Biographers have long examined the emotional life of Charlotte Brontë, as revealed in her novels (notably Villette) and correspondence. Here first-novelist Gael takes a fictive look at the last decade of the author's life, during which Brontë sisters Anne, Charlotte, and Emily published poetry and novels as brothers Acton, Currer, and Ellis Bell, and Currer's Jane Eyre took the literary world by storm. But the emphasis here is on Charlotte's unrequited love, first for her French professor and later for her publisher, and the man whose love for her grows over the years. When curate Arthur Nicholls summons the courage to propose, Charlotte must overcome her father's objections to the match and decide between a marriage lacking the passion displayed in her novels or a single life. Gael sprinkles Charlotte's actual letters into this portrayal of the poverty and isolation of the Brontë family, and the tragedies that beset it, in language that seems true to the times. A moving view of a literary giant and the emotion that fueled her work.--Leber, Michele Copyright 2010 Booklist

Although the title of this debut novel might suggest that the man who wooed and eventually wed Charlotte Bronte plays a central role throughout, in reality Arthur Bell Nicholls remains in the background for much of the book, performing parish duties as Patrick Bronte's curate. Gael plunges readers into the Bronte household, where Charlotte, Anne, and Emily write the novels that would make them famous while brother Branwell sinks into addiction and dissipation. The focus is on Charlotte, who must cope with the deaths of all her three siblings in less than a year, a depressed and irascible father, and literary notoriety after her identity is revealed. Slowly she relinquishes youthful dreams of romance with a married professor and her attraction to the London publisher of her books and acknowledges Arthur's love. Verdict Gael makes Charlotte's transformation in her brief marriage and the revelations about Arthur's character as interesting as the earlier turmoil that dominates many novels about the famous family (e.g., Denise Giardina's Emily's Ghost). Brontede votees and those interested in British literary life will enjoy this novel, which also has book club potential. [See "Prepub Exploded," BookSmack!, December 3, 2009; with library marketing. See also Sheila Kohler's recent Becoming Jane Eyre and Jude Morgan's forthcoming Charlotte and Emily.-Ed.]-Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State Univ., Mankato (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

In her debut, Gael makes a valiant attempt to blend fact with fiction as she transports readers to 19th-century England, where Charlotte Bronte conspires with her sisters to publish their works under pseudonyms. The publications aren't instant successes, and shortly after Charlotte's Jane Eyre creates a stir in London, a wave of deaths in her family leaves Charlotte as the sole caretaker of her aging father. That responsibility, combined with her "average" looks, seem certain to fate Charlotte to a life of spinsterhood-until a confession of undying love comes from an unlikely corner. Charlotte has a choice: will she settle for less than that all-encompassing passion she writes about? Or would she rather be alone for the rest of her life? Through letters written by Bronte herself and research on her life and life's work, Gael paints an accurate and intriguing depiction of the author, though her dedication to her material leads portions to read like straightforward biography. There are a number of good moments, though, and Bronte fans will surely enjoy this look at the author's life, even if it doesn't bleed like the classics. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Novelized biography of Charlotte Bront", with emphasis on her love life, or lack thereof. The Bront" sisters' childhood ended abruptly after their mother's early death. Unable to cope, their father, an impoverished Yorkshire vicar, consigned his four oldest daughters, Maria, Elizabeth, Charlotte and Emily, to a charity boarding school were they were starved and abused. He rescued them, but only after the two eldest were sent home with consumption, which killed them. Charlotte and Emily enjoy a brief idyll studying French in Brussels, where Charlotte develops a desperate crush on her married professor, from which she will derive Jane Eyre's infatuation with Mr. Rochester. Back at the parsonage, Charlotte, Emily and youngest sister Anne spend their days sewing, placating Patrick and nursing brother Branwell, who's straining the family finances with his opium addiction, drinking binges and general dissipation. To raise funds, the sisters begin writing under masculine pseudonymsCurrer, Ellis and Acton Bell. Soon Emily's Wuthering Heights and Anne's Agnes Grey are published, followed by Jane Eyre, a runaway bestseller. Sudden success affords only brief respite from the ongoing tragedy stalking the Bront"s: Branwell, Anne and Emily will all succumb to consumption within a year. Left alone with the ailing but seemingly indestructible Patrick, Charlotte fails to notice that her father's curate, Arthur, whose staunch exterior belies his tender heart, is gazing at her longingly. At 38, she's made uncomfortable peace with spinsterhood, a topic she explores in her next novel, Shirley. Now unmasked, Charlotte is feted by London literati and once more disappointed in love, for her publisher George Smith. Will she realize the romantic possibilities within her grasp? Will she escape Patrick's possessiveness? Although the narrative hews very closely to the known facts, it is to newcomer Gael's credit that she not only builds suspense around these questions but also draws a tear when we learn Charlotte's eventual fate. A must-read for Bront" aficionados and anyone interested in the lives and concerns of Victorian women. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.