When Charlotte’s brother Branwell was given a set of 12 toy soldiers, an entire new imaginary world opened before them. The Twelves, or Young Men, became a constant source of inspiration for the Brontë children, spawning tales of swashbuckling adventure, darkest intrigue, doomed romance, and malevolent spirits. The four volumes of tales collected here make delightful reading, while offering a unique insight into Brontë family life and Charlotte’s development as a writer.
An accessible text, beckoning both the general reader and the Brontë enthusiast. . . . The stories are interesting in their own right. They also provide an insight into the fantastical and Gothic elements that would develop in her later writing. —Times Literary Supplement
Charlotte Brontë (1816–1855), the eldest of the three famous Brontë sisters, is best known for her novelJane Eyre.
![Tales of the Islanders [Paperback]](/itemImage/2/0/3/3/2_6890634.jpg "Tales of the Islanders [Paperback]")