Yuki Chan in Brontë Country by Mick Jackson

If I'm honest, the main reason for reading this book lay in the title and its mention of Brontë Country. As I read on, I realised that that in fact  is a bit of a red herring, as it is for Yuki herself. Yuki, a young Japanese girl with limited english, is touring the Brontë sights in search of the truth about her mother, who she believed visited the area ten years previously. Her mother has died and Yuki is desperate to know the truth behind her death. She meets Denny, a local girl and they set about unravelling what her mother was doing in that area, led by some old photographs which Yuki has brought.

     As a character, Yuki is a bit of an enigma. The loss of her mother dominates and she has an underlying loneliness, emphasised at first with her lack of connection with any of the other women who are on her tour bus. If I really tried to stretch  it, I could see in the isolation of the motherless Brontë sisters a similar element of living a little apart and, especially with Emily, an interest in spirituality and other worldly experiences. These elements are there with Yuki's story. 

    This is a surprising book which tends to wrong foot the reader as the plot unravels. I liked the humour and quirkiness of Yuki. She is a stranger in a foreign land who looks at her surroundings with a detached and quizzical air. She is no fan of the Brontë's and can't really empathise with the Brontë enthusiasts she sees. Her friendship with Denny could have been further developed but it is Yuki herself, so independent and irreverent, who steals the show.

In short: quirky, eccentric on a mission to uncover a mystery- Yuki leads us on an entertaining, if slightly odd, quest.

 Thanks to Faber & Faber who sent me a copy of the book via NetGalley for an honest review.