Coming Soon: Favorite September Reads of 2025! Daphne du Maurier, Edgar Allan Poe & Stephanie Cowell

 Here are three of my favorite books I've read so far this year in no particular order and all to be published next month! Thank you to Netgalley, Regal House Publishing, and Simon & Schuster for review copies.

Published September 16th 2025 by Regal House Publishing

Paperback, 266 pages

Author(s):

Stephanie Cowell 

ISBN:

9781646036240 

Description

In 1846 Yorkshire, the Brontë sisters—Charlotte, Anne, and Emily—navigate precarious lives marked by heartbreak and struggle. Charlotte faces rejection from the man she loves, while their blind father and troubled brother add to their burdens. Despite their immense talent, no one will publish their poetry or novels. Amidst this turmoil, Emily encounters a charming shepherd during her solitary walks on the moors, yet he remains unseen by anyone else.

After Emily’s untimely death, Charlotte—now a successful author with Jane Eyre—stumbles upon hidden letters and a mysterious map. As she stands on the brink of her own marriage, Charlotte is determined to uncover the truth about her sister’s secret relationship.

The Man in the Stone Cottage is a poignant exploration of sisterly bonds and the complexities of perception, asking whether what feels real to one person can truly be real to another.

Stephanie Cowell is such an amazing writer. I adore all her novels. I am grateful to be able to read an early online digital copy of The Man in the Stone Cottage. My favorite chapters were the ones concentrating on what I like to call a' Wuthering Heights' influenced love story between Emily Bronte and Johnathan the shepherd. Chapters also focus on Charlotte and Emily while concentrating on highlights of both siblings personal and professional lives.

I cried through the chapters that mentioned sisters Charlotte and Emily's remembrances of their departed mother, Maria Bronte. I swear Stephanie Cowell has a way of writing sibling familial love, tragedy, and trauma so beautifully.

The Man in the Stone Cottage by Stephanie Cowell is a warm and wonderful book about a family we think we know so well but perhaps a writers imagination can show you another beautiful perspective of a family's life.

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• Publisher: Adams Media/Simon & Schuster 
• Publishing Date:    (September 23, 2025)
• Length: 240 pages
• ISBN13: 9781507224137

Publisher Description

Step into the fascinating and gothic world of Edgar Allan Poe, the master of macabre, with this compelling literary biography that unravels his dark genius, iconic works, and enduring influence on gothic literature.

Discover the tumultuous life of Edgar Allan Poe, the legendary gothic author, marked by literary genius and personal tragedy, and explore the haunting themes that defined his timeless creations. From excerpts of his chilling tales like The Tell-Tale Heart and The Raven to insightful commentary and unforgettable quotes about and from Poe himself, this book paints a vivid portrait of the man behind the pen.

This beautifully curated book is both an inspiring biography and a celebration of literary brilliance. Whether you’re a longtime admirer of Poe or just beginning your literary adventure, Pocket Portraits: Edgar Allan Poe will leave you fascinated, inspired, and longing for more.

Levi Lionel Leland wrote an excellent, concise and fun to read pocket biography.  I encourage any Poe fan or not to read this biography and learn so much about who Edgar Allan Poe really was.

After Midnight Thirteen Tales for the Dark Hours by Daphne du Maurier

 with an introduction by Stephen King

• Publisher: Scribner (September 30, 2025)
• Length: 528 pages
• ISBN13: 9781668204269

Daphne du Maurier is best known for Rebecca, “one of the most influential novels of the 20th century” (Sarah Waters) and basis for Alfred Hitchcock’s iconic film adaptation. More than thirty-five years after her death, du Maurier is celebrated for her gothic genius and stunning psychological insight by authors such as Ottessa Moshfegh, Maggie O’Farrell, Lucy Foley, Gillian Flynn, Jennifer Egan, and countless others, including Stephen King and Joe Hill.

After Midnight brings together some of du Maurier’s darkest, most haunting stories, ranging from sophisticated literary thriller to twisted love story. Alongside classics such as “The Birds” and “Don’t Look Now,”—both of which inspired unforgettable films—are gems such as “Monte Verità,” a masterpiece about obsession, mysticism, and tragic love, and “The Alibi,” a chilling tale of an ordinary man’s descent into lies, manipulation, and sinister fantasies that edge dangerously close to reality. In “The Blue Lenses,” a woman recovering from eye surgery finds she now perceives those around her as having animal heads corresponding to their true natures. “Not After Midnight” follows a schoolteacher on holiday in Crete who finds a foreboding message from the chalet’s previous occupant who drowned while swimming at night. In “The Breakthrough,” a scientist conducts experiments to harness the power of death, blurring the line between genius and madness.

Each story in this collection exemplifies du Maurier’s exquisite writing and singular insight into human frailty, jealousy, and the macabre. She “makes worlds in which people and even houses are mysterious and mutable; haunted rooms in which disembodied spirits dance at absolute liberty” (Olivia Laing, author of Crudo). Daphne du Maurier is mistress of the sleight of hand and slow-burning menace, often imitated and never, ever surpassed.

Stories include:
-“The Blue Lenses”
-“Don’t Look Now”
-“The Alibi”
-“The Apple Tree”
-“The Birds”
-“Monte Verita”
-“The Pool”
-“The Doll”
-“Ganymede”
-“Leading Lady”
-“Not After Midnight”
-“Split Second”
-“The Breakthrough”

Daphne du Maurier at her writing desk

After Midnight, Daphne du Maurier’s short story collection is bone chillingly superb. There is a subtlety to the way she builds suspense within her storytelling.  Her characters are fleshed out, complicated and brilliant to behold. The plot to her stories are usually intricate and layered complete with what mystery writers call, 'red herrings!' Even if you don't enjoy every short story in After Midnight it will never be for bad writing. I don't know what it will be for but it won't be for that. 

To Pre-order Edgar Allan Poe and Daphne du Maurier books, SimonandSchuster

To Pre-order Stephanie Cowell's book,  Regal House Publishing

My Review: The Invention of Charlotte Brontë: A New Life by Graham Watson

 

Charlotte Brontë had a life as seemingly dramatic as her heroine Jane Eyre. Turning her back on her tragic past, Charlotte reinvented herself as an acclaimed author, a mysterious celebrity, and a passionate lover. Doing so meant burning many bridges, but her sudden death left her friends and admirers with more questions than answers.

Tasked with telling the truth about Brontë’s life, her friend, the novelist Elizabeth Gaskell, uncovered secrets of illicit love, family discord, and professional rivalries more incredible than any fiction. The result, a tell-all biography, was so scandalous it was banned and rewritten twice in six months—but not before it had given birth to the legend of the Brontës.

The Invention of Charlotte Brontë presents a different, darker take on one of the most famous women writers of the nineteenth century, showing Charlotte to be a strong but flawed individual. Through evaluating key events as well as introducing new archival material into the story, this lively biography challenges the established narrative to reveal the Brontë family as they’ve never been seen before.

• Publisher: Pegasus Books (August 5, 2025)
• Length: 288 pages
• ISBN13: 9781639369355

Marriage certainly makes a difference in some things and amongst others the disposition and consumption of time. I really seem to have had scarcely a spare moment... Not that I have been hurried or oppressed but the fact is my time is not my own now, somebody else wants a good portion of it and says we must do so and so. We do 'so and so' accordingly, and it generally seems the right thing-only I sometimes wish that I could have written the letter as well as taken the walk.

My life is changed indeed:  to be wanted continually, to be constantly called for and occupied seems so strange:  yet it is a marvellously good thing. As yet I don't quite understand how some wives grow so selfish. As far as my experience of matrimony goes, I think it tends to draw you out of and away from yourself. (Mrs. Nicholls aka Charlotte Bronte) 

Graham Watson focuses on the last five years (1850-1855) of the life of Charlotte Bronte who becomes Charlotte Nicholls. In this debut biography, the reader meets the friend circle of Charlotte Bronte:  Elizabeth Gaskell, Harriett Martineau, Kay Shuttleworth and Ellen Nussey. You will get to know who is a trusted friend of Charlotte Bronte and who is not. The relationship between Charlotte Bronte and Elizabeth Gaskell is key because of the first biography Gaskell will write and publish in 1857 two years after the death of her friend.  The reader is left to form their own opinion regarding Charlotte's individual friendship with each of them which is an aspect of the biography that I truly enjoy.  Currer Bell is brought into the frame while Charlotte Bronte is the last of her sisters to have her novels published. Aspects of Jane Eyre and Villette are discussed in various chapters. The Jane Eyre connection with a certain Mr. Thackeray shows the fangirl side of Charlotte Bronte. In 1853, Charlotte read a review of Villette posing the question, "What kind of circumstances produced women in revolt like Jane Eyre and Lucy Snowe?" Charlotte wrote a letter replying in explanation to answer his question. I absolutely loved the letter excerpts that author, Graham Watson uses throughout, The Invention of Charlotte Bronte: A New Life. There is nothing better than reading the words of Charlotte Bronte herself in various situations and aspects of the last years of her single and brief married life. 

It was heartbreaking yet fascinating reading about the aspects of Charlotte Bronte and Rev. Patrick Bronte's life together, just the two of them in the parsonage.  Patrick Bronte is ailing and aging while Charlotte Bronte takes care of him all the while becoming a published author and wife of the man that her father is hell bent against her marrying. I am so glad Charlotte didn't listen to her father and for a very brief few moments was truly loved as a woman and wife. 

Graham Watson has shown us Charlotte Bronte as: Friend, Author, Daughter, and Mrs. Arthur Bell Nicholls as Wife.  The Invention of Charlotte Bronte: A New Life debut biography by Graham Watson is a treasure to behold. 

To purchase the book directly from the publisher, Simon & Schuster 

To purchase from, Amazon