of consensual reality and yet being able to take some notes of the journeys beyond, is an awesome gift.The stories in SISTERS OF THE EXTREME are such gifts of the God-Us. I have the original SHAMAN WOMAN, MAINLINE LADY and went through my contribution, line for line, and the only difference noted was my photo had shrunk in this new, revised edition.(This is consistent as now, being in my fifties, I notice that I am shrinking some also.)The tone not only is consistent from the first edition but vividly expansive.(I was somewhat embarrassed being in the first edition, with the stereotypic cover -- yet in this new volume, I am honored not only for the outrageous company kept and new sisters included but engaging graphics.)

As the God-Us dances about the universe, skirt swirling the galaxies, being on the fringes gives the wildest ride.This book is a travelogue by explorers of multi-dimensional realities written in white ink, from the heart of our Sisters-in-the-Clan-of-Encouragement:this book is a major herstoric contribution to the sext of human consciousness.

Jeannine Parvati (Baker) Author HYGIEIA: A WOMAN'S HERBAL

A fine survey of women whose lives were changed by drugs.
Sisters Of The Extreme is an informative and engaging presentation of famous female authors who write about the drug experience includes avariety of works from such notables as Bronte, Alcott, Di Prima, and more.Writings from historical works through modern times are gathered in SistersOf The Extreme, a fine survey of the lives and experiences of women whohave had their lives changed by drugs.

Stick with the original. It's better.
Let's get one thing straight right off the bat, Sisters of the Extreme is a "reissue" of 1982's Shaman Woman, Mainline Lady -- cut, streamlined and reformatted beyond all recognition. Evidently, the authorstook the edge off their book for a more "conservative" era --either that, or they assume their reader's minds have been so numbed bydrugs that we NEED heavy edits and People Magazine-inspired"look" to hold our limited attention.

Sure, there are a coupleof new excerpts worth reading (the one from Mary Woronov's "The MolePeople is revealing), but for the most part, Sisters of the Extreme seemsto be pandering to old YUPPIES who need a little stimulation. I swear thatif I read ANYTHING by Carrie Fisher ever again, it will be too soon --enough of the "I went to rehab and got a bad haircut" trip.Getover it.

In the introduction, the authors do say that they edited someexcerpts for space and deleted others all together. When I got out the twoeditions and compared them almost line for line, I discovered a disturbingtrend -- whereas Shaman Woman, Mainline Lady allowed one to take thewritings at face value, Sisters of the Extreme has definite agenda. Sistersof the Extreme doesn't LIKE drugs. It doesn't want ME to like drugs. Itwants me to be TITILATED by the writings. The difference isclear.

Sisters of the Extreme is a product of the times. It's been dumbeddown and punched up. Sure, the authors include a couple of writings on sexmagick and a few counter culture cartoons, but the overall smell ofpolitical correctness is stupifying.

The gist of my review is this: ifdon't already own a copy of Shaman Woman, Mainline Lady, go ahead and buySisters of the Extreme. Then, go on a quest for the Real Thing.

In themeantime, the use bibliography in Sisters of the Extreme to find and readthe original sourced writings. You'll be glad you did. ... Read more

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Colette Murphy is a twenty-eight year old care worker who lives at home with her father and brothers. The family are of Irish-Catholic descent and live in a close neighbourhood in the heart of Liverpool. Colette has a special bond with Maisie, one of the residents in the Home and is stunned when the old lady dies and leaves her a cottage in Ireland. With the inspiration of a victorian novelist, Colette decides to up sticks and set up home with her best friend, Marion. On their first morning in rural Ireland they are woken by a herd of cattle congregating at their back fence. Marion is afraid she will be eaten alive and Colette feeds them soda bread because she thinks they look hungry. Read all about their adventure and how they adapt to life in another country. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

A Treat of A Book!
I love Charlotte Bronte, too, and I love this book!
Colette Murphy is 28, a old care worker in Liverpool, England. She lives at home with her dad and brothers, has best friend & an old boyfriend who becomes a stalker.
She develops a special bond with one of the patients in her care, Maisie.
When Maisie passes away she gives Colette a chance at a new life in Ireland. Colette grabs it! She and her best friend leave what they know behind and strike out on their on in a delightful story that will hook you on page one & keep you there until the end.
What a wonderful ride. I wanted to go with them and enjoy Ireland myself. A definite keeper!

Top Notch
I love Charlotte Bronte is not the type of fictional book I would normally seek out to read, but on a referral from a friend I read it and must say it is worth checking out, even if you are a finicky reader like myself. The story is warm, charming, humorous, dramatic, and adventerous. I think the book also shows the strength women can have that is sometimes overlooked. The book is entwined around another book from the Victorian era, "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte, once you read this book, well you just have to read "Jane Eyre" too, they are like chocolate and peanut butter and compliment eachother well! I would definitely recommend this book to someone looking for something wholesome and quality to read. Especially if you enjoy books about England and Ireland, or are obsessed with Charlotte Bronte's works!

This is such an awesome book!
NEVER BEFORE have I read a novel like `I Love Charlotte Bronte' by Michelle Daly.It captures the reality of life today without forgetting about the heroines of the past who inspire us and keep life interesting. Michelle is certainly an author who knows how to engross her readers, as the main characters, Colette and Marion, reflect every day life and friendship, and enter into an adventure that neither of them see coming. This novel is an important contribution to literature and reminded me that novels like `Jane Eyre' are still relevant today and keep Charlotte Bronte and Victorian literature alive. This is a colourful tale and a mixture of ideas that all generations can appreciate.With good characterisation, a great friendship and a fantastic story, this book is a superb read and highly recommended. All you need to do now is read it.....

Not just a book....a journey
I'm not much of a reader of fiction, but I couldn't put this book down. Its not just a story, its a journey. This particular author has the magnificent gift of taking us out of our dull worlds, and putting us right there with her, and the lush world and characters she creates. If you have a passion for Ireland, you will be especially delighted with the way she makes life in small Irish village seem so real, and so downright charming!

Believe me, I am a tough sell when it comes to fiction, but this book is not only well written, its intriguing. Check the "story within a story" she included that takes this from being a great book, to something that pulls you in and never lets you go. I truly LOVED this book. ... Read more

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In this carefully chosen selection of their letters, diaries and autobiographical fragments, we hear the authentic voices of the three novelists, as well as their brother Bramwell and father, the Reverend Patrick Bronte. The collection follows their progress from exuberant childhood to years of hardship, followed by immense literary success and then tragic later years. ... Read more

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"A fresh and modern view of Charlotte Bronte--as a woman searching for love and as a writer who helped change society's perceptions about her sex. Her moving, eloquent portrait will interest not only Bronte devotees but all contemporary women."--Kirkus Reviews

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Customer Reviews (4)

Charlotte Bronte
The book arrived on time and was in very good condition. Unfortunately have not gotten to read it yet.

Offending gravely
Charlotte Bronte offended gravely against the standards of her day.Her portrayal of female charcters was realistic.She was a clergyman's daughter and a clergyman's wife.The countryside of Haworth was bleak and appealed to Charlotte Bronte's austere father, Patrick Bronte.He was vocal in support of the Evangelical movement.He was naturally gregarious and volatile.In 1820 Patrick was appointed perpetual curate at Haworth.The Brontes were isolated, socially.

Readers of JANE EYRE have wondered whether the Clergy Daughters School at Cowan Bridge attended by Charlotte and her sisters resembled the Lowood School in the novel.Charlotte and her brother Branwell had read all of Byron by age twelve or thirteen.There was a volcanic quality to Charlotte's writing.Branwell had charm and brilliance.He was precocious.

At Roe Head School Charlotte met Mary Taylor.Ellen Nussey became another dear friend at the school.The two girls described Charlotte as tired and old.Mary Taylor's family was argumentative and intellectual.Mr. Taylor, Mary's father, introduced Charlotte to the world of George Sand and Eugene Sue.Miss Wooler, the school head, emphasized orderliness and method.School distanced Charlotte from Branwell.Charlotte returned to Roe Head as a teacher.Emily's period of being a student lasted only three months, whereupon she was replaced by Anne.Away from home, Charlotte missed writing Byronic tales.

Branwell moved to Bradford seeking employment as a portrait painter.It was a competitive market and Branwell could not survive financially.By 1839 Branwell was becoming an embarassing problem to the family.He lost a job as tutor but started another job as a booking clerk for the railway.Charlotte was encouraged by Mary Taylor to go to Brussels.The Pensionnat Heger was recommended by the British Chaplain and his wife.Madame Heger welcomed Charlotte and Emily.Charlotte and Emily, ages twenty-five and twenty-three, were boarding with fifteen year olds.

M. Heger, who taught some classes at his wife's school, understood contemporary literature.The following year, January 1843, Charlotte returned to Belgium.Emily remained at Haworth and Branwell and Anne were tutor and governess at Thorp Green.Subsequently Charlotte's correspondance with M. Heger was to cease and she began to write of love and betrayal in her poetry.She was to suffer from isolation adn a lack of employment.Her early novel, THE PROFESSOR, was published last.

The sisters had poems published and then moved on to the publication OF AGNES GREY and THE TENANT AT WILDFELL HALL, (Anne), WUTHERING HEIGHTS, (Emily), and JANE EYRE, SHIRLEY, VILLETTE.Charlotte practiced self-abnegation.She sought in her writing to be guided by nature and truth.In one year Branwell, Emily, and Anne died.Charlotte was to marry.Her widower cared for Patrick Bronte at the end of his life.

Rebecca Fraser does a wonderful job relating the Bronte story.The sense of place is expert, the parsonage at Haworth being very much present.

A bio that reads like a novel
What a wonderful biography--it was as much of a page-turner as novel, because the Brontes were such an unusual, strange set of people. I learned a lot about the Brontes that I hadn't known, and the book illuminated C.B.'s novels for me. C.B. herself became much clearer to me as a person and I felt almost overwhelmed with sympathy for her. I'm awed by the immense courage she showed in everything she did--in leaving Haworth to go to Brussels, in going out as a governess, in getting her and her sisters' works out to the public, in visiting London as a famous author, and in just continuing to live and have hope after the crushing blows of her siblings' deaths one after another. Emily, too, is fascinating, both shy and wild, like an animal. The sense of tragedy hangs over the whole book because they all, except for the father, died so young. Charlotte outlived her mother and all her siblings, but she was only 39 when she died. I heartily recommend this biography.

Wonderful book!
This is probably one of the best biographies of Charlotte Bronte.A heartbreaking story. ... Read more

Product Description
This file includes: Cottage Poems by Patrick Bronte (father of the Bronte sisters), 1811; Poems by Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Bronte, 1846; Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, 1847;
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, 1847; Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte, 1847; The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte, 1848; Shirley by Charlotte Bronte, 1849; Biographical Notice of Ellis and Acton Bell, 1850; Villette by Charlotte Bronte, 1853; The Professor by Charlotte Bronte, 1857; The Life of Charlotte Bronte by Elizabeth Gaskell, 1857; and Charlotte Bronte and Her Circle by Clement K. Shorter, 1896.With the active (hyperlinked) Table of Contents, click on a book title and go to that book. Then use the Back button to return to the Table of Contents.
Responding to customer feedback, I changed the typeface and made other improvements on 3/22/09.If you bought this book before then, you should be able to download the new version at no extra cost. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Unreadable
The horrible formatting makes many of the books in the collection completely unreadable. Elizabeth Gaskell's Biography of Charlotte Bronte is the poorest formatted of all books here but the rest are quite unreadable as well. The ending of each subchapter is absent as if it were chewed off. The typos abound, and you have to sit there guessing how the sentence was supposed to end.

The Brontes are amazing writers and they don't deserve to have their works tortured like this by unconscientious publishers eager to make a buck without doing any editing or formatting work.

Needs improvement but suits my needs
As of mid Dec 2009 there is no active table of contents for each chapter of each book, just only one heading for each particular book.
All the poems are under just one entry, so it is impossible to look for a poem by its title or to tell which poem belongs to which of the family members. You can however search for a poem if you are familiar with any part of it.
I experienced sentence breakage in the middle of paragraphs for "Jane Eyre" but not the "Wuthering Heights" as stated by one other reviewer. You should expect to find as many of them as there are pages on a printed book.Let's say 400.
At the present time this edition has suited my needs and don't need to upgrade to a more expensive edition.

Poor formatting ruins great works
I wanted to read Jane Eyre and thought I was getting a good deal since I want to read Wuthering Heights at a later time. Although it is easy to navigate to specific works in the collection, the font is distracting and awkward to read for any length of time and the punctuation indistinct (the periods and commas are hard to tell apart). There is also random paragraph spacing in the middle of lines. I ended up buying another edition of Jane Eyre to finish reading the book.

This is great!
I love that I have all of the Bronte sisters' works on my Kindle in a single file. The table of contents makes everything conveniently accessible. ... Read more