Before I jump back into our 12 Days Of Brontë Christmas countdown I want to thank you all for the many positive comments I’ve had so far. This year has marked the tenth anniversary of the start of this blog, and since then I’ve covered over 500 Brontë subjects – it’s been an absolute pleasure, and your support has made it all possible. Thank you!
As you will know if you’ve followed the last six days, I am publishing a post a day leading up to Christmas Day itself – and with each day based upon the corresponding day from the Twelve Days Of Christmas song. In that song, the seventh day sees a gift of seven swans a swimming, but there aren’t many swan connections to the Brontës so I will have to use a little poetic license today.
There may not be seven swans in the Brontë story but there are seven novels. Yes, these three incredibly talented sisters produced seven novels which have changed the course of literary history forever, and what a septet they left us. In order of publication they wrote:
Jane Eyre (1847): Despite being written after the two following novels, it was the first Brontë novel to be published – and is still one of the world’s best loved books.
Agnes Grey (1847) – Published in tandem with her sister Emily’s book, this debut novel of Anne Brontë is based heavily on her time as governess to the Ingham and Robinson families.
Wuthering Heights (1847): Emily Brontë’s only novel is as powerful and captivating today as the day it was written. This mighty story was conjured up from Emily’s imagination, although its central plot may have been inspired by a story Emily heard when a teacher in Halifax.
The Tenant Of WIldfell Hall (1848): Anne’s second novel takes an unflinching look at alcoholism and marital abuse. A misunderstanding over its authorship led to Charlotte and Anne travelling to London to throw off their pseudonyms and reveal the Brontë sisters to the world.
Shirley (1849): Shirley had a troubled genesis; Charlotte Brontë based the heroines Shirley and Caroline on her sisters Emily and Anne Brontë, but both died while Charlotte was writing it.
Villette (1853): Charlotte Brontë’s last completed novel was in many ways her most personal novel, as it drew heavily on her unrequited love for her Belgian tutor Constantin Heger. This is a novel that lingers long after you have read it.
The Professor (1857): Charlotte’s last published novel was actually the first to be written, but it was published posthumously with the permission of her widower Arthur Bell Nicholls. There are many similarities between this novel and Villette.
So now we have: On the seventh day of Christmas the Brontës gave to me seven books a reading, six geese a straying, five Brontë rings, four coloured dogs, three French letters, two captive doves, and a merlin in a bare tree.
Which is your favourite Brontë novel? For me it’s Wuthering Heights with Agnes Grey a close second – what a day it was when those two were published together by Thomas Cautley Newby! I hope you can join me tomorrow for another day in our Brontë Christmas countdown.
Jane Eyre is my all-time favourite. Wuthering Heights was just too dark for me. All their works are brilliant, however. I read them over and over and over …
Very clever Nick but for me it will always be Jane Eyre and whatever you think of Charlotte without her they would have been , like potatoes rotting in a cellar, and we would never have heard of ‘The Brontë Sisters’ ;