Two of her presents were Brontë-related - a book and a DVD about them.
Dark QuartetLynne Reid Banks
I am sure all my readers know who the Brontë sisters were; they are still considered to be among the most famous writers in the English language. In spite of that, can you believe I have so far never read anything written BY one of the Brontë sisters, only ABOUT them? Many years ago, a biography (non-fiction) that had me interested in them mainly because they lived in Yorkshire, and a handful of articles in various papers.
This book is a biographical novel, but it appears so well researched that it could pass for non-fiction. The author states that she has spent the better part of three years working on it, and whenever it comes to dialogue, she has tried to use the protagonists' own words, as handed down to us through numerous letters, diary entries and the like.
The Brontë siblings had rather short and tragic lives.
Of the five girls and one boy, only one of them (Charlotte) ever got married, and none of them lived long enough to see their 40th birthday. Two died as children (Maria and Elizabeth, at age 11 and 10 respectively). The other three sisters, Charlotte, Emily and Anne, lived into adulthood and achieved literary fame, originally publishing under male pen names, as back then it was not considered appropriate for women to write as they did.
Their brother, Branwell, could have done well for himself, as he was not a bad painter and a gifted writer, but he was addicted to opium (laudanum) and alcohol and wasted any chance at a decent life he had, dying at 31.
The siblings' father outlived them all - how sad his life must have been, carrying first his wife to her early grave and then six children, one after the other, following.
And yet there were brief interludes of happines and hope for them all, and even in their darkest times, they kept their creative talents going - almost (?) to the point of madness, living more in their fantasy worlds than in - often unbearable - reality.
I enjoyed this book very much, even though I already knew the outcome. It ends with the death of the next-to-last sister, leaving Charlotte the only surviving sibling. A second book by the same author is dedicated to her remaining years, during which she seemed to make up for everything the first 30+ years of her life were not. It is likely that I am going to look for the sequel eventually.
To Walk InvisibleTV drama by Sally Wainwright
The second part of the Brontë-themed birthday presents from my sister, I watched it the same evening I had finished reading the book.
It is a touching and very well made film, but I can not recommend it to anyone who has no previous knowledge of the Brontë family. Quite a few bits in the film are not explained and can not be undrestood if you don't know the background, such as the flashbacks when the siblings are children.
What impressed me was learning about how their family home, the parsonage in Haworth, was completely rebuilt - not as an open stage, but as a proper house with all the walls, roof etc., so that filming would really be done inside small rooms, making it all appear as limited, isolated and closed-in as the young women often felt.
Costumes, cast, lighting, music, accents - it is very well done, and although of course due to the limited time a lot had to be left out, it tells the story as we know it to be true.
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