Jane Eyer. Whuthering Heights. The Brontë Sisters are some of the most well-known writers in the English language, having created works that have survived the test of time, and that you were probably forced to read in your 10th grade English class. The idea of Glass town though, proceeded all of this. Glass town was created by the Brontës when they were still young. Before they had written their novels, before they were even adults. In “Glass Town: The Imaginary World of the Brontës,” Isabelle Greenburg explores the world of Glass Town through the eyes of Charlotte Brontë, following her life and its connection to the fantastic world she and her siblings created.
Written and Illustrated by Isabelle Greenburg
A graphic novel about the Brontë siblings, and the strange and marvelous imaginary worlds they invented during their childhoodGlass Town is an original graphic novel by Isabel Greenberg that encompasses the eccentric childhoods of the four Bront. children—Charlotte, Branwell, Emily, and Anne. The story begins in 1825, with the deaths of Maria and Elizabeth, the eldest siblings. It is in response to this loss that the four remaining Bront. children set pen to paper and created the fictional world that became known as Glass Town. This world and its cast of characters would come to be the Brontës’ escape from the realities of their lives. Within Glass Town the siblings experienced love, friendship, war, triumph, and heartbreak. Through a combination of quotes from the stories originally penned by the Brontës, biographical information about them, and Greenberg’s vivid comic book illustrations, readers will find themselves enraptured by this fascinating imaginary world.
There is an extremely physical feeling to Isabelle Greenburg’s art in “Glass Town: The Imaginary World of the Brontës.” Every line, every color feels like it was done with traditional artistic implements. This physicality, the scratchiness of each line drawn, gives “Glass Town” a great sense of setting. Even the lettering on the book contributes to this feeling. The font used is almost script like, giving the words the feeling that they could have been handwritten by the actual Brontës. The art makes the book feel like it could have come from the same, early 19th century that it is set in.
In the same way, while the entire book feels like it is an artifact from the time the Brontë’s were alive, Greenburg is able to create two distinct worlds in this setting. First, there is the real world. The one where the Bronte siblings, Charlotte, Emily, Anne and their brother Branwell, live a life sequestered from the rest of the world trapped like “potatoes in a dark cellar.” This world, reality, is drawn by Greenburg in washed out pinks and blue greys. In comparison, the world of Glass Town is vibrant. Bright, full, almost garish colors fill the Brontë’s imaginary world. From the dreary colors of ordinary life, its easy to see what an escape Glass Town must have been.
The story of “Glass Town” follows Charlotte, the last living Brontë sister as she reminisces to one of her old characters about her life, and the stories she and her siblings created as children. “Glass Town” is a work of historical fiction. While the actual events of Charlotte and her sibling’s life are mostly accurate, the story, and what we learn about Charlottes inner life, is mostly the work of fiction. What is interesting are the parts of the Brontës’ lives that are included in the story, and those that are not.
Some of the most interesting parts of “Glass Town” are the sections that take place in the real world, between Charlotte and her siblings as the decide on the world they wanted to create, the influences they were bringing into their story, and the conflicts that came from each of them wanting their own things. The book is at its best when it is really able to tie Glass Town to the real life experience of the Brontës without having the narrating future Charlotte explicitly tie them together.
What is interesting about “Glass Town” is the split between telling the story of the Brontës real life while also telling the story of Glass Town. Greenburg is able to move between the two quite well, showing how Glass town came in and out of Charlotte’s life, what it meant to her throughout her childhood and young adulthood, and how it prepared her to become the writer she would eventually become.
The main problem, though, is that the portions of the book taking place in Glass Town are not especially thrilling. Because of the way the story is being told, we see Glass Town from Charlotte’s perspective. This gives every moment spent on the Glass Town part of the story a certain remove. We’re never actually reading about the Glass Town characters, instead just reading about Charlotte reminiscing about the characters and their stories. The portions of the book that take place in Glass Town can sometimes feel less like an actual story than a recap of them. You get the plot points, but it’s not nearly as interesting as the real thing.
Because of this, the end result of “Glass Town” is that it falls a bit flat. It’s interesting to learn about Glass Town, but in the end the book feels more like learning about a story than actually experiencing the story for yourself. For those whose only experience with the Brontës was reading Jane Eyre for school, this might not be the most engaging experience. But, if you’re already interested in the Brontë’s, and would like to learn more about their juvenilia, “Glass Town” is a beautiful experience that will let you experience, in part, the imaginary world that the Brontë siblings created together.
