Thursday, January 29, 2015

The World Within by Jane Eagland - NO

Eagland, Jane The World Within, 336 p. Arthur A. Levine (Scholastic), MARCH 2015.  $18.  Content: G.

Eagland imagines the life of Emily Bronte on the moors of England with her brother Bram and her sisters Charlotte and Anne.  She  navigates Emily through the changes the inevitably come as people grow and change and tries to show us the forces that may have molded and inspired Emily as she heads towards writing Wuthering Heights.
  
Because I am not a rabid fan of Emily Bronte, I am unconcerned with the liberties that Eagland took with the few pieces of Bronte’s documented life that exist.  What does concern me is that by the end of the book I felt that Emily Bronte was an overly whiny child who I would have never wanted to meet or befriend.  Instead of drawing Emily’s shyness as something she might be capable of overcoming, Eagland’s portrayal of the shyness as an obstacle is irritating and continually grating.  The rest of her life was not compelling enough to make up for the narrative’s faults.

NO.  Cindy, Library Teacher, MLS

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