Due to a passing in the family a few years ago and my subsequent health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for years after the bereavement. Thank you for the opportunity.

Much much more than I expected

Do not let the tremendous amount of info dumping about the Bramwell's discourage you in the long first chapter. Although, the information is interesting it is a lot to absorb. When Maria meets Patrick is when the story really becomes engaging. I loved learning about the Patrick, his life in Ireland as well as his struggles making his way before meeting Maria. The historical events that are sprinkled in add a great timeline and much I didn't know.

Learning of Maria and Patrick's love story is sweet, but also very emotional when Maria becomes ill and passes. I admit there were tears. I became very uneasy reading things that Gaskell wrote that seemed to be inaccurate and had to be clarified by others.

Patrick was a devoted husband, father and clergyman. Elizabeth (Maria's sister) basically devoted her life to the raising of her sister's children. Even though, I knew that the Bronte children died young and in rapid succession, reading it was hard. Patrick truly endured many harsh realities in his lifetime.

I'm thrilled to have read this book. I haven't read alk of the Bronte novels, but now I am more eager than ever to do so.

Reading the letters, at the end, and seeing the photos were great additions.

I really enjoyed reading this book. A lot has been written about the Bronte Sisters. This book tells the story about their parents esp their mother. The book is very well researched. It is well written and easy to read. I learned a lot. The author also does a very good job with the historical background and the times in which they lived. Enjoy

Fascinating Read About the Literary Dynasty’s Mother

What an extraordinarily well-researched and wonderfully written book. Often books about historical figures can be a bit dry; this book does not suffer from that. The author lays out Maria Branwell Bronte's life from the time she was a child until her death. One thing that I loved is that the author actually includes some source material in the appendix, so you can read the love letters between her and Patrick yourself; the immediacy of the letters makes them both so real. I did feel as though a bit of the beginning part focused too much on Maria’s parents and what life would have been like in Cornwall when she was growing up. But as the book progressed, it got stronger, focusing better on Miss Branwell/Mrs. Bronte. (Loved the clever chapter title: Mothering Heights!) As someone who has enjoyed the stories of the Bronte sisters, this look at their mother's life was a fascinating one and a surprisingly page-turning read.

The Mother of the Brontës by Sharon Wright is the long overdue biography of Maria Brontë.

The text is a delightful and quick read, clocking in at just under 200 pages. Due to it’s length I did, at times, despise the brevity. I would have liked for there to be a further exploration of the historical context; at times I felt either underwhelmed or confused. I’m not usually a reader of works of this period, so the additional detail would have furnished my understanding. As Wright has a well defined writing style, I would have happily devoured a piece twice as long. That said, the contextual pieces that Wright did explore were great! I particularly enjoyed the discovery of pattens, which are a platform of either wood or metal which attach to the sole of a shoe to prevent your shoes from becoming ruined by dirt on the ground.

I liked the references to works that the Brontë family read, and I’m sure I’ll delve into these in the future, if I can find them. It was also interesting to learn that Anne Lister was a contemporary and that she chronicled the details of her life, which included her lesbian relationships. It’s so rare to find queer narratives like this, so I’ll definitely be adding them to my wish list.

Overall, the biography is excellent. It’s absolutely a testament to Wright’s research skills and her dedication to honouring the enigmatic Maria Brontë.

The brontes are a major reason why I became an English major. I liked getting to know them through the eyes of their mother. Enjoyable.

Faszinierend und detailreich - das Buch erzählt die Geschichte einer Frau im Schatten ihrer Töchter, die es verdient hat, daraus heraus zu treten. Besser hätte man ihre Lebensgeschichte nicht erfinden können.

*received copy from netgalley for honest review* This book wasn't exactly what I was expecting but I thought it was pretty good but boring/slow on occasion.

A must-read for any Bronte fan. Biography at its best, engaging, entertaining, informative, meticulously researched, and on occasion really quite moving. I own up to shedding a tear at one point. When the author suggested writing a biography of Maria Bronte, she was told there wasn’t enough material. Well, she has certainly put the lie to that idea. Maria Bronte was definitely not just a shadowy figure who gave birth to 6 children and promptly died. She was, in fact, a clever, educated and independent woman, who attempted some writing herself, and was passionately in love with her husband. She had a busy and fulfilled life before she met him and became a positive influence in her children’s lives during the all too short time she had with them. Their talent didn’t just come out of nowhere – Maria Bronte herself was a talented woman as this book admirably demonstrates, and she loved stories and novels, and wrote many enjoyable letters, some of which are excerpted here. She really comes alive on the page in this excellent biography, and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting her.

The author's painstaking research and attention to detail is obvious in the writing of this book. There were many facts that I only discovered after reading this!

I was unable to open the protected PDF file the publisher sent me. I was excited to receive a review copy, and will try contacting the publisher a second time to find a way to read my copy. I will update my review once I have read the book, as I am sure I will absolutely love it!

Updated: 8/14/2019

The Mother of the Bronte’s

Before I get into my review, there is something you must know. I am a bookworm nerd. I LOVE the Bronte sisters. That is putting it mildly. I am also in love with Jane Austen. When on Netgalley one day, I saw this book was up and available to “wish” for it. Having never had good luck with winning, well, just about anything, I clicked the wish button and crossed my fingers. I wished on a lucky star. I gave my dog extra belly rubs and treats to put positive vibes in the universe and increase my good karma, as my best friend since third grade would call it. Then, one day, I received an email saying my wish came true! The author is letting me have a copy to read and review! I was ecstatic! I was checking my email (when I was supposed to be working…shhh!) and my co-worker heard me stifle a squeal of excitement and asked if I was okay. No. I was not okay. I was great!
Hands trembling with pent up joy and thrilled beyond measure, I click the link in the email to send the book to my kindle and…I cannot open it. My heart sank. I tried everything and could not get it to work. I went from thrilled to heartbroken. Fortunately, the publishers are amazing people and made sure I was able to get a copy anyways to review (seriously, they are the best. Go read a book by them).

Now to the review!

I am not usually one for non-fiction, but I could not put this book down. The information was not dry and was told in a way that it may as well have been a fanciful story told for pure enjoyment (which it was for me). The book starts out with Maria as a child and continues on through her life with the challenges of growing up and loss. Sharon Wright, the author, also shows us bits and pieces of Maria’s future husband as well and how the last name finally ended up being spelled how we recognize it today. Often, last names were not always spelled the same way and would change depending on who wrote it down and their mood that day. Spelling was not as strict as we often believe. Several penny thrillers are mentioned in the book and my curiosity grabbed hold of me until I went to see if those Gothic tales are still in print. With this information, we have the opportunity to read what Maria and her daughters read! Now on to more about the actual book and enough of the unashamed fan-girling.

Maria’s future husband, Patrick, was often described as an odd man. He came from Ireland and held a thick accent. His last name was originally Prunty, but the person doing his paperwork did not care to try to figure out what Patrick actually said and put him down in the records as Bronte. The name would take on different forms and ways of pronouncing it until settling on how we know and say it today. He was often followed by scandal and had a thing for pretty girls. He was chased off and lost a job due to his affections while working as a tutor and eventually fell in love with another girl. When he realized he could not marry the girl because her beliefs would hinder his ability to move up in the church, he left her behind.

During his time in the church, the people would comment on his temper. He was an odd man, but hardly dangerous. He even saved a young boy’s life when being picked on by other boys for being different from them, showing Patrick’s soft heart. Later, when his heart was starting to recede, he finally met Maria. The fell in love quickly in a whirlwind romance and were soon engaged. They came from two vastly different backgrounds and yet loved each other all the same. Patrick was forgetful and got himself in a few jams with Maria and those he was supposed to help, and it shows in Maria’s letters to him. This amazing book holds bits and pieces of Maria’s letters to Patrick which are a gift to be able to read for yourself. Courtship was different back then and a person could not openly show affection in the ways that are socially acceptable today.

There is simply too many wonderful topics to talk about all in one place so I will stop here and leave you with this: If you love the Bronte sisters and their writing, this is a MUST read. This book is being put in a place of honor in my bookcase with my other classic books (of course, next to my Bronte books!). Happy reading!

Interesting reading if you’re a Bronte enthusiast. Maria Bronte nee Branwell is more known for her absence in her children’s lives than by her presence having died young of uterine cancer. There’s a lot of Bronte mythology (something we can blame Elizabeth Gaskell for much of) and Patrick Bronte doesn’t deserve nearly as much bad press as he gets. This falls a bit short for me as a biography but the author does succeed in bringing her subject to light, despite a slightly awkward style.

Maria Bronte, nee Branwell, has always been a shadowy figure in the history of that remarkable family, so I was intrigued to read a biography about her. I thought the author gave a very detailed account of the history surrounding Maria's early life in Cornwall. They also brought to the fore different aspects of Maria's personality, aside from the usual pious wife bearing pain with fortitude. It was refreshing to see the passionate lover in her letters to Patrick during their courtship, her enjoyment in being a reader of novels, and even trying her hand at writing a religious article.

Overall, this is a worthy addition to the body of work already compiled on the Bronte family. I enjoyed reading it and recommend it to anyone who is interested in the history of the Brontes.

Thanks to NetGalley and publishers, Pen & Sword, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

I really enjoyed this book. It had great historical value.
It was well written and I didn’t want to put it down.
A fantastic book

The Mother of the Brontës
When Maria Met Patrick

by Sharon Wright

Pen & Sword

Pen & Sword History

History , Nonfiction (Adult)

Pub Date 31 Jul 2019

I am reviewing a copy of The Mother of the Bronte’s through Pen and Sword and Netgalley:

This is the untold story of the mysterious Mrs Bronte.

Marie Branwell was born on April.15. 1783 to Parents Thomas and Anne. Five Branwell babies had already died before their fifth birthday. In November of 1789 Maria’s little sister Charolette was born.

Marie Branwell was a Cornish gentlewomen, and Patrick Bronte a poor Irish Curate, the chance that they would meet let alone fall passionately in love in Regency England was small, but they did.

In 1812 Marie Branwell embarked on a journey, leaving her home, never to return.

Patrick Bronte was born on March.17.1777 born to Hugh and Eleanor (who was known as Alice). His childhood with filled with Irish Myths and Stories.

In 1802 Patrick, the twenty five year old Son of a Father set sail to England, self taught teacher and potential priest Pat Prunty set sail to England.

Maria and Patrick met falling in love with one another and becoming doting parents in the heartland of the industrial revolution. An unlikely romance and novel
wedding were followed by the birth of six children. The Children included Charolette, Emily and Anne Bronte, the most gifted literary siblings the world had known.

Maria’s children inherited her intelligence and wit and wrote masterpieces such as Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. Yet Maria has remained an enigma while the fame of her family spread across the world. It is time to bring her out of the shadows, along with her overlooked contribution to the Brontë genius. Untimely death stalked Maria as it was to stalk all her children. But first there was her fascinating life’s story, told here for the first time by Sharon Wright.

I give The Mother of the Bronte’s five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

The link will not go live until August 8, 2018 at 12:30 pm ET.

I somehow managed to read a biography of Maria Branwell Brontë prior to reading a biography of any of her offspring. I'm not sure why, but when I saw this one on NetGalley it just spoke to me.

Maybe it's because I finally got to visit The Brontë Parsonage last year, or maybe I some how knew that Kirkstall Abbey (which I visited over a decade ago while living in Leeds) was connected to the Brontës without really knowing it. Or maybe, like Wright, I was appalled that I spent a considerable amount of time less than 60 miles from their home. Or maybe it was just another opportunity to revisit God's Own Country via this book which Wright references. Who knows?

All I know is that Wright was able to write a pretty thorough biography of Maria Branwell Brontë when she went in saying there's not a lot of information about her. Sure the minutiae, like which route she took going north from Cornwall may not be known, but there seems to be quite a bit known in this book.

I think the thing I found most interesting was that Jane Austen and Maria Branwell Brontë were contemporaries and Wright mentions this on multiple occasions. Sure this is because I'm one of the rare people that appreciates the Brontës and Austen, but I found it fascinating that there is pretty much irrefutable proof that Maria read Austen's Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice. Maybe Charlotte's visceral dislike of Austen stems less from actual dislike and more from feeling disgruntled because of her mother's early death? [I'm absolutely projecting here, but it made me think twice about it as I read more and more of how Maria and Austen were of similar social status and life styles.] Another contemporary mentioned is Anne Lister,

"Just seven miles away in Shibden Hall near Halifax lived Maria and Elizabeth's West Yorkshire contemporary, Anne Lister. Dubbed 'Gentleman Jack' she was among the first British women to live an openly gay life. Her detailed diaries were so explicit she wrote parts of them in code." (108)

We watched Gentleman Jack on HBO and I have every intention of reading a biography of Anne Lister at some point in the future.

I found Wright's writing style to be easy to read and even though I set aside a couple of weeks to read this, it only took a couple of days. She wove the story together seamlessly and provided just enough detail and embellishment that it never broached on creative nonfiction like many other biographies I've read.

Recommendation: I found this gave me a better understanding of the Brontës in that I know more about where they came from. Wright did a great job of balancing what is known (and written) and what is unknown about Maria Branwell Brontë's life. I'm not sure if I'd read other biographies of the Brontë's if this would've been as good, but for me it fit the timing and provided extra details that I didn't know.

Oh, I so enjoyed reading this and learning more about Maria Branwell, mother of the Brontës. It was all I could have hoped for!

There was plenty of in-depth research and historical details which the biographer brought together in a very well-written narrative. Thanks to a couple of surviving letters, written during Maria’s and Patrick’s courtship, we also have her own words giving us a glimpse of her thoughts and feelings. These letters and one other published (!) text by Maria are added as appendices at the end of the book so the readers can consult the complete texts themselves, which I thought was absolutely wonderful! There are a couple of instances where Maria scolds her suitor or starts to doubt the strength and constancy of his affection and those make her incredibly real somehow and so much easier to relate to than the tragic, shadowy figure we know from biographies concentrating on her famous offspring.

This was an incredibly interesting biography with fascinating insights into the life of Maria, and Patrick as well. I was astonished to discover that Maria was such a clever, strong, interesting and independent person in her own right.

Absolutely recommend this book for anyone interested in the Brontës or 18- 19th century Britain.

The Mother of the Brontes is a interesting story and the author has put a lot of research into it. Her daughters of course being quite famous and loved by many.

I have to applaud the author writing a biography of Maria Branwell. There have been many biographies on the family but never on the mother. However, as a biography, this was a real struggle to read. There were very few details in Maria’s and some were speculation. I have to say that I found her children more fascinating than her. Still, I recommend this for those interested in the Bronte family.

As a huge fan of the Brontes and was thrilled to get an ARC of this to read. The author Sharon Wright here tackles the life of possibly the most mysterious of the Brontes, Maria Branwell. The research behind this book is clearly excellent and from the first there is a lot of detail and the chapters are well paced. It starts by dealing with Marias early family life in Penzance through her romance with Patrick, to her untimely death, as the mother of 6 small children in Haworth. The narrative is filled with little gems such as the precise book Maria bought on a shopping trip in 1810 and this helps the reader place Marias life in its wider context.
The book also deals quite extensively with the political and social context of the times. Which is both helpful and distracting. For example the author speculates regarding the possible involvement of Maria's father in smuggling without fully exploring the issue, and the positIon of Cornwall within the French Wars without discussing what this meant.
While I found this background information interesting I also found it a distraction, and especially in the beginning felt that Maria herself got a little lost.
I found the second half of the book to be much stronger, ‘seeing’ Maria in her element as a young mother in Thornton was fascinating and added a new perspective to the typical Bronte narrative. The chapter dealing with Maria’s death I found difficult to read, the author writes them in harrowing detail and her families grief is palpable.
All in all, I enjoyed this book very much and it adds much to the understanding of the Bronte story.
I was given an ARC by NetGalley, all opinions are my own.