These novels, published under the pseudonym Bella Ellis, see the Brontës take on the part of amateur detectives in order to solve crimes. They are set around 1845, which Rowan explained is the year the first “detectors” were created as part of the relatively new Metropolitan Police Force.
After a warm introduction by the Brussels Brontë Group’s Myriam Campinaire, Rowan began by describing the start of her own personal Brontë journey at the age of 10. Unwillingly taken to visit the Haworth Parsonage (what 10-year-old gets excited about a museum trip, especially one unrelated to anything she is familiar with?). Much to her surprise, as soon as she set foot in the parsonage, she was captivated by the energy of the place.
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| Rowan Coleman and Charlotte Brontë |
A self-proclaimed “odd” child, she too lived in a world of imagination, writing stories, drawing and creating miniature manuscripts, so she at once felt an affinity with the remarkable children who had once inhabited those rooms and moors. This led to her mother buying her a copy of Jane Eyre, which she read and loved even at that young age, although her interest was mainly in the young Jane’s experiences and trials, cheering her on in her development towards finally being able to live life on her own terms.
By the time she was 29, Rowan went on to become a published author. In 2016, whilst writing her novel The Girl at the Window, she spent some time at Ponden Hall in Yorkshire, which some believe was the inspiration for the Wuthering Heights farmhouse in Emily Brontë’s novel. Here she slept in the “famous” box bed and took long walks to some of the Brontës’ favourite spots on the moors. She would also enjoy sitting at Penistone Crag just like the Brontës did all those years ago and immersing herself in their world. It was at this time that she got the idea to write a book featuring the Brontë siblings solving mysteries, and she started by inserting an Emily Brontë cameo in The Girl at the Window. During the next two years, she would spend many weeks at Ponden Hall working on her mystery novels.
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| Box bed at Ponden Hall, photo taken by myself in 2017. |
Rowan emphasised that she weaves known facts about the Brontës into her mystery novels. One of her rules when writing them is to be biographically and historically accurate, so she set about reading the multitude of biographies written since Charlotte’s death in 1855. She of course discovered that many of the claims made in them are simply conjecture, or just plain errors, such as Virginia Moore in 1936 wondering whether “Louis Parensell” was Emily’s lover when in fact those handwritten words actually read “Love’s Farewell.” A cheeky nod to this is the character of “Louis Parensell” in The Red Monarch!
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| The breathtaking Ponden Kirk. Bronte Country photo. |
According to some of the biographies out there, Charlotte would have been an early 20th-century suffragette, Emily possibly a lesbian or perhaps autistic. These biographies naturally reflect the time that they were written in, so in order to keep the sisters’ voices in her novels authentic, Rowan consciously made them behave in ways that would fit in with what is actually known of them. Their behaviour in Rowan’s novels rings true, and this has been confirmed by much of the feedback received from readers.
Rowan’s version of the Brontës:
Charlotte: A writer’s writer, who lived and breathed the anguish of being a writer. Her unrequited love gave her insight into the depths of human emotion. She is insightful, empathetic and reads people well.
Emily: The most mysterious of the sisters – we know the least about her except that she loved her home, family and pets. She is unconventional, not bothered with social norms, unafraid, and a bit of an action hero (remember that her father taught her how to shoot!). She saw the world in a unique way and had a lifelong fascination with folklore, local tales and fairies.
Anne: A quiet revolutionary (as attested by The Tenant of Wildfell Hall), she was the siblings’ moral compass.
Branwell: A rather maligned character who knows what he could have been had he lived up to everyone’s expectations. However, he knows how to pick a lock!
In Rowan’s words, she believes and hopes that her Brontë mysteries are fun to read, in spite of the many dark themes which they address. She says that they were certainly fun to write, and she always made sure to plant plenty of Brontë Easter eggs in them.
Behind the fun and mystery-solving is a lifetime of reading the Brontës’ works, years of research, much love, and a belief that, as genuine Brontë lovers, we are all their “descendants” in spirit.
Georgette Cutajar
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