Novels NOT Written by a Bronte Sister Quiz

Answer:

Here are the 10 novels, all of them by women authors in the 19th century, but not by any of the Brontė sisters:

"The Awakening" (1899), by Kate Chopin, is about a woman named Edna Pontellier, trapped in a suffocating marriage, who then finds passionate physical love elsewhere, with two other men, in fact. She also indulges in a passion for painting. Her sexual awakening was so controversial at the time, and critics attacked it so harshly (including author Willa Cather), that Ms. Chopin's literary career dwindled. This novel however, was rediscovered by feminist scholars in the late 20th century and has come to be considered an important milestone in American feminist literature.

None other than Jane Austen herself is said to have been a fan of Mary Edgeworth's 1801 novel "Belinda", about a young woman named Belinda Portman sent to stay with the glamorous Lady Delacour of London high society. Belinda navigates her way through the landscape of the marriage market, all the while under Lady Delacour's wing. Like other novels in this collection, themes of reason versus romance are explored along with female independence.

I have a soft spot for "Black Beauty" by English author Anna Sewell, because it was my mother's favorite book when she was a child. Published in 1877, it was Ms. Sewell's only novel, written in the last years of her life while her health suffered. It became one of the best-selling books of all time, and is cited as having improved the welfare of animals, particularly horses, as it brought about real-life reforms like discouraging the use of the painful bearing rein on carriage horses in Victorian England.

"The Bondwoman's Narrative" was authored by Hannah Crafts, which was the pen name of a woman named Hannah Bond, who was an enslaved African American woman who escaped to freedom in 1857, and went to live in New Jersey. Scholars consider it to be the first novel written by an African American woman and the only known novel by a woman who was enslaved at the time of its writing (1853 to 1861). It was a fictionalized autobiography, but the author's identity wasn't truly known until 2013 when Professor Gregg Hecimovich's archival research, and document analysis, revealed that Hannah Crafts was Hannah Bond, an enslaved woman on the Wheeler plantation.

Elizabeth Gaskell's book "Cranford" was first published as a series of shorter comical pieces between December 1851 and May 1853 appearing in Charles Dickens' magazine "Household Words". The collection of stories depicting life in a small fictional town called Cranford was then published as a book in 1853.

Frances E.W. Harper wrote "Iola Leroy" in 1892; it's the tale of the eponymous daughter of a wealthy Mississippi planter, who leads a life of privilege. Plot twist: she never suspected anything about having mixed-race ancestry, but then her father dies and one of her treacherous relatives sells her into slavery. During the Civil War, she is rescued by Union forces and starts a life's path dedicated to helping the Black community.

Maria Susanna Cummins' 1854 novel "The Lamplighter" was her first novel. It became an enormous bestseller, second only to Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin" at that time. The story was about an abandoned orphan named Gertrude Flint, mistreated by her caretaker Nan Grant. Gertrude is rescued by a kindly lamplighter named Trueman Flint. She is raised with love and strong moral values. Gerty befriends Emily Graham, a refined woman who introduces her to higher education and Christian principles.

"Mansfield Park" was English novelist Jane Austen's third published novel. The 1814 is about a poor young girl named Fanny Price who was sent to live with her wealthy relatives, named the Bertrams, at their estate, Mansfield Park. When the book was first published, Jane Austen's name wasn't included on the title page - it just said, "by the author of "Sense and Sensibility" and "Pride and Prejudice"."

"The Mill on the Floss" was written in 1860, by George Eliot, the pen name of the English novelist Mary Ann Evans. The novel's heroine, Maggie Tulliver, is a semi-autobiographical stand-in for Ms. Evans, reflecting her own intense emotions, her struggle to receive an education, and her defiance of Victorian expectations. The climactic flood in the story represents the forces, both emotional and societal that are beyond control; it is also perhaps based on the actual flood of the River Trent that Ms. Evans/George Eliot witnessed as a child around Griff House near Nuneaton in Warwickshire, in rural England.

"An Old-Fashioned Girl" was also serialized before being published as a novel in 1870. Written by American author Louisa May Alcott, the story follows a kind and simple country girl named Polly Milton, who visits her wealthy friend Fanny Shaw in the city. She feels out of place at first but wins over the family with her virtuousness. They even learn a lot from her over the years.

And these are the novels that ARE the work of one of the Brontė sisters.

Charlotte Brontė (1816-1855) was the most prolific of the sisters, writing four of the seven: "Jane Eyre" (1847), "Shirley" (1849), "Villette" (1853), and "The Professor" which she actually wrote prior to "Jane Eyre", but it was published posthumously in 1857.

Emily Brontė (1818-1848) wrote "Wuthering Heights" (1847); it was Emily's only novel. She died the year after it was published at the age of 30.

Anne Brontė (1820-1849) wrote "Agnes Grey" (1847), and "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" (1848). Anne also died at a young age, 29.