Emma Brown

(Paperback)

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Description

When Charlotte Bronte died in 1855, she left behind the beginnings of a new novel - twenty pages of a work in progress called Emma. Now, almost 150 years later, Clare Boylan has returned to this most intriguing of fragments, and turned them into an astonishing story of mystery, atmosphere and page-turning suspense. When Conway Fitzgibbon arrives at Fuchsia Lodge with his daughter Matilda, the headmistress Miss Wilcox couldn't be more delighted. The ladies' school is limited in numbers and eager for new pupils, particularly ones so finely dressed, and boasting a father who is 'quite the gentleman'. But as Christmas approaches, and Miss Wilcox inquires about arrangements for the holidays, she is in for a shock. Conway Fitzgibbon, like the address he left behind, does not exist. So who is Matilda With Miss Wilcox unable to extract any information out of the girl, it falls to a local lawyer, Mr Ellin, and a young widow, Isabel Chalfant, to unravel the truth. What they discover is a tale that travels the highs and lows of nineteenth-century England, an investigation that changes all their lives forever ...

Reviews

'Emma Brown is deliciously gothic. Secrets, subplots, love affairs and liars add intensity to this vital story.' DAILY MAIL 'you want to know what happens, and who Emma really is - the essential test of success ...convincing...a 19th-century novel for today, with a creditable Brontean flavour.' SUNDAY TIMES 'extraordinary...wonderfully intricate and intriguing.' IRISH TIMES 'part detective story, part psychological drama...result.' MAIL

Author Bio

Clare Boylan is a highly acclaimed novelist and short story writer whose work also regularly appears in the GUARDIAN etc.