Samantha Whipple, last descendant of the Brontë line, arrives in Oxford to study literature and is allocated digs in a scary tower. The title leads us to believe that Sam will be a reflection of Bertha Rochester from Jane Eyre, so we're expecting her to be a bit unhinged, and she doesn't disappoint. Her inherited obsession with the Brontës turns into a voluntary obsession with her tutor, who fits the description of a literary hero to perfection. The plot goes down all the narrative blind alleys expected of a classic novel but, towards the end, it runs out of steam and focus. A pity, because it sometimes seems as if Lowell is on a crusade of her own to encourage readers to broaden their field of interest. In an epiphany, Samantha declares that "Reading teaches you courage", which is a pretty good saying for life as well as literature.
