I am so happy I stumbled upon this book! My love for classic British literature began when I read Jane Eyre years ago. I admit I discovered it a bit late, in my thirties. After I read it, and then other classic novels, I really saw what a 'Queen' Charlotte Bronte was. I was amazed at the fact that she didn't let anyone tell her how to live, how to love, or how to write! I picked this book because the subject matter interested me; I had no idea it would be so entertaining!

Miranda Pennington is a young professor at Columbia and her writing has been featured on several current literary sites and podcasts. Unfortunately, I never had the pleasure of reading her stuff before now. You may think nonfiction is boring but try putting this down after reading chapter one - You won't be able to resist continuing. Her stories about growing up as a precocious tomboy are hilarious. She was a voracious reader early on and read Jane Eyre way before she could even understand what it was about. As she matured into her teens and early twenties, she moved on to Wuthering Heights, then Villette, and Agnes Grey. She explains how each book taught her lessons she could use in each stage of life. I was especially invested in the storyline of her romance through the years with certain people, and eventually her husband. She found a way to weave behind-the-scene facts about the Bronte family, alongside her own life story, with a little literary critique as well. It was never boring and I even laughed so hard at some parts I had to read them aloud to anyone nearby.

I don't think you have to be a Bronte enthusiast to enjoy this book, but it will especially appeal to those who are. I can think of two people right off the top of my head that I know I will recommend it to, and maybe even buy it for my own bookshelf! I can definitely see myself revisiting this again.

1. I am not sure how Miranda Pennington and I aren't best friends. We lived in the same neighborhoods in Brooklyn, we went to the same restaurants and concert venues and we are both delightfully obsessed with Jane Eyre.

A Girl Walks Into a Book is the memoir/in depth study of the Bronte family. Miranda, much like myself, fell in love with Jane Eyre and Mr Rochchester at an early age and have continued to let it guide us both into adulthood. Pennington does an in-depth analysis of all of the Brontes works, careful not to gloss over anything about Branwell and his addictions, as well as comparing her own life and experiences to the Brontes at the same time. It's a risky move, but one that was well worth it.

This is a lovely book, for anyone, not just the Eyre obsessed.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This charming bibliomemoir reflects on Pennington’s two-decade love affair with the work of the Brontë sisters, especially Charlotte. She has read and reread the books (and watched the film adaptations) innumerable times over the years to get her through life’s crises. It’s really clever how she gives side-by-side chronological tours through the Brontës’ biographies and careers and her own life, drawing parallels and noting where she might have been better off if she’d followed in Brontë heroines’ footsteps. If you’re set on avoiding spoilers, keep in mind that Pennington discusses all of the plots in detail, so you might want to skim over some parts. I especially enjoyed her cynical dissection of Wuthering Heights, a novel I too have struggled to like (“If I met Wuthering Heights at a cocktail party, I would have literally nothing to say to it. … It’s the Macbeth, if not the Titus Andronicus, of the Brontë canon—it shows us evil, but teaches us nothing”) and her research visit to Haworth. A must for Brontë fans.

I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.
This non-fiction work is the story of a love affair – that of the author with the work of the Brontës. It functions as a biography of the three sisters as well but my favourite parts were her grounding the stories and characters in her real life and how she found that different Brontë books appealed to her at different ages, inspiring and comforting her. Her re-readings of Jane Eyre and finding new things at different points in her life strongly resonated.
I’m a huge fan of the sisters’ work so found the biographical elements very interesting but really appreciated reading about, and recognising in myself, the passion Pennington has for Charlotte, Emily and Anne. If you’ve read any Brontë biographies you are unlikely to discover any new information here but it’s still a delightful read and might even inspire those new to the Brontës’ work to dive headlong in.

This is an interesting book, although it was not quite what I expected. It is a literary memoir of the author focused around how the Bronte sisters' writing impacted her life and guided her through difficult times. It is written in a fairly informal conversational style, although she does throw in some unfamiliar vocabulary. She describes growing up, her educational and career experiences, as well as a series of romantic relationships, all while weaving in biographical and literary information about the Bronte family. Charlotte's writing is her clear favorite, and with the research materials available there is more emphasis on Charlotte's life and work than the rest of the family. She includes plot summaries (definite spoilers for all of the novels) and literary analysis of the writing while relating it to events and decisions in her own life. Even with the personal aspect, it is full of interesting information about the Bronte family and quoted passages from letters as well as the novels. I developed more respect for the accomplishments of these sisters, learned a lot, and will definitely be adding more of their writing to my to read list.

This book did not have a magnetic pull that drew me in and did not release me. Instead it was like going into a stream and letting yourself be lulled along by the soothing current.

The plot is relatable. As readers we've all had that moment of finding the right book at the right time and it having a lasting impact on us. For Pennington, that book was Jane Eyre. Reading it led her down a Brontë rabbit hole that she shares with us in this biography / autobiography combo. Using the lives and tales of all the Brontës, the author uses the parallels in both to carry the narrative along.

My favorite thing about the book was the author's voice. She was honest and raw, but in a way that did not feel contrived or forced.

This book is a beautiful memoir and a love affair with books. I enjoyed this book immensley. If you love the Bronte sisters, books about books, or memoirs this book is for you. I highly recommend it.

At first it’s really not clear if this book is to be counted as a work of fiction or non-fiction. Ultimately it reads like a wonderful story that envelops the Bronte sisters and Pennington in ways that are peculiar and satisfyingly strange. Eventually one must decide that it must come down on the side of non-fiction because so much of it is based on the real lives of both the aforementioned. Pennington turns a quirky personal love life story into a hilarious comparison to all the things that can be learnt from the stories written by the three Bronte sisters, Charlotte, Emily and Anne.


Sometimes we read to find ourselves; sometimes we read to escape ourselves; sometimes we read to see ourselves more clearly.

Throughout the course of the book Pennington looks at how her current life experience could be seen to be mirrored in one of the Bronte’s novels. She starts with the classic Jane Eyre and explains her first love of reading it as a child and how so often as an adult she felt a kinship with the fictional character. Indeed, Pennington seems to behave as if all the characters from a Bronte novel were once real people.

“….it still startles me to be reminded that they aren’t real. It seems much more likely they exist in the ether somewhere, fully formed and waiting for a reader to bring them to life again.”

Themes such as what is love, who are you meant to be and what does real love looks like are covered and more. We travel through Pennington’s life, comparing different situations and stages that align with different portions of Bronte novels. All novels share insight and a working knowledge and a course of action such as Wuthering Heights being a cautionary tale for overzealous attachment to one’s first love. Agnes Grey is a mentor for finding a job, finding another one if needed, succeeding in one’s career and learning to stand on your own two feet. Shirley gives insight into female friendship and women’s options in life. These comparisons are often both comic and insightful.

The fact that these things happened in life and in literature is part of what gives them resonance. It’s what allows the Brontes to capture detail and write so realistically. It’s what makes them true.

This is entertaining and yet one feels the very rawness of Pennington’s confessional style on every page. For those who have not read the entire Bronte canon, it serves as a tempting suggestion to throw oneself fully into the business of self-education. Pennington herself is honest about her faults that make her all the more real for her struggles and all the more accessible as a person. This is a delightful book that will please both the ultimate Bronte lover and the uninitiated.

Really enjoyable

A bibliomemoir can be an unforgettable love story or a bad romance. A Brontë bibliomemoir is always a kitschy Vegas wedding.

This year I have read two Brontë bibliomemoirs, both written in a quasi-“pop” style. The writers share their insights, but their humor borders on kitsch, and I can’t figure out who the intended audience is.

Smantha Ellis’s T"ake Courage: Anne Bronte and the Art of Life," called “a selfie memoir” in the TLS, is jarringly uneven. (I reflected on it in an earlier post.) Miranda K. Pennington’s new book, "A Girl Walks into a Book: What the Brontës Taught Me about Life, Love, and Women’s Work," is a selfie celebration of lifelong Bronte fandom. Of the two, I much prefer hers.

Pennington, a writer and teacher in New York, boldly takes on all three Brontës in her first book. She especially loves Charlotte’s "Jane Eyre"; is almost equally fascinated by the Sapphic elements in "Shirley"; and is more cheered than I am when Lucy Snowe settles in "Villette" for second-best boyfriend..

Pennington raves about the underrated Anne’s novel, "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall," which deals with alcoholism and domestic abuse. Like Branwell, the Brontes’ ne-er-do-well brother, Pennington was once an alcoholic. She appreicates Anne’s urge to write the then-shockingly candid novel about the heroine’s flight and hiding from her alcoholic husband. The biggest shock? She is not an Emily fan. Instead of meshing her own reflections with a synthesis of critical views of Wuthering Heights, she writes a parody. I found it ill-advised, but then I am of an older generation.

Pennington’s writing is laced with humor and snarkiness, as well as sincerity. She entertains and educates subtly. The writing is occasionally awkward, in a style reminiscent of rapidfire internet posts, but that is par for common readers, unless they are Virginia Woolf. (And, by the way, I learned from Pennington that Woolf wrote an essay after visiting Haworth about her distaste for visiting writers’ homes.) Although Pennington is neither a critic nor a biographer, she has done extensive research on the Brontës.

She is earnest, if verbose, as she describes the Brontës’ effect on her life. She rereads "Jane Eyre" every year, and inspired by the heroine’s courage and independence.

"I needed the Brontës to help me figure out how to function in the world around me, and their work is always up to the task. Even though their characters live, think, and speak in outdated and occasionally unwieldy prose, it still startles me to be reminded that they aren’t real. It seems much more likely they exist in the ether somewhere, fully formed and waiting for a reader to bring them to life again. Believing that my favorite characters live outside their pages may be why I hear new messages with every read."

The book is arranged chronologically, following Pennington from her first reading of "Jane Eyre" to the present. Her history with Jane Eyre started early. Her father gave her "Jane Eyre" when she was 10 (and isn’t that Jane’s age when we first meet her?), and, after hurling the book across the room with frustration, she picked it up, kept reading, and was forever influenced by Jane’s independence and unshakable moral code.

She also tries to write about the act of reading. In the following passage, she captures the experience of falling into "Jane Eyre."

"When I looked back at the clock, it seemed time had gone faster while I read, the cost of living two lives at once. It was almost as good as time travel. Anything outside those pages vanished until, all too soon, I reached the last page, the adventure ended, and I was back on my bed where I started. Learning to speak Brontë gave me a secret power that nobody else had. And Jane Eyre was the key—it’s what put me on the path to living my life in sync with the Brontës’ work. It inspired a quest to discover as much about Charlotte Brontë as I could. Each Bronte has in turn provided exactly the right illumination for my life, but only when read at the right time.

The chronological structure is her greatest problem. I kept thinking she should have started in medias res. Her voice becomes more authentic in later chapters, when she writes about her struggles with alcoholism, bisexuality, and unsatisfying jobs. The Brontës’ novels really do fit her needs at different stages of life. She rightly says that the Brontes address many of her issues: the cross-dressing and conversations about feminism in Charlotte’s books, alcoholism in Anne’s "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall," and every level of dysfunction, albeit in a Gothic, poetic form antithetical to Pennington, in Emily’s "Wuthering Heights."

The last chapter, “Haworth,” is a great travel piece. Here she lets loose and describes the excitement of her trip to Haworth. (Why haven’t I gone there?) Naturally, her husband gets sick. Doesn’t somebody always get sick on vacation? But she is thrilled by her research at the Haworth library, gets to handle (wearing gloves) the Brontës’ hand-stitched juvenile books, and her husband recovers in time to walk the moors and see the Bronte Waterfall.

Will Bronte fans enjoy this uneven but entertaining little book? There is a Brontë industry, so surely it will sell. Think of "A Girl Walks into a Book" as a hand-stitched little book by an amateur, or a trip through the personal realm of a modern Brontëist. It won’t suit the needs of scholars, but may inspire you to return to the Brontës.

Full disclosure at the very start. I didn't finish this book which in itself is very unusual. I found the tone conversational tone and slangy style unbearable (referring to Jane and Rochester's first encounter as a "meet-cute", in unforgivable. Let's just stop using that term altogether) the overabundance of rhetorical questions tedious and the analysis of the text, as well as the influence and parallels of the author's life, superficial. It just was not to my taste at all.

It is beautiful everytime.

When you fall into a book that speak of past and literature with the ability of bringing us somewhere else. In a world where there was a different education, different manners, different customs a life less frenetic, but, attention where problems existed.

A Girl Walks Into a Book What the Brontës Taught Me about Life, Love, and Women's Work by Miranda Pennington will be published this May 16 by Perseus.

It it not only very well written but this memoir tell like the Brontë with Jane Eyre followed step-by-step the existence of Miranda Peddington.

Miranda took inspiration by these sisters, their example, their re-start, their lessons, their life, their being eclectic and genial in a com-penetration of expectations and feelings and knowledge of herself, her world and her feelings.

Jane Eyre is a masterpiece because it's a unique tale of love, dedication, responsibility.
Someone at the end was chosen also in his disability: Mr.Rochester.
This one a universal message of real love.

Jane was young.
When she discovered that Mr.Rochester became blind at the end of the book she could have escaped away from a future of responsibility, but she didn't.
She did not go away because she loved him and she stayed, because she simply knew that that man was her man and she didn't want anyone else, whatever it would have meant, because she would have been happy with him.
It's a strong message, one of the most powerful message: real love exists.
It's not just a wonderful work of fiction, love, for let us cry when we read a romantic book or we watch a movie on TV with the happy end: no. these stories exist in real life. And Jane Eyre is a strong book. Not only: Jane Eyre is a masterpiece written in a wonderful stylistic way.

The words, lines contained in Jane Eyre are beautiful, lyrical, elevated, real expression of great soul and heart and these words resonate after centuries with the same strength and power of its time, remaining intact in the emotive impact that they generate in people's soul.

The story of Mr. Rochester, the complex, sometimes rude character, created in Jane Eyre deluded and hard because of a heavy past and some hidden secrets (a wife kept hidden for obvious reasons) with the desire to re-start a new life is very interesting to me.

He knew that he had found with Jane the right girl but what to do?

Telling or not telling the truth?

More adult than her, he preferred to keep this secret in his soul losing her, and losing her meant only disgraces and ruin for both these characters, because no one clarified, no one explained and the unsaid created a catastrophic result.

Jane went away without to trying to understand, thinking that after all there was another woman, a wife kept secret! and betrayed by the man she was trusting and with which she was ready to spend the rest of her existence with.

At the same time maybe Jane thought: "How can I love a man with under his roof also his legal wife? Why wasn't he clear after all?" A lot of turmoil. Other people knew but no one told her the truth and this one wasn't a little particular but a fundamental aspect of Rochester's life. Where was trust? Clarity? Just silence. It was too much.

Months ago I read and reviewed a novel I love so badly written by Sarah Jio, Always, that to me, different times, modern tale, was very similar in the message contained in Jane Eyre: to re-embrace again the first love although changed, and with problems.

The book by Miranda Pennington is plenty of informations about all the sisters Bronte, with the scheme of all the family Bronte and the detailed history of all of them. You will find many pictures of their books/manuscripts thanks to her numerous visit at museums where Miranda found a lot of material, informations, letters exchanged with editors, other writers and last but not least there is this dialogue, constant with this superlative work: Jane Eyre and what it means to her.

It's a trip into literature, it's a trip into psychology as well.

Miranda Pennington talked of Elizabeth Gaskell because she add according to her the sisters' Bronte portrayed under a "negative light." I read and discovered Elizabeth Gaskell for case, picking up North and South at the library two years ago. What a wonderful and relaxing book it was that one as well.
The splendid and positive words contained in North and South, the good feelings expressed, the contrast between the British dreaming countryside and the city, the complexities of problematic that the protagonists will sort out with irony and good sentiments let me think she was another exceptional writer.

Miranda grew up with the powerful influence of Jane Eyre, much more than all the other books by the other sisters Bronte or other authors for teenager.

She tells she received the book when she was 10 years old. This book Jane Eyre in grade read and reread a lot of times, at different ages to give to her the most important answers to her questions that she was/is searching for, still guiding her along her life.

That answers that we must add only a classics can give to a reader.


Highly recommended book!

A Girl Walks Into a Book gives a heartfelt look into fandoms and why we bond with characters, stories and creators. With the topic being the Brontes, the book has a "sophistication" that most people do not see with comics, bands, videos games, and current literature. Not only are the Brontes special to the author, it legitimizes "fangirls" to the "intellectual" community.
Pennington walks the readers through her life as well as the life of the Brontes showing the parallels between all four of the women's lives and how these similarities make the characters and story resound on a personal level.
For me, the book was very meta. I love Jane Eyre for the same reasons the author does. I bonded with the author because she understands from first hand experiences why these characters and stories mean so much to me. We both love Jane Eyre over the idea of not fitting in but not giving up (and we both love Tom hardy as Heathcliff). The author gets my love for Jane Eyre and this just reaffirms my own feelings.
Towards the end of the book, she admits she's come to the end of the Brontes' story. And really, the book should have ended there. The ending of the book follows her pilgrimage to the Brontes' home.
As a fan girl, I appreciated this as a huge moment in her life (like my first Dragon Con), but I lost the connect to the author and her subjects. I am not that level of fangirl for the Brontes and lost interest as she detailed her significant other's journey to the hospital. But I believe a bigger Bronte fan may just enjoy that in depth look into the women's life.
Easier to read that many of the Bronte novels, A Girl Walks into the Book shows readers how and why characters stay with us.

Questo è il mio anno brontiano.

Per quanto abbia sempre amato il lavoro delle tre sorelle (...vabbè, di due su tre, Emily tocca tenerla nel pacchetto...) in un certo senso ho sempre avuto un senso di isolamento nella mia passione, e a volte l'impressione di leggere in maniera inusuale i loro romanzi: altrimenti perché mai ritenevo Anne - la misconosciuta, ignorata, trascurata Anne - la più innovativa e coraggiosa delle tre, pur restando fedele al mio amore per Jane Eyre?

E riguardo a Jane Eyre stessa, solo io vedevo e ammiravo l'ironia, il coraggio, l'indipendenza di pensiero di un personaggio che di solito viene rappresentato in trasposizioni in altri media e retelling come una povera, piccola governante priva di senso dell'umorismo e afflitta da eccessivi moralismi (quello che invece io leggo come dolente rispetto per sé stessa)?

L'incontro con Samantha Ellis prima (il suo Take courage sulla vita e l'opera di Anne è insieme interessante e commovente) e quindi quello con Miranda Pennington mi hanno fatto sentire meno incompresa, e insieme a un sostegno alla mia lettura e interpretazione della personalità e delle opere delle tre sorelle entrambe mi hanno aperto due porte: una verso dettagli della loro vita e opera che non conoscevo, e che ho trovato affascinanti (anche se non sempre sono stata d'accordo con la lettura delle autrici); l'altra sulla loro vita e maturazione personale, vista attraverso e grazie ai romanzi di Charlotte, Emily e Anne.

Sopratutto A girl walks into a book è infatti un'opera di critica letteraria, ma anche un memoir intimo e ironico di come l'autrice abbia spesso trovato conforto o guida nella sua complicata, spesso dolente esistenza di ragazza "fuori posto", dalla sessualità complessa e dalla scarsa sicurezza di sé grazie ai personaggi e alle esperienze nati ad Haworth.

E sarà perché anch'io ho spesso cercato rifugio nei libri (nonostante una solida rete di amici strani almeno quanto me :P) che ho sentito qualcosa risuonare - non fosse altro che l'irritazione per l'autrice, e certi suoi atteggiamenti. XD

E' un anno brontiano: questi due saggi, altri che mi aspettano, e alcune bellissime trasposizioni come To walk invisible mi hanno avvicinato ancora di più al loro mondo, senza togliere niente del fascino sempre nuovo che i loro romanzi esercitano su di me, a ogni nuova lettura (Cime tempestose no, continuo a odiarlo - e nemmeno tanto cordialmente).

Un libro da leggere sia che si sia interessati alle tre sorelle di Haworth, sia che si senta la necessità di sentire la voce di una persona che ha sempre vissuto la sua diversità come emarginazione: invece che uno dei tanti romanzi più o meno buoni che sfruttano questi temi, tanto vale leggere un'esperienza reale, ben scritta, e sostenuta dal giusto tocco di ironia. ^^

Live post on Blue Cat Review on April 26, 2017

Disclaimer:
The eARC of A Girl Walks Into A Book was provided by Seal Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, for which I am not being compensated in any way. All opinions are fully my own.
~ Judi E. Easley for Blue Cat Review

My first response: A madcap whirl of images swirling around in my head of Jane and her dearest Edward, then the author comes on very heavily about the Bronte sisters' brother and his alcoholism and drug use and her own alcohol problems. Here is where she really draws the parallels between the books and her life. This is one heck of a debut book. Full review on my blog after April 20th...

My Review:
This is a debut book. It is a memoir. A literary critique of all the works by the Brontes. A self-help guide of how to use the works of the Brontes in your life. How can one book be all these things you say? When the author has a masters degree in creative nonfiction, I think.

Ms. Pennington uses the writings of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Bronte to relate her own life experiences as well as to relate the lives of the Brontes. At the same time, she uses the characters as role models in her life. For instance, she uses Jane Eyre as her role model in a relationship at one point in her life. The way Jane acted in her relationship with Mr. Rochester at the discovery of his mad wife in the attic. Ms. Pennington left a relationship in a similar way using Jane as her role model.

The details of the lives of the three sisters and their brother have been meticulously researched by this Bronte aficionado. And she shares much of her research with us in her book. She has been a fan of Charlotte Bronte since she was 10 and received her first copy of Jane Eyre. Since then, she has made a thorough study of the lives and works of the three sisters and their brother, gaining access to resources not readily accessible to most readers. She shares their lives and works and her own life as well with us as she twines them all into a whole that amazes. She draws parallels between her modern life with writings and lives from a century ago. She makes you see the writings in a fresh light. She certainly made me want to read Jane Eyre again. As well as some of the other works I wasn't as familiar with.

I can't recommend this book to you strongly enough. If you like memoirs, this will interest you. If you're a Bronte fan, this with enthrall you. If you're just looking for something off the beaten path, this is it. I do hope we see more from this author in time. Release date is May 16, 2017.

Is there a young woman alive who hasn’t fallen under the thrall of Jane Eyre? Pennington did, at the age of ten, when her father gave her a copy of the book, forever changing her life. Today Pennington is a writer and a teacher, much influenced by the Bronte sisters and here, she examines every inch of their lives, from the well-known to things most of use never even guessed at. She looks at the way the times the Bronte’s were living in influenced their writing, times when a woman had no real rights at all. The story of the three sisters is an extraordinary one that I have read about before, but Pennington adds her own quirky sense of humor and anecdotes making this one of the most interesting and enlightening biographies/memoirs I’ve read