Review of 'Fifteen Wild Decembers' by Karen Powell
Review of 'Fifteen Wild Decembers' by Karen Powell
Release date: Out now!
Publisher: Europa Editions
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About the book:
Isolated from society, Emily Bronte and her siblings spend their days inventing elaborate fictional realms or roaming the wild moors above their family home in Yorkshire. When the time comes for them to venture out into the world to earn a living, each of them struggles to adapt, but for Emily the change is catastrophic. Torn from the landscape to which she has become so passionately bound, she is simply unable to function.
To the outside world, Emily Bronte appears taciturn and unexceptional, but beneath the surface her mind is in a creative ferment. A violent phenomenon is about to burst forth that will fuse her imaginary world with the landscape of her beloved Yorkshire and change the literary world forever.
Fifteen Wild Decembers is the dazzling second novel from a writer who has been compared to Shirley Hazzard and Graham Greene, and whose first novel was described as 'utterly stunning', 'mesmerizing' and hailed as 'a masterpiece.'
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REVIEW
What a magnificent and mesmerising tribute! When I heard of a new novel focused on Emily Bronte, I knew immediately I had to review it. Once I read a sample of Karen Powell’s writing, I felt an immediate connection. Wuthering Heights has always been my favourite classic novel and Emily’s writing, including her poetry, is pure literary brilliance soaked in her passion and infused with her love of the moors and nature in general. She has inspired me in my own writing on so many levels it is hard to measure. I have always felt a kinship with her. And like Emily, I have felt my greatest spiritual connection while I am wandering the hills, combing the shorelines, revelling in the forests and anywhere natural beauty lies.
Some might ask, has Karen portrayed the real Emily Bronte? That is difficult to assess as we all have in our minds ideas of what she might have been like. The only thing we can do is consider the information available and take it with a grain of salt as there are so many unusual and questionable opinions about her. The one thing we can do is safely soak in her poetry and dine on her fiction to feel her heartbeat. And outside of that, entertain the comments made by others who knew her, like her sisters. But how revealing will they be? Did her family hide their concerns or real opinions of this private person who never quite fit into the austere world? Maybe. One thing we do know is that she was a free and wild spirit who loved to roam the moors, get soaked in the rain and feel the wondrous movements of the earth. A woman who had such a grand imagination that she could conjure characters so powerful they would live on for generations in the hearts and minds of readers around the globe.
Karen may or may not have perfectly captured the true Emily but she has delivered a possible version in her profoundly powerful portrayal of this poet and novelist who defied conventions and walked her own path. I found Ms Powell’s writing to be expressive, passionate and eloquent and it matched Emily’s talent for visual descriptions. In Fifteen Wild Decembers (a beautiful title based on one of Emily’s poems), we are able to embrace the beauty she saw in nature, the deep sentiments she felt for her wild landscape and animals. On these pages we can feel both the closeness and friction experienced between her and her siblings. Her brother Branwell was a big part of her life so he inhabits a large portion of the novel. She had great concerns for him and his addictions but also recognised his importance in the family. Little Anne remained close to Emily. She was the youngest and favourite of her aunt and the only one who maintained a position as governess, even though she did not particularly like it. And we see her father, the Reverend, try to make sense of the grief and suffering he experienced on a continual basis. He had to deal with the heart-breaking reality of loss. The death of many of his children and even his wife. So much sorrow filled his and his children’s lives that it haunted the walls of their home. Karen delivers it all with great tenderness and understanding.
With Emily as the narrator, we get a unique perspective. The girl who was misunderstood gets to tell her story from her own lips. Of course, this means that her view of everyone and everything is going to be quite different from the average person’s. She is deeply perceptive and will notice what others may not. Her brooding shadow and determined heart will be cast over all she surveys and interprets. She will measure the world against her own vision. And as we walk in her steps, we will, too. We will sympathise with her desire to remain hidden. In her writing, she fought hard to protect her identity by using a pseudonym. Why? To shield herself or to be taken seriously?
As mentioned, the novel provides clear pictures of Emily’s siblings. Particularly strong minded, clever, ambitious Charlotte. Unremitting, literary Charlotte, the letter writer. Shy but fuelled by her high moral standards. Much of what is known about Emily comes through her words. But I believe Karen has stripped away the things that may have coloured her views of her sister and built a believable fictional imagining of Emily. She has shown us who the Wuthering Heights author might have been. Her personality: her deepest desires, fervent passions, gnawing fears and grave disappointments.
Emily was a very private person so giving her first person lead, lets us get inside her mind and heart. Yes, the author must include her own impressions to fill in the gaps but Karen obviously feels a strong connection and can imagine how Emily might have felt or acted in any given situation. She has obviously sought out Emily’s voice from Wuthering Heights and her poetry and pulled from its fibres, this writer’s essence and skilfully fashioned an image we can relate to and believe is possible.
It is also easy to see that being torn from Emily’s beloved Yorkshire environment to make a journey with Charlotte to Brussels would make her uncomfortable and irritated. Thus, the starting point of the novel. Even here we see Charlotte’s will exerted to get her way and Emily knowing all too well her motive. “We were travelling in the opposite direction to home, to everything I held dear, simply because Charlotte needed to cure the restlessness in her bones.” This launch point is profoundly knowing and beautifully written with vision and eloquence. In fact the rest of the novel continues with the same strength. It is like watching a movie in full colour—being able to imagine the lives of the Brontës. I know when I read this novel again and again (and I will!), it will continue to resound and reveal new meaning each time. And I will keep seeing more and more in this remarkable, inspired and inspiring text. And I will continue to be in awe of these three women who became great novelists despite of or because of their trying circumstances.
I highly recommend this gorgeous novel that held me in its descriptive beauty, surrounded me in its haunted spirits, beckoned me to its atmospheric landscape and let me feel what it might have been like to live in Emily’s world. Fifteen Wild Decembers is an exceptional portrayal of Emily Bronte and her family. This is a literary feast for the hungry Bronte fan. 5 Plus Stars for brilliance.
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Thanks to the publisher and author for a review copy.
