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Charlotte Brontë

A Life

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Charlotte Brontë

By: Claire Harman
Narrated by: Claire Harman
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About this listen

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable, audiobook edition of Charlotte Brontë: A Life, written and read by Claire Harman.

Raised motherless on remote Yorkshire moors, watching five beloved siblings sicken and die, haunted by unrequited love: Charlotte Brontë's life has all the drama and tragedy of the great Gothic novels it inspired.

Charlotte was a literary visionary, a feminist trailblazer and the driving force behind the whole Brontë family. She pushed Emily to publish Wuthering Heights and took charge of their precarious finances when her feckless brother turned to opium.

In Jane Eyre she introduced the world to a brand new kind of heroine, modelled on herself: quiet but fiercely intelligent, burning with passion and potential. This is the definitive biography of one of Britain's best loved writers.

©2015 Claire Harman (P)2015 Penguin Audio Art & Literature Authors Women Biography
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Claire Harman has constructed a deeply engaging, sympathetic but clear-eyed, wonderfully researched biography of Charlotte Brontë. I enjoyed it thoroughly and learned a great deal. The author has also done a lovely job of narrating the book.

Stunningly researched

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This is one of the best biographies I have read. It is a tale of great talent and great tragedy. It's rare for a long and detailed biography to hold my interest from start to finish but this book is the audio equivalent of a page-turner. It would be hard to think of a sadder life than Charlotte's and, in fact, her father and her siblings all lived lives marked by grief. For the three sisters' writing and creativity to flourish in this sad and (for the most part) restricted physical environment is remarkable. Claire Harman's narration is perfect - her voice and accent are very easy on the ear and, of course, there are no mispronunciations.

Outstanding biography

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Delightfully read and beautifully researched. This was my first venture into learning more about the Brontës and I enjoyed every minute of listening.

A Joy for any Brontë enthusiast

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