Charlotte Bronte’s extraordinary literary talent manifested itself at an early age when she penned a series of imaginative and entertaining tales. Before her untimely death at the age of thirty-eight she had produced the masterpieces Jane Eyre, Shirley and Villette.

Jessica Cox’s superb and meticulously researched biography provides a fascinating new interpretation both of Brontë’s celebrated works and of her personal life, notably her – often intense – relationships with her siblings and others around her. The result is a beautifully drawn portrait of the creator of some of the world’s most remarkable novels, which marvellously augments the Hesperus collection of her writings.