Most of the novels I review for
this blog are set during the nineteenth century—Jennifer’s Vandever’s 2006 The Bronte Project is not.
Her protagonist, Sara Frost, is a
struggling academic in twenty-first-century New York City, who’s on a quest to
discover lost letters to shine more light on Charlotte Bronte’s unrequited
passion for her Belgian schoolteacher. But Charlotte’s love life isn’t the only
one on the rocks. At 28, Sara is left reeling when her fiancé abandons her to
live down and out in Paris, imitating his hero, George Orwell. ‘Moving on’ is
hard when you’re still safeguarding an ex’s beloved first editions and when the
other men in your orbit are an alcoholic Hollywood producer who wants you to
sex up the Brontes and a Frenchman with a penchant for breaking into your
apartment and calling people poems who might or might not be sleeping with his
half-sister.
The Bronte Project, as
you may be gathering, is pretty silly stuff, but what’s fun about it is how the
novel defies expectations about the trajectory of women’s fiction. Without
giving away the ending, neither Sara’s romantic journey nor her work on the
Bronte siblings concludes as I imagined in the opening pages, which felt like
the first twenty minutes of a predictable rom com. As long as you don’t go into
this expecting a heart-warming romance, you’re sure to be entertained.
 |
| Jennifer Vandever (1968- ) |
Vandever is strongest as a
satirist, turning a critical eye on New York vs. LA culture and the trappings
of modern academia. One of her best-realised characters is Claire Vigee, a
rising star at the university who’s pioneering the field of ‘Diana Studies’,
centred on the life of the late princess. In fact Princess Diana, at times,
seems to take over the novel as its central reference point, rather than the
Brontes. For a Victorianist, it’s disappointing that, aside from the inclusion
of quotes from Charlotte at the opening of each chapter and a few extended
passages to educate readers on the siblings’ lives, the engagement with Bronte
trivia is pretty superficial.
Overall, The Bronte Project is a light and funny read, with original quirks
and good prose. If you want to bring the Brontes with you to the beach this
summer, it could be worth picking up.
Do you know of any other
contemporary novels with a nineteenth century twist you think the Secret
Victorianist should read next? Let me know—here, on Facebook or by tweeting
@SVictorianist.
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