The World Within: A Novel of Emily Bronte

The World Within: A Novel of Emily Bronte is the YA historical fiction novel by Jane Eagland.

Change is in the air. This is what worries Emily – as she loves spending all of her time with her sisters Charlotte and Anne, as well as her brother Branwell in their small, quiet village of Haworth. Their shared stories, often written down, spurs her imagination and takes her on grand adventures.

But when her father falls ill and Charlotte is sent away to school, Emily’s world begins to crumble. Branwell seems less and less interested in his little sisters and Anne may not be as dependable as Emily once thought…

The World Within: A Novel of Emily Bronte interested me in that I love historical fiction and I love Charlotte Bronte. I’ve never read Emily’s Wuthering Heights (though I do own it) and every time I start it I am put off by how much I dislike the characters. Yet I still thought this book may be intriguing.

Sadly, Eagland’s presentation of Emily’s unknown childhood with her fellow famous siblings was not very compelling. It was a very quiet, very straightforward story of siblings, with the dramatic, wild(ish) one at the center. Quiet and straightforward can be piercing and raw when done with the right words and arrangement – however, I never felt that with The World Within.

Though these words pain me to say, I found this book… boring. I kept waiting for something to happen.

Now I don’t mean vampires attacking, mind you. Nothing ridiculous. But some kind of emotion, some kind of harsh reality of life in that time period… something.

Eagland never managed to make me feel invested enough in any of the characters to relish the subtle story she writes here, unfortunately. The only part that affected me was a part involving a pet – which can almost always get to me emotionally.

Other than that, I didn’t care for the character of Emily and the lack of anything ever really happening made The World Within a book that I had to start skimming, due to the huge pile of other books calling my name.

There are likely plenty of you that would adore this book – so please do read it for yourself. I am one opinion among many, don’t let me dissuade you from giving it a try!