Few families in history can boast of the incredible literary achievements of the Brontë sisters - Anne, Emily and Charlotte - who penned three of the most beloved novels ever written: Anne's "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall," Emily's "Wuthering Heights" and Charlotte's "Jane Eyre."
Collected here are all three of these classic novels, plus a pair of essays penned by Charlotte fiercely defending her sister's books and drawing attention to the literary misogyny of the time, which forced the sisters to publish their novels under male pseudonyms.
First up is "Jane Eyre," Charlotte's timeless tale of a young orphan girl who is forced to forge her own way in life and the brooding lord who captures her heart. Then, "Wuthering Heights," Emily's towering story of love and loss on the Yorkshire Moors between the doomed lovers Heathcliff and Catherine. And finally, "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" - which was the most popular book penned by the sisters at the time - Anne's turbulent story of a marriage gone tragically wrong and the heroine who does all she can to escape her abusive spouse.
All three books - plus Charlotte's brilliant dissection of their release and reception, "Biographical Notes on the Pseudonymous Bells" are presented here in their original and unabridged formats.
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Anne Brontë (1820–1849) was born in Yorkshire, the youngest of six children. Her mother died within a year of her birth, and her two eldest siblings died four years later. The Brontë children were raised in an isolated Yorkshire parsonage, where they thrived in fantasy worlds that drew on their voracious reading of Byron, Scott, Shakespeare, and Gothic fiction. Anne’s first novel, Agnes Grey, was published in a volume together with Emily’s Wuthering Heights in 1847. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall reflects her brother Branwell’s gradual descent into alcoholism, drug addiction, and madness. Both Branwell and Emily died of tuberculosis in 1848; Anne succumbed to the same illness in 1849.
Charlotte Brontë (1816–1855) grew up in the isolated parsonage at Haworth, Yorkshire, where her father was curate. She and her sisters Emily and Anne thrived in fantasy worlds that drew on their voracious reading of Shakespeare, romantic, and gothic fiction. Charlotte was employed as a teacher and a governess before she began writing with her sisters. The Professor, her first novel, was rejected for publication until 1857, although Jane Eyre, published in 1847 under a pseudonym, achieved great success.
Emily Brontë (1818–1848), sister of Anne and Charlotte, published only one novel in her career, Wuthering Heights. Though she died just one year after its publication and never knew of its success, the story of doomed love and revenge went on to earn its place among the masterpieces of English literature.