The Life of Charlotte Bronte

The Life of Charlotte Brontë is the posthumous biography of Charlotte Brontë by fellow novelist Elizabeth Gaskell. Gaskell was Charlotte's close friend in the last years of her life; after her death, she investigated Charlotte's childhood, family and writing. Her aim was to let Charlotte speak for herself through her letters, but she had a further goal: to defend her against the charge of "coarseness" leveled at her work. The result is one of the most atmospheric and perceptive biographies ever written, and a powerful tribute from one writer to another.