The book
SHORTLISTED FOR THE NERO BOOK AWARDS 2023
A SUNDAY TIMES’ BEST HISTORICAL FICTION BOOK OF 2023
Isolated from society, Emily Brontë and her siblings spend their days inventing elaborate fictional realms or roaming the wild moors above their family home in Yorkshire. When the time comes for them to venture out into the world to earn a living, each of them struggles to adapt, but for Emily the change is catastrophic. Torn from the landscape to which she has become so passionately bound, she is simply unable to function.
To the outside world, Emily Brontë appears taciturn and unexceptional, but beneath the surface her mind is in a creative ferment. A violent phenomenon is about to burst forth that will fuse her imaginary world with the landscape of her beloved Yorkshire and change the literary world forever.
Fifteen Wild Decembers is the dazzling second novel from a writer who has been compared to Shirley Hazzard and Graham Greene, and whose first novel was described as “utterly stunning,” mesmerizing' and hailed as “a masterpiece.”
The author
Karen Powell
Karen Powell was born in Rochester, Kent. She left school at 16 but returned to education as a mature student to study English Literature at Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge. She lives in York with her husband and daughter.
Press
- May 12 2025
"An immersive, moving, literary page-turner."
— Toronto Star - May 6 2025
"Authentic and visceral."
— Historical Novels Review - Apr 25 2025
★ "A poignant, bittersweet novel."
— Library Journal - Apr 1 2025
"A fresh perspective on the talented Brontë family."
— Christian Science Monitor - Feb 7 2025
“Brontë devotees will be delighted.”
— Publishers Weekly