Wow, what a treat for Bronte-sauruses such as us - a graphic novel that doesn't just dish up the usual stale old biography of the Brontes, but delves into their storytelling psyche in a completely unique way.

"Glass Town" by Isabel Greenberg digs into the backstory of Charlotte, Emily, Branwell and Anne. Living in a tumbledown house in the middle of a remote moor had an early effect on the adventuresome imaginations of the four children. Though their life was tinged with early tragedy and the loss of two siblings, the four developed a deep bond through their love of storytelling.

In particular their dreamed-up world where the four would often cook up narratives, plots and characters that would undoubtedly influence their later lives and in particular Charlotte and Emily's writing careers.

Isabel perfectly captures the often stark bleakness of their young lives, and how that completely contrasted with Glass Town and the world they wrote about, drew and mapped out as the four would play together.



But she goes a step further - this is Isabel Greenberg we're talking about after all, and soon the characters of Glass Town begin to seep into the real world lives of the four as the characters beg to tell their own stories.


As you'll discover once you dip in, the four (often contrasting) personalities of the Brontes fed directly into the evolution of their imaginary world, and the friendships and conflicts of the imaginary folk they populated it with.

Sum this book up in a sentence: Sumptuous, darkly delicious and gothic, and at times quite uplifting and heartwarming, this is an absolute must for every Bronte fan who's ever wondered "What if Glass Town was ever developed into a story in its own right?"

"Glass Town" by Isabel Greenberg is out now, published by Jonathan Cape PB (kindly supplied for review). 

We've really enjoyed the previous books in Frances Lincoln Publishing's awesome "Discover" series...

 Non-Fiction is definitely our bag, baby - History in particular so we're very excited by two new books from Frances Lincoln Publishing. The new "Discover" series starts by looking at two of our favourite historical subjects, The Roman Empire and The Ancient Egyptians in these two awesome pocket-sized books from Isabel and Imogen Greenberg.

Don't let their diminutive size put you off. Crammed into the 32 pages in each book are a metric ton of amazing facts and figures about the Ancient Egyptians and the Romans, with an excellent historical timeline of the rise and fall of both civilisations included within the books.

Isabel's brilliant illustrations really bring the books to life. A graphic novelist, she's brought her comic-book skills to both titles with excellent effect. We've seen humour used to 'sell' history in so many other comparable titles but this is a new and fresh approach, opting to let Imogen's thoroughly researched treatment of the subject matter at
hand do all the talking, and ultimately kids will be completely hooked by the myriad of fascinating facts packed into each title.

Follow-ups are planned in the same range (Hooray!) tackling Ancient Greeks and Vikings next (double hooray!)

What a pair of brilliant little books! "Discover - The Roman Empire" and "Discover - The Ancient Egyptians" are released on 7th April 2016 by Frances Lincoln Publishing. Make room in your bag for them both!