Emily was the fifth of six children, three of whom would go on to become famous writers. Charlotte gave us the literary classic, Jane Eyre, whilst Anne went on to produce Agnes Grey.
After the death of their mother Maria, when Emily was three, the children were given an ‘inspiring and wide-ranging liberal and academic education’ by their father, and thoroughly instructed in domestic ‘order, method and neatness’ by their aunt, Elizabeth Branwell.
After finding escape through inventing imaginary worlds, drawing maps and writing stories, the sibling’s talent for writing was nurtured by one another. In order for their work to be taken seriously, Charlotte originally published Jane Eyre under the male guise of Currer Bell, whilst Emily published Wuthering Heights, under the male pen name Ellis Bell.
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