The Secret Adventures of Charlotte Brontë

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The Secret Adventures of Charlotte Brontë Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Laura Joh Rowland (Author), Rosalyn Landor (Narrator), Random House Audio (Publisher)

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Charlotte Brontë, the beloved author of Jane Eyre, lived a quiet and private life in her father’s Yorkshire parish. Or did she? What if a diary was uncovered that revealed her secret involvement in one of the most thrilling adventures of the 19th century?

Upon learning that she has been falsely accused of breaching her publishing contract, the normally mild-mannered Charlotte sets off for London to clear her name. But when she unintentionally witnesses a murder, Charlotte finds herself embroiled in a dangerous chain of events. With the aid of her sisters, Emily and Anne, and of the suspiciously well-informed but irresistibly attractive brother of the victim, Charlotte works to unravel a deadly web of intrigue that threatens not only her own safety but the very fabric of the British Empire.

Charlotte is plunged into a perilous adventure and a passionate romance that leads her from the peaceful Yorkshire moors to the crime-infested streets of London, across the sea to the Continent, to the ports of Cornwall, the wilds of Scotland, and the palaces of Queen Victoria herself. Will Charlotte be able to stop a devious invisible villain whose schemes threaten her life, her family, and her country?

Listening Length

14 hours and 12 minutes
Author

Laura Joh Rowland
Narrator

Rosalyn Landor
Audible release date

April 29, 2008
Language

English
Publisher

Random House Audio
ASIN

B001FVJGWG
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	14 hours and 12 minutes
Author	Laura Joh Rowland
Narrator	Rosalyn Landor
Audible.com Release Date	April 29, 2008
Publisher	Random House Audio
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B001FVJGWG
Best Sellers Rank	#460,659 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #4,972 in Historical Mysteries (Audible Books & Originals) #12,489 in Women Sleuth Mysteries #25,979 in Historical Mystery

Customer reviews

3.4 out of 5

26 global ratings

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Cartoonist Dawn

Good summer read

Reviewed in the United States on June 2, 2009

The beautiful cover on the hardback is what drew my attention to the book; why the publisher changed it for the paperback, I don't know, as it is not as attractive and I would not have picked it out of the shelf of books if I hadn't been specifically searching for it.

What I did find, once purchasing and reading it, was an author who has been enthralled with Charlotte Bronte and her famous novel, "Jane Eyre", for most of her life. I liked the way she attempted to capture the history of the author while staying true to Ms. Bronte's personality and time. Seems like some historicals impose their own modern morality onto the character rather than staying true to the era. This is not just a mystery novel, but is also a romance. But how does an author capture the imagination of the modern reader, who tends to favor ever racier sexuality in their romances, versus remaining true to the morality of an earlier age? Ms. Rowland does this effectively, in my opinion, by portraying Charlotte's private romantic and adventurous desires versus her public personnae and desire to maintain her identity as a lady of her time. She is also both spunky and demure.

I gave this a "four star" review because it was good enough to encourage me to purchase the second novel in the series, rather than picking up a copy at the library or passing. However, I took a star off for the following reasons: 1. Plot becomes a bit fantastic about 3/4 of the way through, but Ms. Rowland builds the momentum to this point so, although she stretched my credulity, it was still acceptable. 2. The novel is well-paced until Charlotte spends "quality time" listening to the villain's history. This really slows the momentum and it does not pick up again till Charlotte (trying not to give away plot points) leaves his mansion. It is one of my big complaints about many mystery novels: instead of allowing the clues to explain the backstory, the villain "confesses" and ties up all of the plot points.

Charlotte's family members are vividly and distinctly characterized. I like how the author lets each of the Brontes have their moment of heroism. Charlotte's personality is further delineated by being contrasted with the impetuous Emily, who shies from strangers like a wild dog with a history of abuse, and the more staid Anne, her two sisters, and her wounded and self-destructive brother, Branwell. I enjoyed the villain's son, T'ing-nan, and wish he'd been given more story time.

I won't describe the plot, as another review has done so. I learned a lot about the Opium Wars between China and Great Britain, which was quite interesting.

Since the story is told from Charlotte's viewpoint, Ms. Rowland uses diary excerpts, that Charlotte later reads, to fill in story gaps, which I found a rather clever story device.

The romance (I won't say with who) is believeable and satisfying.

I look foward to seeing where Ms. Rowland takes her characters, but am hoping for a little less fantastic plot.

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D. A. H.

Turning An Anti-History Student Into a Historical Fiction Fan

Reviewed in the United States on November 25, 2016

Laura Joh Rowland once again weaves a masterful, richly historical fantasy set in a very realistic Victorian era. This concerns Charlotte Bronte and a fictional depiction of a murder she stumbles across, and it inevitably leads to her involvement in a high-stakes tale of intrigue and international terrorism.

Honestly, I can't do this novel justice. As Ms. Rowland has proven in her Feudal Japan mysteries, she has an eye for historical descriptions born of accuracy and weaved in a language that fits the time. She brings out Charlotte's voice from Jane Eyre with such detail and poignancy that you can tell Ms. Rowland deeply admires the author without the author's notes admitting so.

I'm not even a fan of historical fiction, but Laura Joh Rowland always draws me in, makes me admire the setting and world, all while laying the groundwork for a frightening mystery that leads to its inevitable and unpredictable showdown.

I adore this novel. It will hold a permanent space on my bookshelf no matter how many times I move house.

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Objective Observer

Total Defamation of Charlotte Bronte

Reviewed in the United States on December 11, 2018

This would be a decent teen read, if it were not so ridiculous and if I weren't so offended by Charlotte Bronte's reputation being destroyed. Anyone who did even the slightest bit of research into this time period would know that young girls were not unsupervised with young men, her father would have never approved her running all over the countryside like this. This adventure should have been set in modern times and the main character given a fictional name. I threw it in the trash. The only reason I gave it two stars instead of one is because the plot does progress, just not in a way that I liked.

One person found this helpful

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Lyn Reese

England - 1848

Reviewed in the United States on August 23, 2009

Rowland challenges the reclusive image of Charlotte Bronte by giving her fictional character an action filled life. This view might be based on Charlotte's letters, one of which states: "It is in vain to say human beings ought to be satisfied with tranquility: they must have action; and they will make it if they cannot find it."

In Rowland's story, Charlotte unintentionally witnesses the murder of a woman she has befriended on the train to London. Obsessed with a desire to obtain justice "for this stranger who had engaged my interest and my sympathy," her own life is threatened as she tangles with a secretive Chinese man who had turned to crime after his family was killed during the opium wars in China.

England's political and social conditions are portrayed critically and realistically. Turmoils surrounding the Chartist insurrection, violence in Ireland, and the threat to England of Continental revolutions are referenced. An important plot point is the widespread use of opium in China, and into brother Branwell's weakening system. Descriptions of the filth, smells, and generally appalling living conditions in industrial Haworth, and other larger industrial cities, speak to the country's worsening poverty. London's pandemonium is detailed as well as the city's lack of sanitation; Charlotte says it "tasted of cholera," with the Thames creating the "stench of decay."

The Bronte sisters' need to publish under male names and seek work as governesses or teachers, the only other occupations available to educated women, is revealed. Charlotte's visit to a boarding school run for poor girls evokes memories of her own grim schooling, which in the real author's life resulted in the death of two of her sisters.

The use of historical personalities as characters is problematic here. It is difficult to believe the sudden transformation of the Brontes into adventure seeking "spies," since initially they are presented as fearful women who preferred the solitude of their father's parsonage. And, one supposes that Rowland used Bronte''s novels and letters as a basis for the fictional Charlotte's sexual yearnings, directed at any man who came close to exciting her fantasies.

Short Author's Note at end.

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The Secret Adventures of Charlotte Brontë Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

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