The Bronte Girl
Miriam Halahmy (2024)
“I am just going to write because I cannot help it.”
Charlotte Brontë
Haworth 1847. When Mother and her beloved twin brothers are taken by the Haworth ‘miasma’, to keep her family from the workhouse, 15-year-old Kate takes a cleaning job at The Parsonage, home to the Brontë family. Kate dreams of being a writer. Poverty and gender stand in her way and Luke Feather who wants to marry her, believes writing stories is a waste of time.
When Charlotte Brontë discovers Kate’s passion for books and writing, an important friendship develops. Kate begins to embrace Charlotte’s radical ideas of equality and is thrilled when she spots clues that the Brontë sisters are writing stories. But how can Kate achieve her ambitions to write, while locked in the daily struggle to survive in Haworth?
Miriam Halahmy has written a novel which brings the Brontës alive for a new generation of readers. Themes of women’s rights, inequality and poverty are illuminated in beautiful character-driven storytelling. In a world of increasing inequality and global attacks on women’s rights, this is a novel for our time.
I loved this beautifully told tale of a young servant girl's determination to realise her secret ambition of becoming a writer set in the deftly reimagined wild and wuthering world of the Bronte sisters. A must for all Bronte fans everywhere and anyone seeking the courage to pursue their dream.
Ally Sherrick, Author of Black Powder, Young Quills Award. / Direct Quote
A slice of social commentary, a touch of romance with a twist, a glimpse into the lives and world of the Bronte Sisters. This is all wrapped up in a beautifully and skilfully written story of a young girl desperate to break out of her life of poverty, escape the shackles of gender inequality, pursue her passion for writing and follow her dreams! A compulsive and enthralling read that hooks the reader from the beginning to the very last page and with characters that feel real and the reader cares about. I loved it, felt bereft when I finished it and am desperate for a sequel!!!
Annie Everall OBE / Authors Aloud, Federation Children's Book Groups.
This highly entertaining novel should ensure a new generation of Bronte fans!
Michael Stewart / multi-award-winning Author, Playwright, Reader and Head of Creative Writing, Huddersfield University.
Miriam Halahmy has created a strong sense of time and place. The restrictions and frustrations that Kate feels as a young woman of very limited means are well portrayed and I was so pleased that, at the end of the book, she can follow her own path (a true ‘rebel slave’!). Jane Eyre is one of my favourite classics and it was so good to find direct references to the original text and to Charlotte’s letters! There are many parallels between the characters of Kate and Jane. This is Kate’s story and the focus is on her struggle for freedom, fuelled and informed by Charlotte’s own ‘fiery views’. I look forward to introducing Kate’s story to our students. I’m sure Miriam’s book will encourage a new generation of readers to explore the lives and the novels of the amazing Brontë sisters.
Tracy Shepherd / Beaumont School Librarian
Life Challenges
- Grief
- Making life choices
- Relationships
- Family tensions and instability
- Inequality and oppression
Themes
- Independence
- Love and acceptance
- Transitions
- Identity
- Resurrection
What's Great?
- Absorbing Plot Line
- Great characters
- Beautiful imagery
- Emotional journey
- Surprising
