Interesting perspective on the early life of the Bronte family. I didn't really get a feel for the relationships between the sisters and a lot of the story I already knew - sometimes it read like a non-fiction recording of their lives. Not my cup of tea but I am sure Bronte enthusiasts will enjoy it.

This was an emotional novel on the Brontes. I did not know much about the Bronte family, and I was surprised that Charlotte, Emily, and Anne had other sisters. The sisters lives were of tragedy, and it was fascinating to see what inspired to write their novels. The only thing I did not like about this book was that I thought it focused too much on the brother. I didn’t necessarily cared about him nor do I believe he helped write Wuthering Heights. Still, I recommend this for fans of the Brontes, Romantic era writers, or gothic fiction.

A master writer spins this tale with every bit of the drama, sadness and humor of the Bronte clan. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

It took a lot of effort to finish this book! It's an exhaustive look at the lives of the Bronte sisters- Emily, Charlotte and Anne- their brother Branwell and their father Patrick, beginning around the time the girls leave for boarding school and ending with Anne and Emily's early deaths and the success of Charlotte's novel Jane Eyre. The book reads like non-fiction in places, faithfully retelling events in great detail. At other times, it dives deeply into the sisters' emotional lives- they certainly seem to experience more emotion than their relatively sheltered lives suggest! Anne and Charlotte both conduct intense love affairs inside their own heads, barely daring to even flirt with the objects of their affection. All four siblings have strong physical reactions to love, grief, and thwarted ambition, experiencing fevers, weight loss, headaches, and even grand mal seizures. I found Patrick's attitude towards his son Branwell both fascinating and infuriating- he was endlessly praised but expectation was heaped upon him under he crumbled beneath it. While the sisters have no outlet for their passions, Branwell indulges in drugs, alcohol and sex and each binge is accompanied by a religious crisis. There was a bizarre instance where Branwell is assaulted by a group of migrant workers, which Reid Banks uses as the catalyst for one of his first and deepest downward spirals. Did this ever happen in real life? I can't imagine that a man from that time would write or even talk about such a horrific experience, and wonder why Reid Banks chose it, though perhaps I should not be surprised- lots of plots are driven by the sexual assault of female characters, something that is thankfully, finally being addressed by readers, authors and critics.
I would struggle to recommend this book as I struggled to finish it, but I *did* finish it, rather than put it down. I was driven to see if Anne and Emily would receive as much 'screen time' as Charlotte, but I was disappointed. Selfless, driven Charlotte is so much like her creation Jane that I didn't really see the need to read about her! Emily is almost inhuman; she has an eerie link to the moors that is so strong she almost dies whenever she is forced to live or work elsewhere. Anne is simple and kind and religious- that's it. Her novel, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, is a brilliant work of feminist literature, but Dark Quartet never really explained her motivation for writing it. Emily and Charlotte's novels are portrayed as wholly autobiographical, and Reid Banks seemed to come unstuck when it came to writing Anne, who never married or had children or a divorce!
I know that Reid Banks has written a sequel about the later life of Charlotte- this novel was originally one giant tome, which I would have almost certainly failed to read. Bronte fans who want to learn more about the lives of the sisters, but prefer fiction to biography, might enjoy this book. I felt it failed to strike the correct balance between facts, of which there are very many, and fictional interludes, like that involving Branwell, which really feel bizarre. I would be interested to read what others think about this book, as my feelings are quite strong! I would rather read Jane Eyre, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, and Wuthering Heights.

The Bronte's, Charlotte, Anne, Emily and Branwell, along with their parents, friends and family are the subjects of many books. This family produced so many excellent classic novels, it is hard to imagine that their private lives could be told in a way to compete with the fictions they wrote. Although this book is fiction, it is based in facts. It had to be since the Bronte's lives were so very public. Lynne Reid Banks took the stories we knew and set them into a realistic background that will keep you turning pages to see what else could happen to this family that had already suffered so. As a novel, the book excels. Add in the Bronte drama and you have a book you'll talk about until you can read the second book in the series.

I really enjoyed this biographical novel about the Brontes. The author had clearly done her homework and didn’t allow her imagination to take too many liberties with the facts. If I allowed myself to be too analytical I think I could probably find one or two incidents in the book that seemed to blur the line between fact and fiction just a tad too much – particularly with regards to Branwell – but overall I found the book a thoroughly entertaining and engaging read.

This is probably one of the most unique and wonderfully-penned biographies I have ever read. This is the fourth biography of the infamous Bronte family that I have read this year alone, as I love experiencing the different sides to their characters each illuminates and the different aspects of their lives that each biographer feels the most appropriate to detail.

This, however, was the most unique in construction as it deviated from the expected non-fiction design to deliver dialogue and atmospheric scenes alongside the facts of their extraordinary lives. I found this kept my engagement and intrigue consistently piqued, as it often read like a novelisation of their lives. It also delivered the most emotion for this reason, something I often find lacking in much non-fiction.

I feel I can not award this the full five-stars, however great my enjoyment, as I can not know which scenes were based on fact and which were purely a dramatisation. No postscript was provided and I would have appreciated perhaps footnotes to answer this query and to then consider this both the most factually illuminating as well as the most enjoyable Bronte biography there is.

As someone who loves the work of all three Brontë sisters, I have been interested in reading Dark Quartet for a long time. I have read some more recent fictional accounts of the Brontës’ lives and work, but this is an older book, first published in 1976, and I was curious to see what it was like.

Lynne Reid Banks’ novel tells the story of Charlotte, Emily and Anne – and their brother, Branwell, who makes the fourth of the ‘quartet’. If you’re already familiar with the Brontës’ lives and work, you won’t need me to go into any more detail; if not, and if you’re planning to read Dark Quartet, I’m sure you’ll prefer to have a few things left to discover for yourself. Banks does stick closely to the facts, but it’s important to remember two things: first, however biographical this book may feel, it is a work of fiction; and second, a lot of research into the Brontës has taken place since the book was written, so interpretations and opinions will have changed in that time. As the author says in the foreword to the novel: "...I have not let my imagination run riot. I have kept it harnessed to the truth. For the rest, I offer my answers to some of the mysteries."

Of the three sisters, Charlotte is given far more attention than either Emily or Anne, but this is usually the case in books about the Brontës and I can understand why. Charlotte lived longer than the others, she had more of her writing published (four novels as opposed to Anne’s two and Emily’s one), and her life was more closely documented – she was the subject of a biography by Elizabeth Gaskell in the 19th century. However, I find Emily – solitary, independent and intensely private – a much more intriguing personality and I would have preferred to have spent more time with her and with Anne rather than Charlotte. As for Branwell, he is a frustrating and infuriating character who wastes every opportunity he is given, but he is often his own worst enemy, and his story, as it is told here, is quite sad.

Lynne Reid Banks doesn’t explore the Brontës’ novels in much depth, but I think she does a good job of showing how the sisters’ work was influenced by people, places and events from their personal lives. I really enjoyed reading Dark Quartet and I am now tempted to read the sequel, Path to the Silent Country.

This story of the Brontes is interesting because the lives of the Brontes would be almost impossible to make boring. However, I did not get much more from this book than what I had already inferred from reading the Brontes' novels. To say that it is not written to the Bronte standard would be an understatement. The writing style is simplistic and abrupt, not at all the eloquent, emotional writing of Anne, Charlotte or Emily. It was a quick easy read though (it took me one day) and it did put me in the mood to read the one last Bronte novel that I hadn't read yet.

I love the Brontes very much. All of them, even Branwell.

This novelization about the lives of the Bronte siblings left me a little unsatisfied. It seemed to create large fictional events that a Bronte fan/scholar would easily identify as fiction and having no real substance. That being said, it was still a good 'story' about the lives of my favorite writers.

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

This is a fascinating novelization/biography of the four Bronte siblings, three of whom are responsible for literary masterpieces that still resonate to this day.

While it was a bit on the long side, the writing was never dull. I believe Lynne Reid Banks to have relied somewhat on speculation for some of the events, but she also roots her action in the real letters and documentation that exist for the Bronte family. I thus feel that I've been given a fair view of their personalities and lives.

Each person in the family comes across with a distinct tone--ambitious, passionate Charlotte; hermitlike, brilliant Emily; sweet, persevering Anne; and...Branwell...promising but weak. I was so pulled into the story of the three sisters and how their rich inner lives clashed with their narrow circumstances.
Though this book ends with the sad deaths of three of the siblings, I am looking forward to the sequel, which details how Charlotte pushes forward with her writing.

Upon finishing this amazing history of the Brontës, I immediately ordered the second book in the series. The title here could refer to the 4 Brontë sisters who died in this book, or to the 4 Brontë siblings who survived childhood. Author Lynne Reid Banks brings Haworth Parsonage to life, from its staff and family members to its very surroundings, delving into the Brontë family quirks to such readable depth it is astounding how nature, nurture, religion, Victorian Era sexism, and rootless fantasy resulted in a mixture of utter genius and instability; or to paraphrase Charlotte, "disappointed expectations is what causes the strangeness".

Reverend Patrick Brontë's wife died early at the age of 38, leaving him six children ranging in age from 0-7; to say that their home on the Yorkshire moors was gloomy is an understatement. If there are parenting lessons to be learned here they are, take coughing seriously, and neither over-indulge nor neglect your kids. These kids were as painfully shy and ridiculously awkward in public as they were brilliantly genius secluded together amid the comfort of home. By 1829 they were a tight group of writers, artists, political commentators, and collaborators. Branwell the lone son, was raised to believe he could do no wrong, that he was destined for greatness, that he was singularly gifted. The irony is that his clever trio of sisters Charlotte, Emily and Anne got themselves published incognito as Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell and are celebrated authors today, while his name alone is shrouded in shame and scandal (addiction, egotism, debauchery).

Everybody knows Mrs. Robinson is a term used to describe an older woman pursuing someone younger than herself, in reference to the character from the 1967 movie The Graduate. I found it wildly interesting that a Mrs. Robinson seduced Branwell Brontë, her son's tutor, over a hundred years earlier, around 1845!

I was attracted to this book for two reasons: Jane Eyre is one of my favourite books and Lynne Reid Banks is an author I admire. But I am not at all keen on fictionalised biography and, really, what more is there to say about the Brontes? And when I began reading I was at first put off by what seemed a pastiche of "Bronte style" in the writing.

But within a very short time I was totally gripped. The writing style, in places febrile and overblown, is in fact perfectly suited to the story and indeed tells it in a way that makes it quite new, with insights into each character that transcend the familiar biographies. I was particularly struck by the portrayals of Patrick Bronte and his sister, Aunt Branwell, and their steadfast affection for the troubled children. A fine piece of fictionalised biography.

(Thanks to Sapere Books and Netgalley for an ARC)

Reid Banks writes a good story and if you can take Dark Quartet entirely on those terms, and have an interest that isn’t too dependent on accuracy in the Brontes, then you will probably really enjoy this. The trouble is that even after all this time, Gaskell’s awful, inaccurate and misrepresenting book ‘The Life of Charlotte Bronte’ is still informing far too much fiction and non fiction regarding to Brontes, rather than being relegated to the pile of not especially good biographical fiction it should long have been banished to. Ok so this isn’t a recent take on the lives of the Brontes but we still had a better understanding of how they lived when this was written. In terms of creating an author persona, has anyone ever done a more successful if unintentional job than Charlotte Bronte? It’s hard to believe if they have. While the four siblings and there father did live hard lives it was nowhere near as bleak as the story of their lives grows in the telling! Anyway as a story this was ok. As a fictionalised account of Charlotte, Emily, Anne and Branwell it leaves a lot to be desired.

I enjoyed this book. It’s a fictional retelling of the early lives of the Brontes sisters (of whom I am a huge fan) the author has obviously done her research and cares deeply about her subjects. I didn’t always agree with her characterisation but that’s just my personal opinion.
A good addition to any Bronte fans collection.
I was given a ARC by NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

I had been saving Dark Quartet for a long time, waiting for Brooding about the Brontës.  Having read and adored Jude Morgan's The Taste of Sorrow a good few years ago, I had high hopes of a similarly interesting piece of biographical literary fiction.  As a long term-fan of Banks' The Indian in the Cupboard series as well as The L-Shaped Room, I was also interested to explore her work further.  In her foreword, Banks explains that she had not 'let [her] imagination run riot' but rather kept it 'harnessed to the truth'.  Surely, the Brontë story would be in safe hands?

Banks takes up the reins of the story just at the point before eldest sisters Maria and Elizabeth Brontë set off for Cowan Bridge.  As she acknowledged herself, Banks has clearly been an avid reader of Mrs Gaskell and given that the book was published in 1977, it has dated a little.  The early chapters feel like a tick-box of Brontë mythology with the only major departure being that Banks' version of Patrick Brontë is a weak and absent father rather than a domineering one.

We follow the rest of the girls to Cowan Bridge, see Maria and Elizabeth sicken and die under the ghastly regime of Carus Wilson and then the surviving sisters return home.  Branwell is early introduced as a problem 'almost demonic' child, with Daphne du Maurier's Infernal World of Branwell Brontë an obvious and heavy influence on how Banks imagined him.  It surprises me how many people appear to have read Dark Quartet and Infernal World and taken it as fact that Branwell was epileptic and an atheist - there is not much in the way of evidence for either.

Branwell steals the show from a lot of Dark Quartet, from his boyhood refusing to look upon his dead sister in her casket and wandering around shrieking about being the clever one to his adolescence where Banks has him retreat further and further into the persona of Angrian avatar Northangerland.  I am always suspicious of versions of the story which place the spotlight on Branwell and Banks is clearly fascinated.  Seduced by du Maurier's vision of him, Banks recounts how Branwell lost all his money during a trip to London to join the Royal Academy, despite evidence suggesting that Branwell never actually applied or visited the capital.  The stories about him grow increasingly lurid, culminating in a disturbing episode where Banks describes in detached tones that Branwell is apparently gang-raped by a group of Irish labourers.  At this point, I nearly gave up on the book.  Banks had promised that she was not going to let her imagination run away with her - I felt let down.

It's hardly surprising from there that Banks subscribes to the idea that Branwell was dismissed from his tutor post at Thorp Green less for having an affair with his employer's wife as for making advances towards his employer's son.  This is full-on du Maurier territory and I again have to remind myself that Dark Quartet was published twenty years before Juliet Barker's biography established the timeline around Branwell's dismissal and that he was not left alone with his young charge at any point.  Barker also pointed out that there were no Irish labourers in the area at the time that Branwell was a railway clerk, so the gang rape is also a product of Banks' own over-heated imagination egged on by du Maurier's suggestion.  I found it distasteful to make up a non-existent trauma to excuse Branwell's selfish behaviour but given how far Banks had already exaggerated his conduct, perhaps I should not have been surprised.

Despite all this, the biggest reason why I just could not take to Dark Quartet was that the the characterisation never seemed to take.  I was never able to lose sight of this being Lynne Reid Banks' description of each member of the Brontë family rather than them seeming truly alive of the page.  Aunt Branwell is an early example, with Banks recounting how she 'did not know how to talk to God. She spoke to him in respectful formulas memorised from authorised books of devotion.' Aunt Branwell is one of the more shadowy figures within the family with the most room for imaginative scope and still Banks tells, tells, tells and never allows the character to show us anything.  Given that this is biographical fiction rather than pure biography, this really interrupts the flow of the story.  Phrases like 'Emily's relations with Branwell at this time were slightly distanced by their separate life-experiences and current preoccupations' hardly make the two of them come alive once more.

For all that, there were moments in Dark Quartet that hint at what it might have been.  Banks' version of Anne's relationship with William Weightman is more credible in that she keeps it to a lost potential rather than whipping it up into Anne's driving force as other writers have done.  The agony of Patrick's guilt after the deaths of Maria and Elizabeth was another interesting moment.  Perhaps fittingly, the must successful moment of the novel comes in the final pages.  As Charlotte returns from Scarborough after Anne's death, I was touched by her quiet determination to seek solace in her writing as a 'Godsent remedy' for her grief.  The way Banks imagined the iron within Charlotte that refused to buckle reminded me of Scarlett O'Hara in the closing pages of Gone With The Wind.  She will not think of the past or the future, only focus on the moment and putting one foot in front of the other.

Dark Quartet speaks in the tone of a biographer but uses the methods of a novelist.  Reading it in tandem with Infernal World perhaps made me too attuned to the close relationship between the two books and Banks has taken a lot of du Maurier's wilder speculations as fact.  Reaching the end, I wanted more than anything to turn back and reread Jude Morgan's The Taste of Sorrow, I appreciated all over again how Morgan's use of silences said so much while Banks' paragraphs upon paragraphs left so little mark.  I have a suspicion that Dark Quartet might have suited me better had I not read it in the midst of a flurry of biographies but despite my best efforts towards enthusiasm, I felt only disappointment.

Even though this book was a fictional account of the lives of the Bronte sisters, I found that the author did a great job of researching their lives. There was the perfect blend of fact and fiction that kept me intrigued.