Set amidst the pastoral beauty of Yorkshire, England, in the mid-1800s, Brontë's Mistress by Finola Austin offers readers a thrilling new perspective on the scandalous love affair that consumed Branwell Brontë, brother to Charlotte, Emily and Anne. This narrative reimagines the story of his often overlooked paramour Lydia Robinson and the long-term reverberations of their illicit union.
Lydia is the profoundly self-absorbed narrator, a calculating yet also tragically vulnerable figure. We meet her as she grieves the loss of both her mother and baby daughter, in a marriage crushed under the weight of losing a child. She struggles to mother her surviving daughters, leaving their care to the governess, Anne. The arrival of Anne's brother, an aspiring poet, as tutor to Lydia's son, brings her back to life. His attentions restore her faith in herself.
In his 20s, handsome Branwell looks every part the poet, with dark cherubic curls and a "deep blue stare." The euphoria of their romance and its stormy end are captured in suspenseful, sexually charged scenes. Once it's over, Branwell's destruction is swift and irrevocable. Lydia, though, is a survivor whose story offers many fascinating twists and turns, propelled by a desire to flee the suffocating binds of intrusive in-laws, financial concerns and rebellious daughters.
Austin's passion for all things 19th-century England glows in this marvelous debut. She skillfully resurrects a slice of buried history, grounding Brontë's Mistress in actual characters and events. The irresistible details of the scandal and its dramatic aftermath, however, are wholly her own impressive creation. --Shahina Piyarali, writer and reviewer