Rachel Reviews: The Brontë Project by Jennifer Vandever

I've had this book on my bedside table for months and I think that I started to read it some time ago but got no further than the first couple of pages before it was relegated to the TBR pile again.

However, having returned to it again, it has been a really good read and one that was unexpectedly so, delivering with its dialogue and its quirkiness as well as educating me a lot more about Charlotte Brontë.

Sara is a research student whose specialism is Charlotte Brontë and in life, she is pretty certain that she knows where it's heading: she's going to get married to Paul and honeymoon in Paris and then, she's going to continue her research study and find undiscovered letters written by Charlotte which will propel her into the academic stratosphere.

Unfortunately, things do not go to plan and when Paul decides he needs time away from 'them' to reassess when their wedding is not too far away, Sara is completely cast adrift and struggles to see a way forward.

Instrumental in their break-up is another academic called Claire who is a blousy redhead with some theories about Princess Diana, her demise in a Parisian tunnel and her similarities to Charlotte Brontë. I know - the mind boggles but Claire is pretty convincing in her thinking and her ability to persuade those around her to see where she's coming from and ultimately agree. Claire, it would seem, convinced Paul that he would be better off without Sara and he didn't seem to need much persuading.

Sara's life narrows at first, as she becomes insular and self-pitying but then, things start to open up for her and with that loosening, opportunity and new men arrive.

This book is about love and the juxtaposition of Charlotte's letters provide an interesting aside to the main action of Sara's story, prompting talk about love in all its aspects as well as relationships, marriage, expectations, realism. Vandever's narrative is full of sharp observation and witty descriptions, some of which made me laugh out loud at their aptness and cleverness.

And does Sara find love again? Well, I can't tell you that but let's just say that at the end of the book, there are three eligible men in front of her...

Rachel Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐