The Brontës by Pamela Norris is a collection of selected poems from not only the Bronte sisters, but also certain poems from their brother Patrick Branwell Brontë. According to the introduction, Patrick Bronte was a good poet, but did not reach the level of sophistication of his sisters. Emily Brontë, according to Norris, is the most accomplished of the poets in terms of grasping meter and other components of poetry. Anne Brontë is the most accessible, and readers often find it easier to emotionally connect with the poet. Charlotte Brontë‘s poems often resemble her novels with their passionate women and abrasive men, but Norris says her narrative style can often overwhelm the poem and obscure its meaning.

The collection begins with a selection of poems from Charlotte, and many of these poems are bogged down in narrative, poetic prose, but the meaning of the poems are not completely obscured. In fact, the selection of poems offer a sense of longing and despair topped with a current of optimism and rays of hope. In “Mementos,” Charlotte alludes to the precious nature of material objects, which even though tied to loved ones, is now moldy and dusty — long forgotten.

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