Emily Bronte

Emily Bronte was the most solitary member of a unique, tightly knit, English provincial family. Bom in 1818, she shared the parsonage of the town ofHaworth, Yorkshire, with her older sister. Charlotte, her brother, Branwell, her younger sister, Anne, and her father, the Rev. Patrick Bronte. All five were poets and writers; all but Branwell would publish at least one book. Brief stays at several boarding schools were the sum of Emily's experiences outside Haworth, until 1842, when she entered a school in Brussels with her sister Charlotte. In 1845, Charlotte Bronte came across a manuscript volume of Emily's Poems and realized Emily's talent. At Charlotte's urging, Emily's Poems along with Anne's and her own were published pseudonymously in 1846. Though almost complete silence greeted the volume, the three sisters began to write novels. Emily's effort was Wuthering Heights, appearing in 1847. Emily Bronte died in December of 1848, when Wuthering Heights was just beginning to be understood as the wild and singular work of genius that it is.