This book was not what I was expecting. Ms. Cowell showed the difficult circumstances and the life that the Bronte sisters lived- death of siblings, a father in poor health, the worry of lack of finances. While those details are true, I thought it was particularly sad, and I was hoping to see a more hopeful story. I didn't enjoy reading about Charlotte's unrequited love of a married man and thought a good portion of the story was devoted to that particular detail.

Ms. Cowell did a nice job with the writing style. It was in keeping with the period in which the family lived.

I received a copy of the book from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions in this review are my own.

dnf'd at 10%. I LOVED Jane Eyre but this book made me want to hate Charlotte Bronte. I know I didn't get far in the story and maybe it got better, but I couldn't for the life of me get past the beginning of her loving a married man and then being a coward and fleeing when she told him how she felt (and then her sister telling her how wonderful it would have been if she would have become his mistress)...if that's how she was in real life then no wonder she was a spinster.

I was really engrossed in this historical fiction. It was fascinating to contemplate what the everyday lives of the Bronte sisters could have been like. The story also includes their father and their brother, both of whom were worrisome to the sisters. The book was so well written and the descriptions so vivid that I could feel the wind on the bluffs and feel the rain and the cold. And also empathize with their heartaches.

Thanks to Regal House Publishing and NetGalley for this digital copy. All thoughts are my own.

This was an interesting read about the three Brontë sisters, their brother and father during a worrisome time in their lives. Their mother and other siblings have already passed, their father's health is ailing and their brother cannot seem to hold down a job to help keep the family out of poverty. Each sister has a very different personality and I enjoyed Emily's story the most, she seems the most spirited of the three with her writings and adventures. The three decide they have nothing left to lose and send off their writing to publisher after publisher and after various rejection letters they wonder why they continue to spend dwindling funds on sending out their manuscripts. But all it takes is one person to take notice and almost overnight their lives have changed. The writing has gotten noticed, published and readers cannot get enough. Many want to know who this mysterious writer is? Where has he been this whole time? Being set with life for funds, they now must struggle with whether to reveal who they really are and the continued mourning of death in their family. Charlotte who becomes the face of the sisters, often wonders about Emily. Who was she really? What was her inspiration and did she really have a hidden lover? This family was fascinating to read about and it really gives depth to the sisters, their relationship with each other and others as well as where they came from. Thank you to the author and publisher for the complementary novel and to GetRedPR for the tour invite. This review is of my own opinion and accord.

I always love a book that creates a story about real people but in a fictional setting. This book did just that now it was a bit depressing because well they had trails and tribulations they dealt with in real life and I did appreciate the author not shying away from that. It gave a good insight and idea of what it would be like for the Bonte sisters at a point in their life.

If you are a fan of the Bronte sisters I would definitely give this one a read!

A hauntingly beautiful book about the imagined life and loves of the Bronte sisters. With vivid descriptions of the everyday walks, routines, and events it invokes the senses to smell and feel what the sisters were feeling.The worlds they created as children play a part in how they came to write and be published. All three sisters are part of the story but Charlotte and Emily have larger roles. Charlotte’s loves and her determination to be published and recognized for her work fill much of the book. But it is Emily and her walks on the moors that give the book its title and left a lingering question with me, did the man in the stone cottage exist or was it merely a part of a world she created? I recommend this book to readers that enjoy historical fiction about authors or readers that enjoy the Bronte sisters.

In 1846, the Brontë sisters, Charlotte, Emily, and Anne return home to live with their father, a beloved vicar. Their feckless, but adored, brother is no help in supporting their father’s meager income. The sisters’ turn to writing poems and novels, in hopes of making money.

One day, while walking on the windswept moors, Charlotte spies a mysterious shepard, living in a previously abandoned cottage. As they slowly become acquainted, she realizes how much she cares for him. Could he be the inspiration for Heathcliff? Charlotte finds a publisher for Jane Eyre, which is a huge success, and saves the family financially. Emily’s Wurthering Heights, is published with little notice Yet, both are considered great literature almost two centuries later.

This Man in the Stone Cottage is written in a brooding style reminiscent of the Brontes’ novels. It is a testament to their hopes and dreams as well as to their ultimate tragedies.

The Man in the Stone Cottage is a historical fiction novel about the Bronte sisters. While I haven't read any of their work yet, but would like to someday, this novel was an intriguing and captivating story. We learn about the three sisters, Charlotte, Anne, and Emily, who come from a poor family, the daughters of a Reverend. One day, Emily finds a single glove, but does not know who it belongs to. She finds out it belongs to a man named Jonathan, who lives in a stone cottage. Eventually, Emily starts sneaking away to Jonathan's cottage to see him, and learn more about him. Anne lives in another town working to make money for the family, and keeps a watch on their brother Branwell, who, although an adult doesn't always make the best choices. Charlotte is a writer, along with Emily, and Anne, but insists that the sisters publish their books as men, as it wasn't common in those days to have female authors. When the sisters finally have success with Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, they are finally able to have a life with more luxuries, and not having to worry as much about finances.

In this story we have love, sisterhood, family values and bonds, and friendship. Though I didn't know much about the sisters prior to reading this novel, I am intrigued to now learn more about them, and read their books. I'd also like the opportunity to travel to their hometown one day and see the home where they supposedly lived in England. This book was a much different novel than I'm used to reading, but I enjoyed it, and found it to be interesting.

ARC Review | The Man in the Stone Cottage by Stephanie Cowell. 5 ⭐️'s

• Release date: September 16th, 2025 •

Prior to reading this, I knew very little about the Brontë sisters & I'm a bit ashamed to admit that I haven't read any of their work. When I saw this listed on NetGalley, I simply wanted to read it because Stephanie Cowell is one of my favorite authors. After reading The Man in the Stone Cottage, I now want to read everything written by the Brontë sisters.

I'm sure there are things that I missed within this beautiful novel having not read their work, but I still loved it. It's incredibly atmospheric, emotional & so beautifully written. I had no idea how much loss their family had suffered or what Anne, Charlotte & Emily went through to get their novels published. They seemed like truly remarkable young women.

One of my favorite things about this novel, was the sister's poetry that was woven throughout on some of the chapter pages. And since I've overlooked their work until now, it was nice to have some of it within the book to get to know them a bit. It showed me what gifted writers they were.

I highly recommend this whether you're a Brontë fan or new to their works, like me. I'm looking forward to reading their poems & novels & I've already got a copy of Wuthering Heights to get started on.

Thanks to Regal House Publishing & NetGalley for the advanced digital copy of this book & to Stephanie Cowell for another incredible novel

If you've ever wondered about the lives of the Brontë sisters, this book is for you! You gain insight into their personalities, as well as the personal struggles they endured to become authors and support their family. Their stories are quite tragic, and this book helps you to see them as real people. After reading this book, I won't look at a Brontë novel the same way again!

I was intrigued by the summary but it landed a little flat. The writing style and overall characters I liked but it was a little boring. I didn’t know much about the Bronte family going in to it so I did learn a bit!

I also felt like we could have used more actual man in the stone cottage. I felt like he wasn’t present a lot of the book. I wanted to know more about him and his time with Emily. Perhaps that was the point?

I loved this book! I felt immediately transported to the moorland atmosphere and became engaged in the well paced story of the sisters as they navigate what is expected of them verses their desires to create their own literary careers.

Charlotte as the oldest tasked herself with making sure her father and siblings were all kept on the right path while still managing to pursue her own interests. But I was most enchanted by Emily who just wanted to walk the moors and read books and write stories and poetry. I loved the author’s lyrical writing as she explored the dynamics of sisterly bonds.

If you like character driven historical fiction with a detailed and emotional glimpse into the Brontë sister’s literary beginnings and an intriguing speculative look at Emily’s secret encounters on the moors you should give this one a look!

Imagine going back to 1831 in Yorkshire, England. The Bronte sisters, Charlotte, Emily and Anne live with their Father. His name is Patrick and is the Parson for the area. So their home is in a Parsonage. Brother and Anne are living away from home, as they are tutors for children elsewhere in England. They have lost their Mother and two sisters at this point in their lives. So much sadness for this family. There are many struggles with Father and Brother. Emily is keeping a secret from her family. She goes on long walks and discovers an old cottage in the moors. She goes back many times without their knowledge. Life is hard for the girls as they must care for their father who is going blind. What the girls did have in common is they are all writers of books and poems.

In the later years, Charlotte loses Anne, Emily and her brother. The burdens all fall to her to care for Father. But she has success in publishing her book, Jane Eyre. But the success came after the death of her last two sisters. She also wants to discover what the secret her sister, Emily, was hiding from her. So it is kind of a mystery too.

I wanted to read this novel, as historical fiction takes me back in time. Now I am so interested in reading all the Bronte sisters books. For me, Stephanie Cowell did wonderful penning this book for us all to enjoy. I want to thank her publisher and Net Galley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this wonderful read.

Thank you to Net Galley and Regal House Publishing for this ARC

First, I want to say that I went into this book with relatively no expectations. I had never read anything by this author before and only knew some basic information about the Brontë family.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I loved this book. The writing made me feel like I was reading one of the classics. It's not too long, and it does a great job of covering several years of their lives.

I should note that this is not a feel-good, happy book—it's sad, emotional, and at times quite dark.

I absolutely fell in love with this book! You know the saying, "When books fall open, you fall in." That is my reaction to this book - could not put it down. I've read some of the Bronte books, but never really knew much about them. What a talented and fascinating family. Parts of the book actually historical fact, but there is a lot of conjecture written in to tie the story together with what actually might have been. Thank you Net Galley for offering me the advanced reader's copy of this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC. I wanted to love this; however I had a difficult time getting into it and then it seemed to go slowly for me. The character development was fantastic and I would recommend anyone who’s a Brontë fan to give it a go.

The Brontë family, beset by such tragic circumstance their whole lives, continues to fascinate readers. The siblings have been broached by many authors, from what seems like every possible angle, yet Cowell’s novel feels new and fresh, and definitely not playing on old ground. It ventures into the untamed world of Emily and her relationship with nature generally, and the moors specifically; we feel her bristly personality, her mystery, her brilliance, her aloneness. Emily was the daughter who stayed home, presumably to care for their father, Patrick, the curate of Haworth. Charlotte has just returned from a teaching position in France where she fell unhappily in unreciprocated love.

In a novel that is all things emotional, compelling, and totally absorbing, the author delves into the idea that Emily had a love life unbeknownst to her siblings. At the denouement of this literary tour de force, Cowell leaves the way open for the reader to decide what it all means.

My most dearly loved novel is and always has been Wuthering Heights, the sometime feral and turbulent story of Heathcliffe and Cathy, and one can’t help but wonder where the self-absorbed Emily came up with her protagonist, although he is clearly a product of the rugged, desolate moorland which was so much a part of who Emily was. Cowell’s narration swept me into that wild world and held me there entranced. One of those welcome novels which stays with you long after the last page is closed. Exceptional and thoroughly recommended. I loved it.

The talent of the Bronte family seems so overlooked, regulated to our mandatory high school reading only. To have three published female authors in one family was and still is truly amazing. The Man in the Stone Cottage captures the frustration and joy of this talent with a tale of what might have been. Using the outline of what is fact, the story highlights the family and all their tragic suffering. The story gives a fascinating insight into these amazing women and their lives with a strong "what if" that sheds more light on their their family life, their solitude and their relationships. Ms Cowell's writing is lyrical and beautiful, much like her characters' writing. I could not decide if it was the strange romance for Emily or the writing style that made this a difficult read for me. While I appreciated the book, I would recommend this to true Bronte fans as it will only augment their fandom.

My thanks for the ARC goes to NetGalley and Regal House Publishing. All opinions are my own, and I'm voluntarily leaving a review. "The Man in the Stone Cottage" by Stephanie Cowell is a historical fiction work set in Yorkshire from early Summer 1831 to Winter 1853, and follows the lives of the Brontë siblings - Charlotte, Branwell, Emily, and Anne - as they navigate the complexities of love, heartbreak, faith, secrets, family, grief, societal expectations, and realizing their dreams.

The characters are written with such depth and description that the reader goes beyond merely picturing them, but instead feels as if they personally know them, and is right there on the rollercoaster ride of emotions and experiences. The main themes explored in the work are love, loss, religion, autonomy and agency, and societal norms. The publisher's description of the main argument and key ideas in the work is that "The Man in the Stone Cottage is a poignant exploration of sisterly bonds and the complexities of perception, asking whether what feels real to one person can truly be real to another." I enjoyed the ongoing mystery of the relationship between Emily and MacConnell, and appreciated the turmoil of whether or not she should reveal him to her family, and abandon all other expectations of her in exchange for marrying. Did the relationship feel like more than it was owing to it being clandestine?

Cowell has done a beautiful job of wefting and warping historical facts with fictional events, and bringing a great emotional understanding of the world the Brontës lived in - their struggles, their triumphs, their hopes, and their defeats.

The work is easy to read and keeps the reader engaged until the end.

That said, the title and the premise of the book had me expecting the read to be more about, well, the man in the stone cottage. I was half expecting it to have a paranormal flair to it, and at times it seemed it was going to, but that climax never arrived. It was interesting to learn more about the rest of the Brontë clan and key events that helped shape and mold their lives, but I could not help but think, "I thought this book was about Emily and the man in the stone cottage!" Therefore, I believe the title and the description of the book are a bit misleading as I kept reading thinking that eventually I was going to get back to the supposed main plot of the story. Thus, if one were to go into this book expecting to read about this mystery and Emily, one could be disappointed with all the other characters and their stories and feeling like it was all filler. I also feel that Cowell built up this story between Emily and MacConnell and then it was just all hurriedly finished off without any feelings of closure. I think a title change and synopsis re-write would be best here.

A very moving fictional story about the Bronte sisters and their family. These sisters who were writers that gave us such literary masterpieces had such a harsh and sad life. Yet through all their hardships, burdens and grief they had a strong sisterly bond.
The author's writing was so captivating! I felt as though I was on those moors, as Emily took her walks. I could see the cottage that the man lived in and experienced her emotions as she did. I cried with the sisters at their losses and felt their grief as if it was my own.
This was not just a fictional story, but I felt that it was a journey into the lives of Emily and Charlotte. A beautiful experience that left a lasting memory.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.