The Bronte Cabinet: Three Lives in Nine Objects - Tapa blanda

"Her [Lutz's] book is most fascinating not when it looks at the relics, the walking sticks and tiny shoes, but at the great mass of writerly and literary paraphernalia associated with the Brontes; the paperiness of their lives." -- The London Review of Books "It [The Bronte Cabinet] is a dynamic, powerful and very accessible book, which abandons womb-to-tomb biography to look at the Brontes "through the 'eyes' of thread, paper, wood, jet, hair, bone, brass, fur, frond, leather, velvet, and ash"." -- The Times Literary Supplement "...Lutz has found a way of teasing out some genuinely fresh insights into a subject that might otherwise feel as though it has been done to death." -- Mail on Sunday "In looking at the Brontes through their most precious possessions, Lutz lets us sneak a peek at their inner lives as well as their outer ones, in a sympathetic and informative way." -- The Independent "This is a fine book, rich, immersive and illuminating, glowing with the life of the Brontes and their wild genius." -- Shahidha Bari - Times Higher Education "Full of interest..." -- The Sunday Telegraph "Deborah Lutz's engaging new study proves that there is indeed room for fresh perspectives...All lovers of the Brontes should read this book." -- The Guardian "The Bronte Cabinet does not fail to deliver, offering vivid interpretations of the lives and the works of these strange and fascinating sisters..." -- The Times "The Bronte Cabinet is full of illuminating and original insights, bringing aspects of the Brontes' lives into sharp focus for the first time." -- Literary Review

The story of the Brontes is told through the things they wore, stitched, wrote on and inscribed at the parsonage in Haworth. From Charlotte's writing desk and the manuscripts it contained to the brass collar worn by Emily's dog, Keeper, each object opens a window onto the sisters' world, their fiction and the Victorian era. By unfolding the histories of the things they used, the chapters form a chronological biography of the family. A walking stick evokes Emily's solitary hikes on the moors and the stormy heath-itself a character in Wuthering Heights. Charlotte's bracelet containing Anne and Emily's intertwined hair gives voice to her grief over their deaths. These possessions pull us into their daily lives: the imaginary kingdoms of their childhood writing, their time as governesses and their stubborn efforts to make a mark on the world.