Sometimes they seem poised to burst forth from the page, defying physics in tribute to the seething spirits that gave us Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. She becomes increasingly attracted to Zamorna, her brother-in-law, legal guardian, and also her mother’s gaoler. They work together to build Glass Town and its prime movers – the scheming Earl of Northangerland, his reforming wife Zenobia, put-upon daughter Mary Percy, dashing son Zamorna and adopted son Quashia. Charles Townshend – Youngest son of the Duke of Wellington and brother to Zamorna, Lord Charles Albert Florian Wellesley is one of the most prominent characters to feature in the Glass Town and Angrian stories. Based on Sir Robert Peel, Warner’s relationship with Zamorna is thought to reflect that of Peel and the historical Duke of Wellington.

Mary’s lack of devotion to Zamorna in adulthood was also quite jarring when in the source material she would die for him. She wrote of the pain she felt at wrenching herself from her 'friends' and venturing into lands unknown". It is the perfect combination of clever, crazy, and just a tiny bit creepy, and will appeal to anyone who has wondered about how imagination shapes us, as well as to card-carrying Bronte fans. Christine Alexander, a Brontë juvenilia historian, wrote that "this fictitious world established in Africa bears little resemblance to Africa [. I’d particularly love to see her get her hands on the likes of the Angrian stories Henry Hastings (1839) and Caroline Vernon (1839) as well as the above mentioned Glass Town tale Strange Events.It could be a quick read, but I found myself lingering over each page – it’s certainly an object of beauty as well, that would enliven any shelf or coffee table. Much of the saga was formulated only in discussion amongst the creators; knowledge was assumed between the collaborators, who had no need to explain circumstances or background in individual stories".

Originally maid to his mother, the Duchess of Wellington and then to his second wife, Marian Hume, Mina becomes Zamorna’s favourite and most loyal mistress, even acting as a mother figure to his young children following Marian’s death. As the title suggests, the focus is on Glass Town, so Emily and Anne’s Gondal doesn’t get much of a look in here, but then that’s probably because most of it has been lost over time and many of the surviving writings are fragments. Branwell was at the centre of this universe, often dictating the events of the saga or writing long parliamentary speeches and war epics". This world and its cast of characters would come to be the Brontës’ escape from the realities of their lives.More and more, she was finding that she preferred to escape to her imagined worlds over remaining in reality – and she feared that she was going mad. The sagas they created were episodic and elaborate, and they exist in incomplete manuscripts, some of which have been published as juvenilia.

Isabel Greenberg is the only one who could bring us here, having honed a perfect style that feels timeless, dark, and a little otherworldly. Later adopted by “Old Girnington” and inherits his estate, he is made a General by Zamorna and also appointed guardian to Lord Charles Wellesley. Culture24 highlighted that "the Brontës featured themselves as Gods in their worlds, of which they wrote long sagas in tiny micro-script, as well as using both fictional and real-life characters, reminiscent of the creations of JRR Tolkein [sic] and CS Lewis.The _ga cookie, installed by Google Analytics, calculates visitor, session and campaign data and also keeps track of site usage for the site's analytics report. Her drawings are harsh and deliberately untidy, channeling the frantic, awkward passion of a precocious child. it is not until 1834, the siblings' new kingdom Angria, and Zamorna's subsequent marriage to Northangerland's daughter, Mary, that the duo's incredible dynamic is fully unleashed. It’s wonderful to see characters and plot-lines I’m now so familiar with come to life in this very modern format.