Book Synopsis:
From the Sunday Times-bestselling author of The Memory Book, Rowan Coleman, comes a special new series featuring the Brontë sisters, written under the name Bella Ellis
Yorkshire, 1845
A young woman has gone missing from her home, Chester Grange, leaving no trace, save a large pool of blood in her bedroom and a slew of dark rumours about her marriage. A few miles away across the moors, the daughters of a humble parson, Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë are horrified, yet intrigued.
Desperate to find out more, the sisters visit Chester Grange, where they notice several unsettling details about the crime scene: not least the absence of an investigation. Together, the young women realise that their resourcefulness, energy and boundless imaginations could help solve the mystery – and that if they don’t attempt to find out what happened to Elizabeth Chester, no one else will.
The path to the truth is not an easy one, especially in a society which believes a woman’s place to be in the home, not wandering the countryside looking for clues. But nothing will stop the sisters from discovering what happened to the vanished bride, even as they find their own lives are in great peril…
The Vanished Bride is available in ebook and hardback now. You can purchase your copy using the link below.
My Review:
I always love stories that re-imagine famous stories or involve real people so I was very intrigued by this book and the idea of the Brontë sister’s as detectives!
Firstly the author does a great job of setting the scene so that the reader feels completely transported to the 1800s and into the Brontë’s lives. I loved the little details the author includes from how women were expected to dress and spend their time to how people expected them to behave, which I found very interesting. It made it very easy to picture the Brontë’s in that life and to warm to them as characters.
The story is told from the point of view of each of the sisters which I thought was a nice touch as it gives the reader a chance to get to know them all individually. They are three very different women who each have different skills to bring to the investigation. My favourite was Emily who often made me laugh with her witty outbursts and actions but I enjoyed learning more about each of them. The banter and arguements between them were very amusing and made them feel much more realistic. They started to feel like old friends as the story progressed and I was quite sad to finish the book and leave them behind.
The mystery part of the story was well plotted and I enjoyed watching it all develop. It’s surprisingly gripping and the sense of anticipation of what might happen had me simultaneously wanting to read on to find out what happens but also not wanting to as I wasn’t sure I wanted to know. The author has cleverly included little hints about the stories the sisters would write into the story which I thought was a nice touch and, as a huge Brontë fan, gave me great pleasure. I really hope there are more books to come.
Huge thanks to Steven Cooper from Hodder Books for my copy of this book and for inviting me onto the blog tour. If you are a fan of historical mysteries then I think you will enjoy this book.
About The Author:
Bella Ellis is the Brontë inspired pen name for the award winning, Sunday Times bestselling author Rowan Coleman.
A Brontë devotee for most of her life, Rowan is the author of fourteen novels including The Memory Book , The Summer of Impossible Things and The Girl at the Window, as well as the co-author of Mirror, Mirror, the debut novel by actor and model Cara Delevingne.
Bella Ellis lives in Hertfordshire with her husband and five children.
Twitter @brontemysteries
Over The Rainbow Blog 
Fab review Jo, can’t wait to read this now! x
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