THE INFERNAL WORLD OF BRANWELL BRONTE

A study- with newly interpreted evidence from his own writings and other sources- of the tragic brother of the gifted Bronte sisters, this throws fresh light on the dour background, the home life- less grim than usually pictured- and, unfortunately, the limitations of medical knowledge in handling Branwell's undoubted epilepsy. Largely, however, Daphne du Maurier has chosen to recreate the "Infernal world" which Branwell and Emily had made so much their own from childhood on that the Nagrian tales, as they are called, mirrored the overlapping of truth and fiction, of a lost identity, which plagued Branwell throughout his brief and tortured life. Failures contributed to his breakdown and at twenty five he faced an empty life, his paintings ignored, his writings inadequate, his health irreparably damaged by the use of drugs and liquor to alleviate the congenital weaknesses. This is an odd book for Daphne du Maurier to have undertaken, unless the weird fascination of the Bronte story found answering echo in her own attraction to somewhat morbid settings and themes. Her craftsmanship has made of the material something more than a case of literary research; almost one feels that she is unravelling a long distorted mystery. But it is unlikely that even her name will achieve for it the wide and sure popularity of her earlier work.