Bronte meets the supernatural was the premise of this book and sadly it didn't live up to my expectations as the characters fell flat for me and it didn't work overall. I've read other reviewers who enjoyed it however, so give it a go.

A Widowed Parson lives on the moors with his 3 daughters and a son. The name may be familiar, Bronte...

This is a story before they were authors and when one of the sisters comes across a fatally injured man on the moors, she opens the doors to a sinister family secret with blood pacts, ancestral mistakes, spirits and werewolves....

I loved the idea of this book but the execution felt a bit lacking and the story had me intrigued but now dying to know more. Ultimately a good story and the darker themes fit very well into the creepy moor setting that we know from this time

Thanks to Head of Zeus for the early copy of this book, all options are my own

A widowed preacher and his family, including three daughters and their promiscuous brother Bramwell, reside in a parsonage on the moors' edge. Even though Charlotte, Emily, and Anne will be celebrated in the future, they are currently unknown, their future brilliance hidden. They will all pass away in a matter of years, and it will be middle sister Emily's coincidental encounter with a severely injured man on the moor that puts them on the road to their doom. There is a dreadful secret buried beneath a monument in the church, a dark legacy in the family Brontë tree, and an old pagan secret that stalks the moors. Their very souls are on the line in addition to their lives.

My Brother’s Keeper attempts to do what many writers have done, put a supernatural spin on timeless classics with the likes of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and like that, My Brother’s Keeper is just as bizarre. From werewolves on the Yorkshire moors to demonic possession, there is a lot going on in this book but unfortunately, the different plots fall short of making it a compelling yet peculiar read.

Tim Powers' other books have a similar take by including a famous historical figure and adding them into a world filled with the supernatural. As someone who isn’t all too familiar with the Brontë’s, this book could have been an interesting take, but fell short of any sort of promise. Had the book been written from another perspective, maybe Bramwell as he entangled his family with demonic entities it could have been different, but Powers struggles to find any real identity to the characters. Had they not been based on real historical figures; I doubt it would have made much of a difference.

One of the main issues of My Brother’s Keeper is that there is no real voice for each of the characters, they all blend into one another and with the author coming in and out of different times in the characters lives, it can be difficult to get into the rhythm of the book. When there is some promise of an intriguing plot, the author adds another memory or discussion that feels more like a school project than a seasoned author.

My Brother’s Keeper captures the atmosphere of the North York Moors and echoes the feel of Wuthering Heights. The village of Howarth, the vicarage, moors and caves play a vital part and I can’t imagine this book without them.
I received a copy this book for a free and unbiased opinion.

The author has created a perfectly tragic, flawed, sympathetic yet annoying character in Branwell Bronte- the brother who never lived up to his potential unlike his sisters. His resentment, despair and love come through so clearly. But it is Emily who is steals the show as the charismatic, bold and wild heroine capable of writing a book like Wuthering Heights.
The book at its heart is a ghost story who follows the doomed Bronte family from Ireland to Yorkshire. There is plenty of action in the book with guns being shot in old English pubs to mysterious ongoings on the Moors.
I did feel the book was a little too long with some parts being a bit repetitive towards the end, but these didn’t stop me from enjoying the book.
Perfect for Fans
Gothic ghost stories, the Brontes

Putting the Brontes at the centre of a gothic horror really should work, but this is more of a schlocky Hammer horror involving werewolves and the supernatural than the former. One that didn't really work for me as the plot and the various conspiring groups just got a bit muddled. If it hadn't been for the Yorkshire Moors, which Powers really gets, this would have got a much lower mark.

Thanks to NetGalley and Head of Zeus for an advanced review copy.

Howarth Parsonage, 1846 & the Brontë family - father Patrick & his four remaining children, Charlotte, Branwell, Emily, & Anne - are once more all living under one roof. Emily loves to take long walks on the Yorkshire moors with her dog Keeper, & on one such walk she meets a wounded man at a place called Ponden Kirk. Emily goes to fetch help from the nearest farm, but the man has disappeared when they return. This is not the only time that the man's path will cross with the Brontës though & it all leads back to a silly game of their youth when following a dream that Branwell had, he, Emily, & Anne made a blood offering in the fairy cave at Ponden Kirk in a vain attempt to see their dead sister, Maria, again. There were dark forces behind the dream & they haven't finished with Branwell yet, & the rest of the family will be drawn into a supernatural nightmare where the highest price may have to be paid.

The Brontes & werewolves - even before starting it, I knew this would be either a triumph or a disaster. It's definitely going to polarise opinion as it's a required taste, but I loved it. I particularly like the way that the author wove actual events into the supernatural narrative, such as when Branwell paints over himself in the portrait of himself & his three sisters. As for the title for me there are two ways of viewing it - there's the Biblical quote in Genesis when Cain kills Abel & God asks Cain where his brother is, Cain replies "Am I my brother's keeper?". The original sibling rivalry which the Brontës also have as they are led into disaster by their brother. There's also the name of Emily's dog, Keeper, & I'm pleased to say that he features quite a lot in the book.

Branwell comes off the worst here as he comes across as petulant, cowardly, & self-centered & I really didn't like him. The others were as you would expect & I felt the author got Emily's character just right. Read it with no preconceptions & no expectations of what a book featuring the Brontës should be like & you may be pleasantly surprised. I thought it was extremely entertaining. 4.5 stars (rounded up).

My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Head of Zeus/AdAstra Books, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

Where do you get your ideas from? A question I try hard not to ask any author but often us readers wonder how did you think of this plot, character or world. Clearly some authors must have experienced something out of the usual. Something you’ll often hear about horror authors. The truth bar things I’ve witnessed at a convention karaoke is many are pretty normal lovely people. But well who really knows? That’s where the fun is and in Tom Power’s exhilarating fantasy novel My Brother’s Keeper we get the secret history and truths that lie behind one of the 19th century’s most intriguing families - The Brontes.

In 1830 the young Bramwell Brontë leads his family to hidden cave to meet the spirit of their dead sister Maria. Emily, Anne and Bramell cut their fingers and seems seems to perform a strange ritual. A game or something more sinister?

In 1846 the family are now adults. The introverted Emily happily at home away from the world while Bramwell consistently struggles with ambition that he lacks the talent or aptitude for. Emily loved to walk the moors and she meets a strange injured man that sets off a chain of adventures and perils for the family. The Brontë family has had secrets for generations that this next generation is to learn and lead them into a web of conspiracies, magic and the supernatural. Bramwell becomes the weak point that something very dangerous is focused on and Emily has to decide how to protect her brother and what price is worth paying.

I must confess I’m not that au fair with the work of the Brontë sisters but I have visited the small village of Haworth they lived as one family in their parsonage under their father’s guard (or looked after their family) it’s a fascinating isolated and beautiful place which is clearly impacting their famous works but the tales often have a level of darkness in them that leads us to wonder where that comes from. How do three talented sisters thrive and one wayward brother who definitely did not? There is enough of a question to allow Powers to explore the gaps and hear as we enter the world of fantasy and a touch of horror this is a tale of the gothic…and werewolves.

What Powers cleverly achieves is a tale of a family with secrets, a wayward son in the form of Bramwell, loyal and good sisters and with Emily one prepared to do the right thing no matter what. They are positionwd against scheming cult figures, manipulative women and devilish spirits. We have glimpses of London, village and moor life - of of it reflecting the style we know of Brontë. But then we get a rattling fusion of adventure and increasing spookiness. Bargains with cults, spirits, graveyard battles and cursed skulls. In sone ways it pretty much takes over the story and you expect initially the Brontes to be puzzled but they’re quite accepting that these things are real. It’s an unique reminder that though technically Victorian this time and period earlier in the century is wilder and more accepting that church’s and superstitions could co-exist; even the Parson has secret rituals he performs! This sense of disorder is not just up North but around the world tensions in countries rise. An intriguing dimension that Powers gives hidden powerful families a unique angle to. It gives the story a weight and size that belies it’s length especially as we cross nearly a twenty year period with changes in the sisters’ fortune.

Character wise the two that struck me are Bramwell a bit of a mess of a young man (accurate to his actual character) but one you tend to feel more sorry for as his desperation to succeed puts him in danger. Emily though is the heart of the tale and Powers as well as capturing her introversion adds in intellect and a will to act, run and sometimes shoot! She’s compelling and how this all shapes her work is left us to imagine. That Powers weaves the end of the family story gives it also a hard hitting note that these stars of literature while leave a great legacy despite their relatively humble orgins will only burn bright in their lives for a short time.

In turns both grand, epic, adventure filled, spooky or tragic this is a busy story that if you let go of knowing actual history offers a non-stop ride into a world we don’t know. Lots of fun.

My thanks to Head of Zeus AdAstra Book for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘My Brother's Keeper’ by Tim Powers.

Years ago I had read Powers’ ‘The Stress of Her Regard’ and ‘Hide Me Among the Graves’. In both he blended historical literary figures with supernatural horror. In his latest novel he returns to these Gothic themes, writing a genre-bending tale featuring the Brontë family.

Howarth, 1846. In a parsonage on the edge of the moors, a widowed rector, Patrick Brontë, lives with his three daughters and son. In the future Charlotte, Emily and Anne will be celebrated yet in the novel’s present they are unknown.

When Emily has a chance encounter with a grievously wounded man on the moor, it sets in motion events that will not only put their lives in danger but their very souls.

They learn that the moors are haunted by an ancient pagan secret and that their father’s church contains something terrible buried under an ogham-inscribed slab. For years Patrick has guarded the church and his family, holding these evil forces at bay.

The arrival of Alcuin Curzon in their lives results in a series of shocking revelations. The siblings learn of the dark inheritance in their family bloodline and of a diabolical lycanthropic cult seeking to unleash dark forces into the world.

This proved an atmospheric Gothic novel. While all four of the Brontë siblings feature, the story mainly focuses on Emily and Bramwell. Indeed, it is Emily towards the end of the novel who declares to Curzon “I was always my brother’s keeper.”

Throughout the story, which includes encounters with ghosts, ghouls, werewolves, and the Fae, Emily has a constant companion in her bull mastiff, Keeper. He is always looking after her and is a very good dog indeed.

I felt that in ‘My Brother’s Keeper’ Tim Powers has expertly combined elements of historical fiction, fantasy and horror into a powerful tale of good and evil and the redemptive power of love.

While contemplative in parts, there are also a number heart pounding action sequences. Its Epilogue set in 1848, two years after the novel’s events, had tears welling up in my eyes.

Overall, I found ‘My Brother’s Keeper’ an excellent novel in all respects. It is certain to please those familiar with Tim Powers’ work and will hopefully attract new readers who enjoy novels that confidently blend genres.

Highly recommended.

Gothic tale bringing the supernatural to the Brontë family. Would have preferred more Brontes and less supernatural

I’m really sorry but as much as I thought I’d love his book and I really, really wanted to once I started it I just couldn’t get into it. I’m not sure why, but I’m all prepared to say it’s not you, it’s me!

DNF at 70%
The key word here is Bronte. This is what drew me to this book. I somehow expected something similar in writing and a climate, just with a supernatural twist.
Unfortunately, my expectations weren't matched mostly because there is not enough Bronte in the Bronte family if you get me. I was hoping to see every person in more detail, more seen. Surprisingly the most interesting character in this book is the father - Patrick Bronte.
As for the supernatural part of the book I found it interesting in the very beginning and it started to feel like it was simply too much and then I got lost. I genuinely lost my interest.
The writing style didn´t work for me. Again, I was hoping for something lyrical and immersive. Instead, I feel completely opposite.

Maybe inspecting the cover might have given me more clues to the contents of this book. I expected more brooding, more gothic and more angst. I got more Hammer horror. Sorry this really was not for me.

When a friend posted her ARC of ‘My Brother’s Keeper’ on Instagram I knew I HAD to read it.

LOOK AT THAT COVER! Serif font, curlicues, paper silhouettes circa 1836… PERFECTION.

BUT THEN I READ THE THING.

AND BOY WAS I DECEIVED.

Y’all, this is NOT Gothic fiction.

This is commercial pulp horror feat. vague Brontë references, and honestly: ya gal is mad about it.

From the cover and tiny blurb, I expected a spooky biographic tale reminiscent of Laura Purcell or Caitlin Starling.

NOPE.

So: what actually happens?

One of the Brontës is infected by a werewolf as a kid. Nobody talks about it ’til a Mysterious Gentleman who is Definitely Not Heathcliff Pt II arrives on the moors covered in blood.

Mr Brontë reveals he knows Definitely Not Heathcliff Pt II, because he’s involved with a curse ol’ Brontë brought into their town years ago. Now they need to end the curse while some demonic lady from Outside of Town tries to reboot it.

B-grade horror shenanigans ensue until we reach the end credits.

Now, I’ve got nothing against werewolves, and I LOVE spooky moors and wailing ghosts.

BUT: this sparse, clunky writing DOES NOT FIT the Brontës, and the cover grievously misrepresents the book inside.

I love Gothic novels for their chilling layering, the way turbulent weather reflects the psyche, and the glorious descriptions of gloomy scenery. This book has none of that.

All we know about the cast in ‘My Brother’s Keeper’ is Branwell has red hair, Emily is fit from walking, and old Brontë is blind.

Anne and Charlotte could be played by Miss Piggy and Gonzo for all the descriptions we get of them. Internal turmoil is next to nought.

Check Google Images and you'll find the alternative cover: blue skulls, glowing wolf eyes, a church that comes with its own howling chorus… Looks like a completely different genre, no?

Had I seen the blue cover, I would’ve known this book was pulp horror and steered well clear. I respect there’s an audience for pulp horror, but I am not it.

Thank you @netgalley for the #gifted e-ARC, but I really feel this marketing needs tweaking. The cover and blurb sold me a layered spooky croissant but the inside gave me a commercial pancake.

3.5

I'm giving a half point simply for the final chapter, which was beautifully written and made me weep.

Unlike the rest of the book which, although well written, was utterly insane. I've never watched Pride and Prejudice and Zombies nor Abraham Lincoln:Vampire Hunter but I suspect that this book is like those films -- take a perfectly decent book or life and twist it into something truly crazy.

Honestly? I didn't read the blurb for this book, I was attracted by the cover (which is not the cover its ended up with) so imagine my surprise when Haworth turned out to be infested with werewolves, ghosts, gods and strange religious cults. Who knew? I've been there and it seemed perfectly alright. I suppose that's where the book comes in to explain why Yorkshire isn't knee deep in lycanthropes every full moon.

The story is that Patrick Bronte (father) once rescued a werewolf child and since then (with a lot of to-ing and fro-ing in between) the Brontes have been cursed to try to keep the scourge at bay. However Patrick is getting older, Branwell (as in real life) was somewhat of a sketchy character, Anne and Charlotte are skeptical and just a bit too fond of indoors. Step up Emily Bronte (always my favourite because Wuthering Heights is the best reflection of the moors). Emily rescues a dying man (Curzon) and from that second all the family's lives are changed forever. Emily and Curzon need to save Branwell from possession, the family from their fate and Haworth from the werewolves.

Nuts? Yes.

So if you liked the films previously mentioned you are sure to like this. I just thought it was perhaps several steps too far to la la land and spent a lot of my time rolling my eyes. But it was my own fault for not reading a synopsis. However I did finish the book, the writing was good, it didn't give me a headache and the final chapter is perfect.

Thanks to Netgalley and Head of Zeus for the advance review copy.
Edit Review

8.5/10 stars

My review is available on my blog (link attached).

Tim Powers returns to good form with this horror story centered around the Brontë family. Deftly interweaving politics, religion, social history of hygiene, literary allusions, myths and facts from the family’s life, Powers once again manages to create a plausible supernatural explanation for the unusual life story of the Brontës. The way Powers’s brain works is really fascinating – as is the amount of research that goes into each of his books, and as are the results he produces.

My Brother’s Keeper is a Gothic horror story. There are werewolves and ghosts, holy water in Protestant domicile, shots fired at dawn, and an unusual amalgam of Christianity and various shades of pagan beliefs that just works. The Brontë siblings play the leading role, but there is enough space for other characters to shine – and among them, the moors are a particularly prominent presence, the mythical geography a fascinating side track in Powers’s multilayered net of concurrence, coincidence, and causality. The horror is subtle, tinged with melancholy and moments of humour, and foreshadowed by certain inevitability that anyone who knows anything about the Brontës can probably infer. It is a fitting homage to their life work, and their influence on the literary genres, and a truly fun, well-researched romp through the temporal locality of Northern England in mid-1840s.

I don’t want to say too much for fear of spoiling the pleasure for future readers, so let me just write that Powers does the Brontës justice (Branwell might disagree, but every family needs a black sheep, and unlike in real life here he has been given a spotlight ;)), reserving a uniquely significant place for Emily, her lone walks and her love of the moors. The descriptions of the wind-swept vistas of Northern England are really evocative, the overlay of the supernatural on everyday life feels natural and fitting, and all the quirks and uncommon events that accompanied the Brontës are slotted into the story with panache.

It’s a fast paced book, flowing easily from one key point to another, meticulously and incrementally developing not only the story, but also the characters. There are moments of surprising emotional depth and moments of gleeful goriness, descriptions of primordial power and sanitary concerns, and it all fuses together into a jolly good romp. It’s one of those special books that make it obvious that the author had been truly enjoying writing it. I read through it very quickly indeed, my curiosity piqued by the fact that – as with any Powers’s historical novels – I knew the factual end to the story; and Powers delivers even on that front, the conclusion neat and deserved, and touching without being maudlin. It is an addictively readable novel, smart and entertaining, written with wry humour, tenderness and respect for the source material that doesn’t get in the way of a good story 😉

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks.

'My Brothers Keeper' had me absolutely hooked from the description:

Hogwarth, 1846. The edge of the Yorkshire moors. Here, in solitude, live a widowed parish priest and his three daughters and their single brother. Though the future will celebrate the three daughters, right now they are unknown, their genius concealed. In just a few short years, they will all be dead. And it will be middle daughter Emily's chance encounter with a grievously wounded man on the moor that sets them on the path to their doom.

This is a haunting, chilling tale of the Bronte sisters - providing ancient secrets and dark marks on the bloodline in this atmospheric novel. I am a huge fan of historical fiction as well as the Bronte sisters in general, so this introduction had me intrigued immediately. It was beautifully chilling right from the start, and the way the author gave these beloved characters voices was complex and compelling.

This is so much more than a family reimagining; it's an absolutely bone-chilling gothic horror/historical fantasy ghost story with mystery and haunted things and dark, dark secrets. The setting of the Yorkshire moors was so descriptive and vivid, the author did a fantastic job with the atmospheric prose and showing vs. telling of the details. It felt like I was whisked away to a foggy, misty time where the whispers on the wind are a comforting yet foreboding feeling.

I will definitely be recommending this book to historical fiction lovers, as well as gothic horror lovers because this tale was just a beautiful combination of both.

"My Brother's Keeper" is a really tricky book to review - taken in parts, by all accounts, it should work, but the sum is somehow left lacking. For starters, the writing style is quite embellished, verging on purple prose at times, though not necessarily unpleasantly so, as it is fitting for the time period in which the story is set, and yet I find it did little to truly build up the tension that, by virtue of the supernatural mystery plotline, should have been there.

I imagine, also, that if I had been more interested in the Brontë family history independently, I would have enjoyed this book more, but as it stands, the characters weren't fleshed out sufficiently in the narrative. This may well be because the target audience are readers who are already familiar with the Brontës' lives, but still, a little more characterization would have gone a long way.

To the author's credit, the story is quite fast paced, if a bit unevenly so at times. This could be a quick read for most, but unfortunately, it did plunge me into a two month reading slump. Risks of the trade.

Overall, there weren't many standout moments in the novel for me, but it also wasn't ostensibly bad either, so it sits at a very comfortable three stars. Wasn't my cup of tea, could be yours though.

Thank you NetGalley and Head of Zeus for this eCopy to review

I was very excited to read My Brother's Keeper, but it was not what I was expecting I thought it would be more about the Bronte family and their writing and life. Instead it was a very long winded tale of werewolves, the Roman goddess Minerva, and ghosts. It got quite complicated between all the parties and I'm not totally sure who the good guys were and whether they were werewolves as well or just Catholics.

Very disappointed it is nothing to do with the Brontes.

DNF @ 3%

Thank you to the publishers via Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.

I wanted to like this book. I really, really wanted to like this book. Unfortunately, the prose was clunky and really felt like reading a first draft - flat and factual, without any clear narrative voice.

This book is a good concept but needed beta readers and a lot more editing to become an engaging read.

The opening chapter gave me no clear reason to care about these characters. The first couple of pages refer to our main characters as only "the boy" or "the girl" – the premise of this book is about the Bronte family and withholding their identities from a storytelling standpoint makes no sense. The characters talk back and forth a lot, but we don't get a sense of worldbuilding – where we are, what our characters look like, or what their conflict is.

I am sure there are readers out there who will like this style of writing, but for me, it was a barrier I wasn't able to push through. This book was not for me.

I DNF’d this really early on.

The writing style just did not work for me - it does not flow well, is not evocative for drawing a scene in your mind and does not build the story well in the short amount of time I spent trying to read this. The prose is very much “he said and then she said” - like vary your language a little! It really felt as painful as reading a 10 year olds homework.

I imagine it is fast-paced like the other reviewers have stated because it doesn’t waste any words at all. I love the Bronte’s, so this should have been a winner for me, but if you didn’t know who these people were supposed to be, you wouldn’t be able to distinguish between them because the author does not describe them in the first couple of chapters at all. Looking at his previous novels, I’d hazard a guess that his main readership will be pulp fantasy male readers, but a novel about the Bronte’s is going to attract a female demographic who probably reads classics and probably fantasy as well. I hate to say it, but who this book could attract, probably is not going to be that impressed with the lack of character development or description because there are a lot of great historical fantasy novels out there at the moment.

Also, in the prologue alone, there were a few spelling and grammatical errors. Also, a bit of a pedantic note but the font and the spacing is weird read on an iPad, the paragraphs didn’t have a line between them like most traditionally published e-books and the font used makes it look like a badly formatted word document.