There is something about the Brontë sisters that has always intrigued me. For years, I find myself always searching for letters written by the Brontës or biographies about them. Their world and time period is so different from my own, and yet I have always felt a connection to them.
Kenyon’s book is short and sweet, and I was able to read the entire book in one sitting. Kenyon provides a good overview of the life of the Brontë family. She focuses mostly on Charlotte, Emily and Anne, while occasionally mentioning their brother, Branwell. At the end of the book, I was delighted to see her bibliography that she used as reference for her book. It is clear that Kenyon’s book was well-researched.
Kenyon views the Brontës as literary geniuses, and they truly are. One thing that Kenyon’s book really pointed out to me was how very few choices the Brontë sisters had when it came to choosing how to live their lives. In their society, women could expect to marry only if they had enough money for a dowry. Patrick Brontë, the father of the Brontë sisters, knew very well that the prospect of marriage was low for his daughters. The only respectable way for them to live was to become governesses. A governess acted as both caregiver and teacher. The governess lived with the family she worked for, and she was often subjected to poor treatment from her employer’s family. Charlotte, Emily and Anne wanted more than the life they were given, and they defied the odds of becoming successful novelists in a time where women who wrote were frown upon.
I would recommend Kenyon’s biography to those who want a quick and detailed portrait of the Brontë family.
*I received The Brontë Family: Passionate Literary Geniuses by: Karen Kenyon from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

As a fan of the Brontes, and living near the parsonage, I have read a lot of books about the Bronte family. This one is quite short, but would serve very well as an overview of the Brontes and Haworth. Just enough to appeal to everyone, and especially those who might feel daunted by a thick, academic tome.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an advance copy of this book.

For someone who generally does not read nonfiction or biographies, I loved this. That may be because I am passionate about the subject matter.

I love the Brontë’s and I felt that Kenyon was able to give me the clearest picture of their life. She even included Branwell who often gets overshadowed in light of his sisters. We even get to know a bit more about Anne, who I seemed to know the least about.

My only complaint was the pacing. It took me a while to get invested and that might turn off some readers but, if they are passionate enough about the Brontë’s they’ll be able to persevere and get hooked on the riveting lives that they led.

The Bronte sisters were very prolific writers who enjoyed great success, at first writing under male pseudonyms, then as themselves. Their personal; lives served as the background for many of their novels, leaving one to wonder how a life lived in a parsonage could contain so many non secular adventures. Bronte books are rightfully considered literary classics, enjoyed by readers of all ages. Ms Kenyon's book serves to expand the reader's knowledge of the Bronte sisters and their almost famous brother. Not only is it a very good book, it enhances the readers enjoyment of the books written by the Brontes.

If you are interested in learning more about the Bronte Family of writers this is a nice book for you. It is a well written and concise book with highlights about the Brontes and their life -- including the three sisters featuring their writing life. I enjoy learning more about the writers of the stories I and others love and this is a book that provides such knowledge.

This was an interesting account of the lives of the Bronte family but I was disappointed that it seemed to be more of a summary rather than a detailed look at their lives. The book did leave me with a better understanding of this unique family, their hardships and their inspiration and a would recommend it to anyone looking for a simple biography.

What an extraordinary family the Bronte's were. Very interesting little known facts in this book which I thoroughly enjoyed. A great read.

I, personally, really enjoyed Kenyon’s The Bronte Family. Her account of this fascinating family is insightful and draws the characters—people—well. At times, the book can be mildly dry; at a few points I put the book down and didn’t have much inclination to pick it back up.
But in the end, I’m glad I did.

A detailed account of the lives of the entire Bronte family but dealing with Emily, Charlotte and Anne in greater detail, their life at the parsonage, their excursions into the wider world to both broaden their horizons as well as earn a living and how they all came back to the moors which they loved and the tragic end to their young lives.

Born at a time when women did not venture into the world of publishing, they first published under male names and once established as "proper" authors ventured into this world with a great deal of success. With happiness denied in their personal lives, they lived a very self sacrificing life giving up on love and companionship for the parsonage and their (in my opinion) tyrant of a father.

This is a very short book but it encompasses all the details of the Bronte family very well.

A detailed account of the lives of the entire Bronte family but dealing with Emily, Charlotte and Anne in greater detail, their life at the parsonage, their excursions into the wider world to both broaden their horizons as well as earn a living and how they all came back to the moors which they loved, and the tragic end to their young lives.

Born at a time when women did not venture into the world of publishing , hpOwever talented one could be , they first published under male names and once established as "proper" authors ventured into this world with a great deal of success. With happiness denied in their personal lives, they lived a very self sacrificing life giving up on love and companionship for the parsonage and (in my opinion) a tyrant for a father.

This is a very short book but it encompasses all the details of the Bronte family very well.

Karen Kenyon's insightful revelations about the truly genius Bronte'family is more a friendly conversation than a work of non-fiction. Events surrounding the father, mother, the five sisters, the brother, servants, dogs, acquaintances, friends, and colleagues are fitted together so that we get an honest, yet affectionate look at this remarkable family.
The foundations of their relationships with each other and of their considerable talents lie in their childhoods. To be particularly noted are the presence of reading materials in the home and the family discussions surrounding them. Imagination needs a source, and there was plenty of that in the parsonage, on the moors, and in the town of Haworth. Their childhood was the womb that produced and nurtured their affection and commitment to each other, their unique and somewhat eccentric views of the world, and their uncommon ability to express themselves.
The Bronte' Family: Passionate Literary Geniuses is an excellent accounting of these incredibly gifted people. it is a pleasure to read and leaves us wanting to pull our first copy of Jane Eyre (and all the rest) from the shelf again.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

If you're looking for a brief introduction to the life of the Bronte family, this is a good summary of the main events that marked their lives. I personally love reading fully-fledged biographies with lots of details and anecdotes. I think this book lacked in this department, It mostly felt like reading a brief biography that I could easily pick up in a gift shop at the Bronte Parsonage Museum or an extensive Wikipedia entry. Unfortunately for me, it didn't provide me with any greater insight about the lives and minds of these great female nineteenth-century authors. Saying this, at least it intrigued me to look for something more detailed.

I really enjoyed this thorough book about my favorite family of authors. I learned a lot, and I expect I will be rereading their novels with a new perspective soon.

The Bronte family have always interested me. Three sisters who in a male dominated world went on to be so well considered in the world of literary, even now in 2018. The dynamics between sisters and brothers was another truly fascinating aspect of their lives. A wonderful book, well thought out and executed. An exciting read to entice any literary fans.

Loved reading about this fantastic family. A wonderful look at who they were. Thank you NetGalley for a wonderful read.

I enjoyed this historical look at each of the Bronte's and how their work influenced each other. I received a copy from NetGalley and the publisher and this is my honest opinion.

Fairly interesting and concise, a beginners guide to the Bronte family! If you already know about them you won't learn much more but for those new to their story this is perfect

This is an extremely accessible biography of the famous Brontë family. Charlotte, Emily, and Anne are the most famous members of the family but this book covers their other sisters, who died young, as well as their troubled brother Branwell. This particular biography manages to tell their story in a way that covers facts but also humanizes the members of the family, Everything from romances (confirmed and speculated) to the publishing process are covered. I would recommend this book for anyone who is a fan of any of the Brontës, or who simply wants a glimpse into life during their time because so many different subjects ar touched upon,

For a newbie Bronte scholar this is probably a good place to start. Kenyon captures some of the more poignant and powerfully affecting moments in their lives and delivers them in short, easy to read chapters. For someone who has read and researched the family as extensively as I have, this is not going to give you any new food for thought. It suffers from a similar weakness to almost all other Bronte biographies – it concentrates on Charlotte and takes the tone of her outlook on life. This causes her siblings and her father to be side lined and their own opinions and viewpoints to be misrepresented. It’s not deliberate, I hasten to add (unless you’re Elizabeth Gaskell and have never heard of fact checking…) however Charlotte did not share identical opinions with her family. How many of us completely agree with our parents and siblings in everything after all? And because slightly more is known about her than about her sisters, the Bronte world is presented through Charlotte’s lens – and it is a tinted, slightly skewed lens too. Take Anne for example, who was quite radical in her opinions, passionately feminist before the term was invented, careful and considered in her approach to morality, believed doubt to be a cornerstone of a robust faith and who did not fling herself headlong or heartlong at unattainable romantic goals like Charlotte and Branwell, nor cut herself off from the possibility with scorn, like Emily. Anne is almost a direct contradiction to Charlotte, being liberal in her outlook and politics where her sister was a lifelong Tory supporter. Ultimately this book is a decent enough start but anyone who wants a thorough grounding in the subject would be better with Juliet Barker’s The Brontes.

Aah, the Brontë sisters! What geniuses they were and how miserably short their lives. And yet their few years continue to fascinate their readers. Sadly I am still far away from visiting Haworth, but it has been on my list ever since I first read Jane Eyre. As a devout Brontë fan I try to get my hands on every book written about them and the latest instalment is The Brontë Family by Karen Kenyon. Thanks to Endeavour Media and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review of this book.

I love the Brontë sisters. Once I discovered English literature through the brilliant Jane Austen I swiftly fell for Charlotte, Emily and Anne as well. I must admit, however, that Emily is my undoubted favourite. There is something so visceral and wild about Wuthering Heights that has, in my opinion, never been topped. But this is true of all the Brontë sisters. They were true in a way that was rare, honest almost to the point of painful and undoubtedly gifted. What fascinates me is how they penned three fascinating novels simultaneously by candle light, huddled over the kitchen table after a long day of work. The creative spirit that must have surrounded them is something I'm amazed and inspired by and it is no surprise they have continued to inspire people for years.

In The Brontë Family Karen Kenyon captures the lives of Charlotte, Emily and Anne in short chapters dedicated to some of the most powerful and some of the most tragic moments in their lives. Whether it is the first sparks of their literary genius, their hardships at school, the brilliancy of their talent, the tragedy of their ends, \Kenyon covers it all in short yet insightful chapters. Although there is not much that would be new to Brontë fans, Kenyon's The Brontë Family covers them very well. I liked how every chapter began with a quote, whether from the Brontë sisters directly or from someone close to them. Kenyon also covers Branwell's life, how he brought both pride and shame to his family before his untimely end.


Short and to the point, I enjoyed reading The Brontë Family. In a few chapters, Kenyon highlights some of the high and low points in the lives of the Brontës, her love for the three sisters clearly shining through. I'd recommend this to anyone interested in finding out some more about the Brontës.