Note on Author

EMILY BRONTË, born in 1818, was one of a clever but delicate family which included her sister Charlotte, who wrote Jane Eyre. Their mother died young and the children had a severe upbringing, receiving little affection from their father. Mr Brontë, an Irishman, was a priest of the Church of England, and had charge of a church in a wild part of Yorkshire, where the country people, at this time far from civilization, were often hard, unfriendly and violent. Emily's love of this part of the country, and her knowledge of its people, are reflected in Wuthering Heights, her only novel. She also wrote poems of high quality. Her mind and character were original and Charlotte wrote of her: 'Stronger than a man, simpler than a child, her nature stood alone.' In 1848 Emily died, like most of her sisters before her, of a disease of the lungs.