Those Brontë sisters! We’ve heard so much about these talented siblings. Charlotte, who famously authored Jane Eyre, was the domineering older sister. Emily, who wrote Wuthering Heights, was a tomboy who loved striding across the countryside with tangled hair and wind-burned cheeks. And then there was Anne—serious, sickly, and pious. Her timid nature made her controversial books, Agnes Gray and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, all the more surprising. D. M. Denton’s novel explores the life of the lesser-known Brontë sister.
They were such different people, yet these sisters could always come together for creative collaboration, beginning with the books they wrote as children about the land of Gondal. Their father had provided them with an education comparable to his son’s, “not seeing us as possessions to be bartered off but as vibrant persons to be as God intended rather than any mortal man desires.”
A central fact of Anne’s life was that she had been disappointed in love. William Weightman, Reverend Brontë’s curate, was either an amiable flirt or simply “generous with his joyousness”. In either case, Anne takes William’s glances and touches of fingertips, combined with a valentine on which he’s written, “Anne, dear, sweet Anne”, to indicate a deep feeling between them that might well develop into a lifelong union. But instead, William is taken by cholera.
Anne’s loss of what might have been defines the rest of her life. Because no one could have suspected anything between Anne and William, she is forced to withhold her grief, “without any or enough memories to fill the spaces death left.” She couldn’t even wear mourning, as she “would have been ridiculed for making too much of a few flirtations.” She is viewed as withdrawn when she holds a secret passion within.
When both Anne and Charlotte return home from their governess positions and are reunited with Emily, the sisters once again take up a cooperative project—combining their poems into a book to submit for publication. This would provide them with a living while enabling them to stay at home together. Charlotte is the driving force, naturally. Although the poetry book does not sell, the experience drives each of the sisters to write her own book and pursue publication.
There is another Brontë sibling, younger brother Branwell. William had been his friend and his conscience. After the curate’s death, Branwell’s life slides into downfall. He takes a position in the Robinson household, where Anne is a governess. There, Mrs. Robinson seems to have designs on Branwell, a circumstance he attempts to exploit to his advantage. Instead, he is sent home to avoid scandal, where he indulges in drink and drugs, takes money from his aging, blind father, destroys his own health, and threatens the well-being of the entire family when he accidentally sets his bedroom on fire We see where innocent Anne learned about the dissipation she describes in her books. And the poor choice of husbands her former governess charges make informs her about the dark side of marriage, also reflected in her novels.
Soon after Branwell finally dies, Emily contracts consumption. The most robust of the sisters, who always took it upon herself to care for Anne, is the first felled. When Anne realizes that she, too, has been stricken with consumption, her poetry becomes prayers for survival. She dies at 29 years old, hoping to join her William.
Denton’s skillful characterizations of the Brontë sisters give the reader a distinct personality for each. A visit to the striking mill workers in their town is telling:
Emily…was only socially available to any animals she encountered:
in one instance a scroungy couple of chickens, in another an
emaciated caged rabbit…Charlotte tried too hard to initiate
conversation, her intellect overshadowing her compassion…
Anne was most comfortable with the elderly who seemed to
appreciate her leaning over to quietly greet them and touch
their cold veined hands. She was nearly as easy with the
younger children who responded with large eyes and shy voices
to her squatting down to ask their names and ages.
And the author has an almost uncanny ability to write in a style that would not have seemed foreign to the Brontë sisters. Consider this, Anne’s sentiment while living apart from her family as a governess, while William was still alive:
A look to the west was almost a journey home to family and
one who might yet be, until just before dark she reluctantly
turned back to the great red-brick house that signified a livelihood
and loneliness.
What a treat for this reader to find Without the Veil Between, within months after I had for the first time read Anne Brontë’s books. Consider this a cautionary tale: no matter how meek and unassuming she may appear, a writer will watch you and feel free to share your iniquities with the world!