Charlotte Bronte (1816-55) was the third of the three famous Bronte
sisters. Along with their brother, they grew up in the isolated
Yorkshire village of Haworth with no real schooling and little
care. The Bronte sisters tried for ten years to make their living
as governesses. Finding the occupation hateful, they decided to set
up their own school. To prepare themselves, Charlotte and Emily set
off for Brussels to learn French and German. Back in Haworth,
Charlotte and her sisters published a volume of poems; though only
two copies were sold, the Brontes were stimulated to attempt
novels. Emily's Wuthering Heights and Anne's Agnes Grey found
publishers, but Charlotte's offering was returned with the
suggestion she try again. The manuscript of her next novel, Jane
Eyre, was accepted overnight and became an immediate success.
Shirley, Villette, and The Professor complete the tally of her
novels.
Adriana Trigiani is an award-winning playwright, television writer,
and documentary filmmaker. Her books include theNew York
TimesbestsellerThe Shoemaker's Wife;the Big Stone Gap series;Very
Valentine; Brava, Valentine; Lucia, Lucia;and the best-selling
memoirDon't Sing at the Table, as well as the young adult
novelsViola in Reel LifeandViola in the Spotlight. She has written
the screenplay forBig Stone Gap,which she will also direct. She
lives in New York City with her husband and daughter.
Helen Benedict is the author of such novels asSand Queen,A World
Like This, Bad Angel, and The Sailor's Wife. She is a professor at
Columbia University, where she teaches writing and literature in
the Graduate School of Journalism.
“Brontë’s finest novel.”—Virginia Woolf
“A still more wonderful book than Jane Eyre.”—George Eliot
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