The Bronts in Brussels

About this book

A fascinating and thorough account of Charlotte and Emily Bronts formative stay in Brussels during 1842-43 The Bronts time in Belgium five years before they became best-selling authors is the least-known episode of their lives but is a fascinating and important one. The book follows in the tracks of the sisters in Brussels describing their life in the city: though the school where they came to study French has now disappeared there is still a lot to be seen of the city the sisters knew; two of Charlottes four novels (Villette and The Professor) are also based on her spell abroad which was pivotal to her both as a writer and personally since she fell in love with her teacher Constantin Heger. Charlottes moving and harrowing letters to Hegera respectable married manare reproduced in full here and belie the common image of her as the motherly and strait-laced Bront. Also including maps of the period extracts from Villette reflecting real-life experiences in Brussels and translations of the sisters little-known "Belgian essays " what emerges is a complete portrait of a slice of literary historyas well as a haunting evocation of a time and a place that came to haunt the Bronts themselves.