Book 637: The Vanished Bride (A Brontë Sisters Mystery #1) – Bella Ellis

As I mentioned in my June recap, I sort of Twitter-shamed Berkley into granting me access to this book—and I do still feel a little guilty about it. I tweeted because I was so mad that sites like NetGalley force bloggers/reviewers and publishers into tiny little boxes.

How are you supposed to represent everything you are as a blogger/reviewer when they give you 50 words or less and that’s about it? I get they’re trying to provide a service, but it’s like come on be user friendly for all the users. Why would I include that I have dedicated Jane Austen and Brontë pages on my website when I read hundreds of other books. UGH. Either way, the kind people at Berkley took pity on me and granted me access to the review copy and here I am.*

I’m glad I requested this, but I’m not sure where I am having finished it. It’s somewhere between 3 and 4 stars on Goodreads so I went down because more didn’t work than did. The Vanished Bride will be released on September 10 in the U.S. and November 7 in the U.K.

Bella Ellis, a pseudonym for Rowan Coleman, clearly knows and loves the Brontës and writes their characters REALLY WELL, but if I didn’t know better (aka having looked at that website), I would’ve thought she hadn’t written mysteries/thrillers and/or that this is a debut novel. For some reason the mystery/thriller part just didn’t work for me. I didn’t feel cheated like I have with some mystery/thrillers, but I felt underwhelmed. I’m wondering if trying to fit in the mystery/thriller,the Brontës, and the historical fiction part was just too much for this book? It’s hard to say.

This book takes place in the summer the four Brontë siblings return from their various employments, but before they really invest themselves in becoming authors. Ellis included many well known incidents from their lives including Branwell’s coming home drunk, Emily’s utter refusal to publish her poetry, and the siblings penchant for bickering but lovingly. The dogs Keeper and Flossie make an appearance too!

Where she took it a step further and I think did a wonderful job was with bringing the characters to life and having them go through experiences that become incredibly influential to their published works. Experiencing Emily discover/further explore the supernatural, Charlotte coming into her own of finding out the truth from people, and witnessing Anne find a passion for writing about and exposing real life problems was explicitly well done. However, as this is a set up for a series, I do have to wonder if Ellis did too much too fast and if there is enough room for more character development with so little actually known about Emily and Anne? She’ll probably be alright with Charlotte, but from the start of this book to Emily and Anne dying it’s less than 5 years I think.

Recommendation: Worth the read if you love the Brontës. I was impressed with Ellis’ characterization of the family. The mystery part wasn’t as engaging as I was hoping it to be, but I’ll keep an eye out for the next one in the series.

*I received a digital copy of The Vanished Bride from the publisher via NetGalley in return for my honest opinion. No money or goods were exchanged.

Opening Line: “The first thing Matilda French saw was the blood.”

Closing Line: “At once, all the sisters gathered round the letter, their curiosity already taking flight as a new adventure beckoned.” (Whited out to avoid spoilers, highlight to read.)