GeekDad: ‘My Brother’s Keeper’ by Tim Powers: A Book Review

In the northern hemisphere, the nights are drawing in and the witching season is upon us (likely past us by the time I actually finish writing this review). There is rarely a better time to read a gothic horror novel than when the weather is cooler, the air is damper, and the darkness is making its presence felt. My Brother’s Keeper invokes the Brontë sisters to bring a gothic twist to their real-life story of tragedy and misfortune. 

What Is My Brother’s Keeper?

Tim Powers is a novelist whose work I have been meaning to read for a long time. I must confess that whilst I wanted to try a Powers novel, I may not have chosen to start here had I not been offered a chance to review his latest work, My Brother’s Keeper.

I’m not a huge lover of gothic horror novels. I tend to find them labored and flowery. This novel is also a fictionalized account of the Brontë sisters and their lives in the parsonage at Howarth, UK. Apart from being vaguely familiar with the sisters’ novels, I know little about the family and was worried that I might find My Brothers Keeper too reliant on knowledge of their lives and works. I need not have worried.

Whilst I’m sure those with a love of Brontë novels, and knowledge of their lives on the Yorkshire Moors, will be able to pick up references that I missed, in-depth knowledge of the subject matter is not at all necessary to enjoy My Brother’s Keeper. A bit of judicious Wikipedia reading definitely doesn’t hurt though; it will certainly help you appreciate the layers upon layers that Powers builds up in his novel. 

At its heart, My Brother’s Keeper is a novel of werewolves. The Brontë family backstory dovetails with a macabre young boy who, it turns out, is an evil spirit that will plague the family over many generations, focusing particularly on the men. Branwell bears the brunt of the spirit’s evil designs as he is plagued by temptation. Can the fortitude of his sisters save him, or will he succumb and unleash terror upon them all?

Why Read My Brother’s Keeper?

It’s not possible to divorce the subject of the story from the story itself. Would My Brother’s Keeper be an interesting read if it didn’t revolve around the Brontës? Probably. Would it be so compelling? Probably not. Branwell and his sisters all died young, and this adds a frisson to the tale, as does the fact that whilst Emily, Charlotte, and Anne all went on to become literary giants, Branwell did not. The novel examines what this might have meant for the relationships between the four of them and how it affected their interactions, wants, and desires. 

The strength of the sisters, most notably Emily, is pivotal to the tale, as is their literary prowess in comparison to that of their brother’s. Powers cleverly works the Brontë family history into the tale in a way that does not overwhelm the reader or leave them mystified as to who is who. 

The novel digs deep into the creative process and offers up a supernatural lens onto potential inspirations for the sisters’ towering contribution to the gothic horror genre—the bleakness of the moor and the isolation of life in the parsonage. Wrapped around that is an intriguing werewolf mythology that takes in Irish paganism and Roman Britain, as well as Catholic priests. 

Overall, Tim Powers has created a tense novel that delivers all of the things you’d expect from a gothic horror. Whether it is still being read for as many years as the Brontë’s classics remains to be seen, but its pacing and the sense of foreboding that it creates make for an excellent modern take on a centuries-old genre.

One of the interesting side-quests of being a Brit who writes about books for a US website is looking at the differences in the covers of the editions from either side of the Atlantic. I like to see how the same book is packaged for its perceived different audience. I also enjoy deciding which cover I like the most. I’m guessing the people who decide these things know what they’re doing, as I do tend to like UK covers more. Though not always. 

In all my time reviewing for GeekDad, I don’t think I have been struck by such a gulf in the two approaches taken. Gothic novels are all the rage in the UK right now (and have been for some time) and they tend to have similar covers with flowers, cutouts, and windows—often using a limited color palette. The UK cover of My Brother’s Keeper brings all this and says “classy novel with gothic influence,” which is exactly what the novel delivers. 

The US cover, by contrast (to my eye, at least), says nothing of this. I’m not going to say too much about it, but I think it’s the worst cover I have seen in some time. It feels like a very odd choice and one that would possibly alienate a section of its readership, offering no suggestion of the depth and painstaking care with which the novel has been constructed. U.S. readers, don’t be put off. Especially, if you fancy a Brontë twist and a classic gothic thriller. 

If you would like to pick up a copy of My Brother’s Keeper, you can do so here in the US and here in the UK. (Affiliate Links)

If you enjoyed this review, check out my other book reviews. 

I received a copy of this book in order to write this review.

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