The Life of Charlotte Bronte — Elizabeth Gaskell / Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell

Elizabeth Gaskell's The Life of Charlotte Brontë is a pioneering biography of one great Victorian woman novelist by another. Gaskell was a friend of Charlotte Brontë, and, having been invited to write the offical life, determined both to tell the truth and to honour her friend. She contacted those who had known Charlotte and travelled extensively in England and Belgium to gather material. She wrote from a vivid accumulation of letters, interviews, and observation, establishing the details of Charlotte's life and recreating her background. Through an often difficult and demanding process, Gaskell created a vital sense of a life hidden from the world.