Review: The Madwoman Upstairs by Catherine Lowell

The Madwoman Upstairs

by Catherine Lowell

Publisher: Touchstone

Pages: 352

Format: book

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Samantha Whipple is used to stirring up speculation wherever she goes. As the last remaining descendant of the Brontë family, she's rumored to have inherited a vital, mysterious portion of the Brontë's literary estate; diaries, paintings, letters, and early novel drafts; a hidden fortune that's never been shown outside of the family.

But Samantha has never seen this rumored estate, and as far as she knows, it doesn't exist. She has no interest in acknowledging what the rest of the world has come to find so irresistible; namely, the sudden and untimely death of her eccentric father, or the cryptic estate he has bequeathed to her.

But everything changes when Samantha enrolls at Oxford University and bits and pieces of her past start mysteriously arriving at her doorstep, beginning with an old novel annotated in her father's handwriting. As more and more bizarre clues arrive, Samantha soon realizes that her father has left her an elaborate scavenger hunt using the world's greatest literature. With the aid of a handsome and elusive Oxford professor, Samantha must plunge into a vast literary mystery and an untold family legacy, one that can only be solved by decoding the clues hidden within the Brontë's own writing.


Kritters Thoughts:  Samantha Whipple is now the last woman standing of the Bronte family and there have been rumors circling that there is a long hidden estate that will be coming her way, except she has no clue what and where it is.  Samantha heads to Oxford for a few reasons, one being an education, but also to reconnect with her previous generations and maybe find what she should be doing next with her life.

I loved that Samantha had her own story aside from her Bronte tie.  Yes, the story circles around her connection to the Brontes, but she had her own things to deal with and she was at such a great time in life, the cusp of adulthood and the time when decisions need to be made.  

There were things being pulled from all the Bronte books and having only read one of them, I got all the Jane Eyre references, but the others probably went over my head just a bit.  I was a little disappointed that I knew I missed things, but it didn't lessen my love of reading it.

I loved reading a contemporary story that was connected to Jane Eyre.  I would love to read another Catherine Lowell book that is maybe connected to another classic!


Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel