C.B.'s last novel

Still saddened by the news of Clare Boylan's death, we were pondering today on the fact that Charlotte's (unfinished) last novel was also her last novel. They both shared initials and they both were at their best when they passed away. And things don't end there. They both shared their birthday on April 21. So it was only a logical conclusion that Clare Boylan liked Charlotte Brontë and took up the task of 'finishing' Charlotte's last novel.

Today The Times publishes her obituary and they comment on Emma Brown being her best novel so far and also tell an anecdote that conveys how committed to her work Clare Boylan really was:

But her last novel, Emma Brown, published in 2003, was set mainly in London, and was Boylan’s interpretation and completion of a two-chapter fragment left behind by Charlotte Brontë.
This was perhaps her best book, as well as her most successful. It involved a huge amount of research, which included walking around the streets of London with a guide, until her feet blistered and bled.

And it seems this was her way of working and writing - not just a comfortable chair and pen and paper for her.

One friend, upon learning of her final illness, said: “Part of the tragedy is that there will be no more wonderful books.”

That is always part of the tragedy when a writer dies.

Categories: Brontëites