Path to the Silent Country: Charlotte Bronte's Story

‘Path to the Silent Country’ is Lynne Reid Banks’ follow up to the critically-acclaimed ‘Dark Quartet: The Story of the Brontes’.

In Haworth Parsonage, in the rural landscape of the Yorkshire moors, Charlotte Bronte suffers alone.

She has experienced a triple blow - the death of her beloved sisters and brother.

Paralysed by misery and her only solace - religion - not bringing her any comfort, she turns to writing to escape her grief.

Charlotte is for the first time in her life able to travel to the capital, following on from the success of ‘Jane Eyre’ and ‘Shirley’. She immerses herself in London society, meeting influential figures from the literary elite.

But at every turn, her identity is questioned.

Returning to the parsonage, Charlotte is again crippled by loss. Her father becomes sick with bronchitis, and she herself is gripped by influenza. Not only this, the unrequited love of one George Smith plagues her, along with the amorous pleas of Mr Arthur Nichols.

'Path to the Silent Country' is a gripping fictionalised account of one woman's struggle to draw together a life shattered by grief.

It is a story of love sacrificed for the approval of an ailing father, and of courage in the face of public scrutiny. Above all, it is a story of defiance.

Praise for Lynne Reid Banks:

"Lynne Reid Banks communicates her story with clarity and conviction that establish her among the noblest of factual fiction writers" - Guardian

‘A novel which will open many eyes afresh to the lives of the remarkable and gifted Brontës’ — Yorkshire Post

Lynne Reid Banks is a best-selling British author for both children and adults. Her first novel, ‘The L-Shaped Room’, was adapted into a successful film, as was her children’s book ‘The Indian in the Cupboard’. Her account of the lives of the Brontës, ‘Dark Quartet’, won the Yorkshire Arts Association Award and was followed by a sequel, ‘Path to the Silent Country: Charlotte Bronte’s Years of Fame’.

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