Illustrative Genii: The Brontës’ Genius

Neo-Victorian young adult biofictions like The Glass Town Game (2017) by Catherynne Valente and Worlds of Ink and Shadow (2016) by Lena Coakley explore the fascinating Brontë family in fiction that collapses the space between their actual lives in Howarth and their imaginative lives in their juvenilia worlds. Two recent graphic novels—Charlotte Brontë Before Jane Eyre (2009) by Glynnis Fawkes and Glass Town: The Imaginary World of the Brontës by Isabel Greenberg (2020)—further explore the conflation of juvenilian narratives with biographical suppositions. These biofictions enact a double perspective wherein the representation of the Brontës and their worlds inspires the young adult reader to consider their contemporary environment and the drive to create worlds that provide escape.