Bedlam: The Further Secret Adventures of Charlotte Bronte [Hardcover]

Laura Joh Rowland (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 13, 2010

Following the notable debut of The Secret Adventures of Charlotte Brontë, beloved author Laura Joh Rowland offers her legions of fans the next installment in the Charlotte Brontë mystery series? with more to come. On her last escapade, Charlotte unintentionally witnessed a murder and found herself embroiled in a dangerous chain of events. Now, Charlotte returns in a stunning sequel that takes the reader into the most sinister institution in London: Bedlam.

With the death of her siblings and far from home, Charlotte has few people to trust. Struggling with romantic entanglements and her stressful rise to prominence on the literary scene, she is more alone than ever. On a visit to London, Charlotte goes on a tour of London¹s most famous hospital for the mad, Bedlam. She is sure she recognizes a struggling Mr. Slade, her long-missing ex-lover, strapped to one of the stretchers. Charlotte starts digging, and soon finds herself trying to reveal a secret that high-powered men would (and do) kill to protect. It is up to Charlotte to find the truth and expose a plot of global proportion. But what if the conspirators get to her first?

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Set in 1851, three years after the events in The Secret Adventures of Charlotte Brontë, Rowland's fast-paced second Charlotte Brontë adventure continues to transform the shy author of Jane Eyre into an action heroine. Still pining for John Slade, the rugged spy from the first book whose marriage proposal she refused, Charlotte is stunned to come across John under restraints in Bedlam, the notorious London hospital for the insane. The last she knew John was in Russia on a secret mission. When Charlotte learns the police suspect that John is the Whitechapel Ripper, who's killed and mutilated three prostitutes, she sets out to prove him innocent, despite John's spymaster telling her that he betrayed Britain in Russia. The less than imaginative use of an ur–Jack the Ripper may disappoint those expecting the depth and sophistication of the author's series set in medieval Japan (The Cloud Pavilion, etc.). This historical thriller will likely appeal more to romance fans than Brontë enthusiasts. (June)
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From Booklist

Jane Eyre’s alter ego returns when Charlotte Brontë again finds herself embroiled in a treacherous escapade that transports her from the squalid slums of Whitechapel to Queen Victoria’s regal summer estate. While visiting her publisher in London, Charlotte hopes to find the inspiration for her next novel during a visit to the notorious Bedlam Psychiatric Hospital. Instead, she recognizes one of the inmates as John Slade, her secret-agent lover whom she believed was on a mission to Russia—or dead. When Charlotte’s efforts to free Slade put her directly in the center of an international plot to stop a terrorist from launching a lethal biological weapon, the intrepid author herself is accused of heinous murders and becomes the subject of a police manhunt. Rowland’s literary heroine demonstrates all the cunning, guile, and daredevil skills of a modern-day Bond girl while retaining the essence of Victorian morality. Sharply relevant, Rowland’s inventive action-thriller delivers enough intrigue and romance to satisfy a wide array of readers. --Carol Haggas

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Overlook Hardcover; First Edition, First Printing. edition (May 13, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590202716
• ISBN-13: 978-1590202715
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,297,832 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

L AURA JOH ROWL AND, the author of thirteen previous Sano Ichiro mysteries 'demonstrating an impressive level of sustained excellence' (Publishers Weekly), lives in New York.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fun Victorian thriller, May 14, 2010

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bedlam: The Further Secret Adventures of Charlotte Bronte (Hardcover)

Charlotte Bronte wants to mourn the deaths of her sisters Anne and Emily, but Jane Eyre will not allow her to. She feels survival guilt as her two novelist siblings never saw their writings make it though now thanks in part to her tale Jane Eyre, she and her late siblings are the talk of the nation.

Charlotte has also ended her relationship with her beloved John Slade, whom she met during her Moscow adventure last year (see Secret Adventures Of Charlotte Bronte). Famous author William Makepeace Thackeray has mentored Charlotte and helps her deal with sudden fame and entrance to the literary lions of London. She is escorted on a tour of Bedlam Psychiatric Hospital, but one inmate looks like Anne's twin and worse another has to be John. She challenges the officials re the latter's identification and told he is Polish expatriate Josef Typinski, who escaped when a murder causes chaos. The authorities accuse Josef of the homicide while Charlotte gets involved.

Rotating perspective between Charlotte's journal and Slade's escapades, readers will fully believe the last Bronte sister's adventures this time in England. The story line is fast-paced, filled with action and feels plausible even with Charlotte turning into an amateur sleuth of sorts. As with the previous Charlotte Bronte's secret adventures (in Moscow), fans of Victorian thrillers will be thrilled reading about the heroine's bedlam escapades.

Harriet Klausner

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars satisfying fast-paced historical mystery, May 31, 2010

By 

Pat Loftfjeld "patloftfjeld" (Tucson, AZ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bedlam: The Further Secret Adventures of Charlotte Bronte (Hardcover)

Once again, Laura Joh Rowland has written a fascinating and fun mystery, this time with Charlotte Bronte as sleuth. I love that she so seamlessly works in biographical details of Charlotte Bronte's life, real cases of Victorian-era serial killers, and lots of famous historical personages.

3.0 out of 5 stars Charlotte On A Rampage!, January 3, 2012

By 

prairie woman - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bedlam: The Further Secret Adventures of Charlotte Bronte (Hardcover)

I think that Laura Joh Rowlands should've stopped with the first Charlotte Bronte adventure. This one was just too hard to fathom. First of all there is the backflashes to Russia where John Slade is assuming yet another identity and infiltrating the Tsar's court in some more espionage. Then we go to London where Charlotte goes to Bedlam where she finds who she thinks is John Slade on a stretcher being tormented. After pursuing an actress who is also a Russian spy and witnessing her death by stabbing, Charlotte then ends up in prison and then in Bedlam supposedly being "protected" by the government. There is this fleeing to her home and then another adventure to France where she is again hooked up with Slade in pursuit of a mad scientist who supposedly has discovered "germ warfare." More bad guys, Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, William Makepeace Thackeray, and a host of other people are put in harm's way. One wonders when this all will end and this is one book where I hoped it would end soon because after ships, trains, carriages, and a hot air ballooon, even I was feeling jet lagged! I think maybe Ms. Rowlands was getting a bit confused also, because she had the villain, Dr. Kavanaugh, operating the hot air balloon in pursuit of himself! I think she meant Dr. Crick but then again this is poor editing like I've seen in a lot of recent books. Personally I like the mysteries of Sano Ichiro the best!