Review: Worlds of Ink and Shadow by Lena Coakley

First I'd like to thank Netgalley and Abrams Kids for allowing me to read an e-galley of this title.  I'm always intrigued with stories that are going to be historical fiction about authors.  I don't know a lot about the Brontes, although I have read both Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre.  At first I wasn't really pulled in, it didn't feel like there was that much about their lives in it.  But as I got reading, I did begin to see things that gave some hint into why their stories were the way they were.

The story is about Anne, Charlotte, Emily, and their brother Branwell.  The two oldest, Charlotte and Branwell, are the writers.  And when they write, somehow they are able to open up and go into the worlds they are writing.  In the past they would allow Anne and Emily to go with them.  But lately they have been more closed off about it.  Only Emily wants to go in, she kind of has a bit of a crush on one of their characters.  Charlotte is wanting to stop as she she keeps seeing that what she writes isn't actually ending up the way she wants it to be.  And, what they've given in order to go into the worlds, well she doesn't want to keep giving it up.  But their father, a clergy man, doesn't approve of her writing, so she sees a life of just being a governess ahead.  And it is not something she looks forward to.  When Anne and Emily convince Charlotte and Branwell to take them back in, it seems things may be getting out of hand.  Some of the characters, especially Rogue, the bad guy that Branwell has written, are beginning to do things on their own, not written for them. 

It turns out who they've made the deal with to go into the stories, doesn't want to let them stop.  And the characters in the story don't seem to want to let their authors end the story.  So all of it comes to a head when both Emily and Anne end up making a deal for something that they know will get their brother and sister to finally stop going.  Of course it won't be easy, and they must fight their way back out of the make-believe world of Verdopolis, and find their way back to the real world. 

Like I said at the beginning, I liked the connections that gave kind of reasons for why their stories may have been the way they were.  From the way the author of this book wrote the stories and the personalities, you definitely saw what could have led to the depressing parts of both of the stories I mentioned above.  And there was some look  into their personal lives, even if not as much as I'd have liked.  It was an okay read for someone wanting to read about the Brontes, and for a story about being able to go into the worlds of the books you read and interact with your favorite characters.

Waiting on Wednesday: Worlds of Ink and Shadow: A Novel of the Brontes by Lena Coakley

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine where we spotlight upcoming releases that we're eagerly awaiting.  For a change this week, I'm featuring a book that is not part of a series.  As far as I know, it will be a standalone.  I always love when historical fiction takes real people from history, and using what knowledge we have about them, weaves a story that brings them to life.  Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

Charlotte, Branwell, Emily, and Anne. The Brontë siblings have always been inseparable. After all, nothing can bond four siblings quite like life in an isolated parsonage out on the moors. Their vivid imaginations lend them escape from their strict upbringing, actually transporting them into their created worlds: the glittering Verdopolis and the romantic and melancholy Gondal. But at what price? As Branwell begins to slip into madness and the sisters feel their real lives slipping away, they must weigh the cost of their powerful imaginations, even as their characters—the brooding Rogue and dashing Duke of Zamorna—refuse to let them go.

Gorgeously written and based on the Brontës’ juvenilia, Worlds of Ink & Shadow brings to life one of history’s most celebrated literary families.

And as a lover of books and authors, what better type of people to read a historical fiction novel about than this group of siblings/authors?  What do you think? Does it sound like something you'd want to read?

What book are you eagerly awaiting this week?