A Life of Anne Brontë

by Edward Chitham

Edward Chitham's biography of Anne Bronte, the often underrated sister of Charlotte and Emily, makes imaginative use of recent research to redefine the personal and artistic relationship between Anne and her sisters, especially Emily. It produces new evidence about Anne's life away from home and re-examines the traumatic period before and after Branwell's 'disgrace'. It modifies the conventionally held view of Agnes Grey and reviews the evidence for Anne's relationship with William Weightman.

Now available in paperback, this biography provides an elegant and original life of one of the remarkable Bronte sisters.

Genres: Biography, Biography Memoir, Nonfiction, History, Victorian

236 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Edward Chitham (b. 1932) is an English writer and a leading authority on the Brontës and the history and heritage of the Midlands. He was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham, and Jesus College, Cambridge. In addition, he is also Education Consultant for the National Association of Gifted Children and Assistant Staff Tutor at Open University.

Reviews

[Gea · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so fascinating! I only wish there was more. . . more Anne . . . more poetry . . . more stories. Anne was so private, we know quite little about her and unlike Charlotte only 5 of her letters have survived. In this biography, Chitham takes care not to take any liberties with her story. He doesn't give time to legends or myths and there have been quite a few that have risen around the mysterious Bronte women. He keeps this bio very down to earth and rooted in fact, which was its strength but also its weakness. Because I want more Anne!

[Moira · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sensitive and scholarly portrait of a neglected author by a respected authority on the Brontes.

[Ben Lovegrove · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chitham pieces together Anne's life using the evidence of her poems, suggesting they are "pillars of witness" to specific events in her life. At first this seems dubious but he does have a compelling argument and has access to documents unavailable to previous biographers.