Lilliput Press will publish Charlotte, by Martina Devlin in autumn 2024
Charlotte Brontë is renowned for the sumptuously gothic novel Jane Eyre, which has been re-read for generations. Now, her own story will be told by Martina Devlin in a new novel publishing this autumn with The Lilliput Press.
Narrated by Mary Nicholls (who went on to marry Charlotte’s widower Arthur), the book tells the story of Brontë’s marriage, her death, and her afterlife as a haunting presence in the lives of those closest to her. A story of passion and obsession, of mutual admiration and friendship, the novel reveals Brontë’s brief but pivotal time in Ireland.
“The Brontë sisters are considered a jewel in the crown of England’s cultural heritage,” says publisher Antony Farrell, “so reclaiming Charlotte Brontë for Ireland, where she spent her honeymoon, conceived her only lost child, while seeking out her Prunty forebears in County Down, is indeed a balancing of the books.”
“Objects have an undeniable power,” said Martina Devlin. “After a visit to Haworth Parsonage Museum in Yorkshire, where I saw Charlotte Brontë’s dresses, sewing box, beaded moccasin slippers, wedding bonnet and a toy tea set she and her sisters played with as children, I became convinced I had to write a novel about her.
“I knew her father Patrick was an Irishman, as was her husband Arthur Bell Nicholls – but I was surprised to discover that he brought her to Ireland on their honeymoon in 1854. Arthur, who was Patrick’s curate in Haworth, was proud of his homeland and keen to share its attractions with his famous novelist wife.
“Charlotte was extremely happy with Arthur, but died after only nine months of married life. What happened subsequently fascinated me. Arthur stayed on in Yorkshire to look after the elderly Patrick, and returned to Ireland after his death – bringing with him most of the parsonage contents. Portraits, first editions of books, furniture, sketchpads, letters and personal items were all stored in the Banagher house where Arthur made his home. For decades, as the Brontë legend grew, attracting the attention of scholars and collectors, a treasure trove lay undisturbed in the Irish Midlands.”
Charlotte publishes with The Lilliput Press in autumn 2024.
