Walking The Invisible: A literary guide through the walks and nature of the Brontë sisters, authors of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, and their beloved Yorkshire

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I walked recently through the North York Moors national park and along the Yorkshire coast, reaching Scarborough, and climbed towards its castle high on a clifftop, and to the grave of Anne Brontë, who died aged 29 and is buried in a churchyard beneath the castle. By the sea she so loved, it was easy to see and feel how the landscape of the north so powerfully shaped the literature and lives of the Brontës. This evocative book encourages people to engage with the places that proved so inspirational. As I walk, Anne’s haunting last words to her sister Charlotte echo through my mind: “Take courage.” Bramwell, a man who achieved in his life next to nothing, has two statues in his memory, in a landscape where a woman can change the world and be unknown. This sort of book adds to that sense of injustice.

Following in the footsteps of the Brontës across meadow and moor, through village and town, this book takes the form of a series of inspirational walks through the lives and landscapes of the Brontë family, investigating the geographical and social features that shaped their work. Wilson, Fiona (24 December 2016). "Sisters are doing it for themselves: the Brontës' own story". The Times. No.72102. Saturday Review. p.11. ISSN 0140-0460. Bookworm, Mum and English teacher. Resident of Cheshire in the rainy north of England but an Essex girl at heart and by birth. I finished the movie with a determination to visit their home again and re-read all of their work. How many movies inspire their viewers to travel several thousand miles, spend several thousand dollars, and invest scores of hours in reading? Charlotte finally receives a letter from a publisher and is disappointed to learn that while Emily's novel Wuthering Heights and Anne's novel Agnes Grey have been accepted for publication, her own novel, The Professor, has been rejected. She urges her sisters to go forward with publication without her and begins to look for a publisher for Jane Eyre.Charlotte becomes enraged after Anne and Emily's publisher tries to pass off The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, a book written by Anne, as being Charlotte's work. She insists that the sisters travel to London and reveal themselves to be separate authors. Anne agrees to go with her sister, but Emily refuses, insisting on protecting her anonymity. After Charlotte introduces herself and Anne, they are greeted with great enthusiasm by their publishers, who take them to the opera.

BAFTA-winning writer Sally Wainwright, whose other credits include crime drama Happy Valley and comedy-drama Last Tango in Halifax, both set in Yorkshire, said she was "thrilled beyond measure" to have been asked by the BBC to "bring to life these three fascinating, talented, ingenious Yorkshire women". [6] Filming [ edit ] A postscript reveals that Emily died three months after Branwell and Anne died five months after her. The parsonage was later turned into a museum celebrating the sisters and their work. This is a literary study of both the social and natural history that has inspired writers and walkers, and the writings of a family that have touched readers for generations. The book also takes a walk on the wild side of the north of England now.I was quite touched by the parts about Branwell Brontë, following the paths he trod and his descent into alcoholism that was his undoing. I did not know much about him but feel I have learnt more and he felt like a real person to me rather than almost a sideshow that he is often portrayed as. Of course, then (although Michael and I are yet to meet in real life!), I was excited to read his latest (non-fiction) book, Walking the Invisible, which was published last year. Part memoir, part history book, part hiking guide, Walking the Invisible is hard to categorize. It’s a book born out of Stewart’s love of nature and the Brontës, and as much about our century as it is about the nineteenth. He doesn’t shy away from talking about the social challenges and changes facing many of the towns, big and small, the Brontës lived in, and moves between education, political commentary, and personal anecdote seamlessly. The physical locations are explored with links explained to the Brontës works such as ‘𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕤𝕥 𝕞𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝕠𝕗 ℕ𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕙 𝕃𝕖𝕖𝕤 ℍ𝕒𝕝𝕝, 𝔸𝕘𝕟𝕖𝕤 𝔸𝕤𝕙𝕦𝕣𝕤𝕥, 𝕚𝕥 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕤𝕒𝕚𝕕, 𝕨𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕞𝕒𝕕 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕕 𝕚𝕟 𝕒 𝕡𝕒𝕕𝕕𝕖𝕕 𝕣𝕠𝕠𝕞 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕕𝕚𝕖𝕕 𝕚𝕟 𝕒 𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖.’ I love this connection to Jane Eyre and the inspiration for Thornfield Hall. Lucy Mangan, writing in The Guardian, described the drama as "bleak, beautiful and brilliant; like everything that Wainwright and her repertory company does". She also praised Nagaitis' performance as "a blazing performance [which] conveys the inner torment as well as the selfishness and keeps our sympathy even as he drives us up the wall". [12] This is a love letter to the people and places of Brontë country, but at the same time a fascinating bottom-up social, historical and political commentary on the landscape that shaped the life and writings of all the Brontës.

However, as well as being about the Brontes, this is also very much about Stewart’s experiences and thoughts too. He proves to be an interesting guide as he walks the routes with various Bronte experts and his dog, Wolfie. There’s a heavy-duty commitment to the project evident in the fact he braves some terrible weather and shows a willingness to camp out en route (something I’d see as way beyond the call of duty!) I read this to accompany a recent trip to Bronte country. Subtitled, 'Following in the Bronte's footsteps,' this is both a guide book, but also an inspirational read. Stewart states, 'I don't believe that anyone can really connect, can really understand, the Bronte's literary oeuvre without experiencing this uniquely bleak countryside.' Previously, I may not have agreed, but on my second trip to Bronte country, I think I know what the author means. It is beautiful, remote, bleak indeed. Rolling moors, no agriculture, just endless, unfolding moorland. I became totally immersed in this wonderful book for several days. I enjoyed the richly descriptive and humorous writing style, which draws you into the book. It was a delight accompanying the author on his walks through some beautiful, wild and rugged countryside and all the places that had connections with the Brontë family. The descriptions of the countryside are vivid with attention to the minutest of detail. The author entertains us with snippets of information, amusing stories and the characters he meets along the way. I was fascinated with the lives of the Brontës and learning about the areas of their lives I knew nothing about.What comes in between the introduction of the book and this delightful appendix of maps, is a sprawling narrative, in which Stewart intersperses his personal wanderings along the various Brontë trails, with memories and asides, bits of Brontë biography, conjecture about characters in the novels, historial fact and analysis, and random anecdotes about the people he meets on his travels. It is a confusing, though lively approach, which might flummox any reader not as intimately connected with the local geography – and the lives of the Brontës – as Stewart is himself. A more conventional, contextual overview, both of the landscape and of the lives of the main protagonists, would have been helpful. But there is plenty here to delight and to intrigue. As well as being full of interesting facts and figures about the South Pennine Hills (West of Bradford), this is a travelogue with heart and soul. It’s easy to see how passionate Stewart is of this windswept land of purple heather, wuthering weather and moors as far as the eye can see. It’s a love letter to the Brontë’s and the area they called home.

When I read the blurb for this book, I was instantly intrigued. While I’m no lover of nature and have no desire to wander the Yorkshire moors in all weathers (as this writer has done), I do love literary heritage. So of course I want to know about the buildings and villages and landscapes that inspired the Brontes. This is a literary study of both the social and natural history that has inspired writers and walkers, and the writings of a family that have touched readers for generations. Finally we get to understand the ‘wild, windy moors’ that Kate Bush sang about in ‘Wuthering Heights’, see the imposing halls that may have inspired Thornfield Hall in Jane Eyre, and learn about Bramwell’s affair with a real life Mrs Robinson while treading the same landscapes. As well as describing in vivid detail the natural beauty of the moors and their surroundings, Walking the Invisiblealso encompasses the history of the north and the changing lives of those that have lived there. Another highlight of the book for me were the sections talking about areas that I am familar with – I loved the chapter on Mr Earnshaw’s walk to Liverpool (from ‘Wuthering Heights’) in particular as I know the city well and could picture some of the walk. This would be a great book if you are already familiar with Bronte country. The programme also attracted numerous comments on social media, with many viewers expressing their displeasure about a fine performance ruined by what they felt to be the poor quality of the film's sound recording. [14] Through the eyes of Stewart I saw Haworth, the pub Branwell frequented, the school Emily taught, and Ponden Kirk.Beever, Susie (15 November 2016). "Yorkshire fans can attend special screening of new Bronte drama". Huddersfield Daily Examiner . Retrieved 19 November 2016. I've read all the Bronte novels, studied Emily's poetry in college, and been to Haworth several times. (Tip: if you ever visit, don't skip the hike to Top Withens-the place Emily based Wuthering Heights on. You won't get the true Bronte experience unless you hike on the moors.) I've sat next to Charlotte and Emily's graves and tried to imagine life in that place in the 19th century. It is a walking book, but it is also a social and literary history of the North,” Stewart writes. Along the way, he perceptively excavates the past, exploring how it was in the north that the Industrial Revolution took off, “thanks to a combination of soft water, steep hills and cheap labour”. As well as fascinating historical context, he paints a vivid portrait of the present day, too, as he walks through landscapes both bleak and beautiful, equally adept at capturing the gloom of an industrial estate and “a brilliant blue and golden orange kingfisher”, which makes him think of a Gerard Manley Hopkins poem. He compellingly conjures the force of the winds, the earthy smell of peat bogs, the haunting call of the curlew, the sound of skylarks. BBC to dramatise the lives of the Bronte sisters". The Telegraph. 18 May 2015 . Retrieved 19 November 2016.