Full of acute observations, pithy character sketches, and passionate convictions, the letters of Charlotte Bront�竄 are our most direct source of information about the lives of the Bront�竄s and
our closest approach to the author of Jane Eyre. In them Charlotte writes of life at Haworth Parsonage, her experiences at a Belgian school, and her intense feelings for the Belgian
schoolteacher, M. Heger. She endures the agony of the death of her siblings, and enjoys the success as a writer that brings her into contact with the London literary scene. Vivid and intimate,
her letters give fresh insight into the novels, and into the development of her distinct literary style. The only available edition, this selection is derived from Margaret Smith's three-volume
edition of Bront�竄's complete letters. In addition to Smith's Editor's Preface, the edition includes a critical introduction by Janet Gezari, who looks at the relationship between Bront�竄's
letters and her fiction and how the letters add to the debate about her literary persona and the split between her public and her private life.
