The Mother of the Brontës: When Maria Met Patrick

by Sharon Wright

Overview

At long last, the untold story of the mysterious Mrs Brontë.

They were from different lands, different classes, different worlds almost.

The chances of Cornish gentlewoman Maria Branwell even meeting the poor Irish curate Patrick Brontë in Regency England, let alone falling passionately in love, were remote.

Yet Maria and Patrick did meet, making a life together as devoted lovers and doting parents in the heartland of the industrial revolution. An unlikely romance and novel wedding were soon followed by the birth of six children. They included Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë, the most gifted literary siblings the world has ever known.

Her children inherited her intelligence and wit and wrote masterpieces such as Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. Yet Maria has remained an enigma while the fame of her family spread across the world. It is time to bring her out of the shadows, along with her overlooked contribution to the Brontë genius.

Untimely death stalked Maria as it was to stalk all her children. But first there was her fascinating life’s story, told here for the first time by Sharon Wright.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781526757609
Publisher:	Pen and Sword
Publication date:	04/06/2020
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Sharon Wright is an author, journalist and playwright. She was born in Bradford, West Yorkshire, and lives in South West London with her family. She has worked as a writer, editor and columnist for leading national magazines, newspapers and websites.

She is also the author of critically acclaimed plays performed in Yorkshire and London. Her first book Balloonomania Belles was serialized in the Mail on Sunday and received widespread coverage, including on BBC Woman’s Hour and in the New York Post.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements vii

Foreword x

Chapter 1 Daughter of Penzance 1

Chapter 2 Perfectly Her Own Mistress 24

Chapter 3 The Adventures of Pat Prunty 43

Chapter 4 Grove, Actually 63

Chapter 5 Saucy Maria 77

Chapter 6 Becoming Mrs Brontë 96

Chapter 7 Mothering Heights 104

Chapter 8 The Resistance 122

Chapter 9 Pursued by Death 134

Epilogue 156

Appendix 1 The Letters of Maria Branwell 159

Appendix 2 The Advantages of Poverty in Religious Concerns 173

Bibliography 177

Index 180