Half-Life of a Stolen Sister

May 15, 2023
Cantor (Good on Paper) spins a free-ranging and intriguing tale of a literary family inspired by the Brontës that incorporates a mix of forms and anachronistic details. Maria, Eliza, Charlotte, Branwell, Emily, and Anne Brontey grow up in early 19th-century Yorkshire, England. Their mother dies soon after Anne is born, and their father, a pastor, is a kindly but inattentive parent. After Maria and Eliza die from an illness, their aunt reluctantly takes charge of a dirty and chaotic household, while their father lectures on morality. Kept out of school, the surviving sisters are self-educated, visiting museums and libraries to learn about ancient Greece, famous historical figures, and mythology, elements they use in their elaborate world of play. Cantor’s frisky and time-collapsing blend of forms elevates the experiment above run-of-the-mill Brontë fodder. In one chapter, titled “Send. Delete,” Charlotte, away working unhappily as a nanny, uses her charge’s computer to draft a series of emails addressed to her family back home; in another, a publisher of three pseudonymous authors fields questions from a radio interviewer about the authors’ identities. These flights of fancy blend seamlessly with passages written in a Victorian style, such as an account of Charlotte and Emily studying art history in Rome, where Charlotte agonizes over unrequited love. For Brontë fans, this is a jolt of fresh air.