Branwell: A Novel of the Bronta Brother

by Douglas A. Martin

A gifted artist and writer, Branwell Bronte, an only son, is expected to make the family fortune and distinguish the Bronte name. Instead, he dies at 31 from alcohol and opium abuse. Painstakingly tutored at home by his father, Branwell and his sisters write endless stories about imaginary worlds far from their bleak parsonage home. As his sisters spin the stories that will immortalize them, Branwell sinks under the weight of great expectations. With...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1933368004
• ISBN13: 9781933368009
• Release Date: February 2006
• Publisher: Soft Skull Press
• Length: 232 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.0" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Beautifully forged ...

in a cauldron of literary brooding, sensuality, and suspense. Martin's performance is deliriously seductive.

A Tortured Life

Martin, Douglas A. "Branwell: A Novel of the Bronte Brother", Soft Skull Press, 2006. A Tortured Life Amos Lassen I remember taking a graduate course in feminist literature and we read Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre". I fell in love with the book again; I had not read it since high school and now I felt that I had to know more about the Brontes. That was the first time I heard that there was a Bronte brother by the name of Branwell but there was not much available about him. I was glad to see the biography of him come out and I read it with great passion. He was Charlotte's younger brother and his life was tumultuous. He was a doomed artist and a homosexual and the only male sibling of the Bronte girls. He was home schooled. His mother and two of his sisters died young and he was shattered by this. Branwell was sent to London and the Royal Academy and the managed to find a way to fall in the eyes of his family. He drank heavily and was apprentice to a secret freemason homosexual society; he lost his job as a tutor because of scandal. He became involved in the drug culture and became monomaniac. Even with these problems, Branwell was a gifted artist and writer and he was expected to succeed by his family and to distinguish the family name. He did not and died at 31 because of alcohol and abuse from opium. Branwell could not live up to his father's expectations of him. Martin uses a style that captures the essence of the Bronte boy as he gives us his story. The book is not just a telling of Branwell's life--it is related as through a dream. We see how he was involved with his literary sisters and his drug and alcohol abuse. His downfall is explicated in a way that the reefer feels he is losing a friend. The emotion that Martin conveys is amazing and the narrative is beautiful as it is told in a fragmented way. Although we never really know what happened when he was dismissed as a tutor, Martin allows us to come to our own conclusions based upon what the tells us. It is important, however, to remember that this is a novel and not a strict biography.

Douglas A. Martin has done it again!

The historical narrative of the one and only Bronte son, BRANWELL is a grand gesture, Martin's style is so dreamily crafted. The author not only reconstructs the permanent veiling of Branwell's spirit by way of his sisters' fame, but through prose as mesmeric as that found in his previous works, it seems as though Martin personally knows his protagonist, Patrick "Branwell" Bronte, alighting the years between with dexterity unlike any other. Martin is a time traveler and his books well-oiled machines, facilitating insight, enlightening, and grooming audiences for what is yet to come. This novel continues to educate far beyond its first reading.

A poetic novel / biography of the Bronte brother

This isn't a straightforward biography of Branwell Bronte, it is much better than that. Douglas Martin is a poet and this book is a beautiful poetic dream, using the dark, damp, brooding atmosphere of the moors and parsonage to set the scene. Branwell's relationship with his sisters, his involvement with their writings, his drug and alcohol abuse and eventual downfall are all brilliantly portrayed. Douglas Martin has a deceptively simple style of writing, very easy to read. I don't know of any other author who can convey so much meaning and emotion in so few words. He never tries to give a complete picture, the narrative is fragmentary, and he doesn't draw conclusions. Subtly outlining such issues such as Branwell's sexuality and his sudden dismissal from his post as tutor at Thorp Green, he leaves it to the readers to decide for themselves what actually happened. His extensive knowledge of the Bronte family and their writings comes across clearly. It's tempting to read the book quickly, but don't do that - you will miss a lot of the subtleties in the text. The more you reread this book, the better it gets - brilliant!