“With skilled close readings of her work, Hay convincingly argues that Brontë’s writing on loneliness and society’s expectations for women remain relevant … accessible … a fine place to start for readers new to her work.” Publishers Weekly Anne Brontë is now widely believed to have written the finest of all the Brontë works—and the first ever feminist novel. Why, then, is she less famous than Charlotte and Emily? Discover the real Anne and why she remained for so long in her sisters' shadow. Anne’s writing has often been compared harshly with that of Charlotte and Emily—as if living in her sisters’ shadows throughout her life wasn’t enough. But her reputation, literary and personal, has changed dramatically since Agnes Grey was first published in 1846. Then, shocked reviewers complained of her "crudeness" and "vulgarity"—words used to this day to belittle women writing about oppression. Her second and most famous work, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, was groundbreaking in its subject matter: marital and alcohol abuse and the rights of married women. A book that refused to sweep difficult truths under the rug. A book so ahead of its time that even her sisters weren’t ready for it, Charlotte being one of its harshest critics. And yet today's critics see it as perhaps the best of all the Brontë works. With such a contradictory life and legacy: who was Anne, really? It’s time to find out.

"Hay, an academic at the University of Loughborough, debuts with a casual introduction to the life and work of Anne Brontë and her evolving reputation. Hay makes a case that despite early accounts that cemented her as the “frail” and “weak” sister and a lesser talent among the three, Anne “deserves to be regarded as a great writer.” Though eager to avoid the “Charlotte-as-bitch” trap, Hay notes the negative effect Anne’s sister Charlotte had on her work’s reception: Charlotte’s “Biographical Notice” contained a misunderstanding of Anne’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, for example, that influenced critics. Hays also examines her subject’s embrace of the unorthodox doctrine of Universal Salvation, which made readers “uncomfortable,” and her desire in her novels to tell “unpalatable truths,” which resulted in her work being labeled “coarse” and “brutal.” With skilled close readings of her work, Hays convincingly argues that Brontë’s writing on loneliness and society’s expectations for women remain relevant, but a few of Hay’s positions are a little tenuous, notably that Brontë is similar to musician Sufjan Stevens, and the comparison of Brontë’s thoughts on goodness to the sitcom The Good Place. Even so, this accessible introduction to a “misunderstood” writer is a fine place to start for readers new to her work."--publishersweekly.com

Whether on the seashore or on the trails between clumps of Haworth heather, let us walk with Anne Brontë and listen to her discussing the kind of truth “that always conveys its own moral to those who are able to receive it.” Join us in our academic and personal celebratory reflections on “gentle” Anne’s “core of steel,” sense of family duty, and enduring courage. Anne was the most underrated and least known of the three Brontë sisters for the better part of a century after she died in May 1849. Walking with Anne Brontë adds gravitas and personality to the growing chorus of academic and other voices honoring the youngest Brontë sibling’s inspirational life and literary legacy.

Whether on the seashore or on the trails between clumps of Haworth heather, let us walk with Anne Brontë and listen to her discussing the kind of truth that “always conveys its own moral to those who are able to receive it.” Please join us in our academic and personal celebratory reflections on “gentle” Anne’s inner “core of steel,” her strong sense of family duty, and her enduring courage. Anne was the most underrated and least understood of the famous Brontë sisters for the better part of a century after she died in May 1849. Walking with Anne Brontë adds gravitas and personality to the growing chorus of academic and other voices now honoring the youngest Brontë sibling’s inspirational life and literary legacy.

Before they became legendary writers, Charlotte Brontë, Emily Brontë, and Anne Brontë were detectors in this charming historical mystery... Yorkshire, 1845. A young wife and mother has gone missing from her home, leaving behind two small children and a large pool of blood. Just a few miles away, a humble parson’s daughters—the Brontë sisters—learn of the crime. Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë are horrified and intrigued by the mysterious disappearance. These three creative, energetic, and resourceful women quickly realize that they have all the skills required to make for excellent “lady detectors.” Not yet published novelists, they have well-honed imaginations and are expert readers. And, as Charlotte remarks, “detecting is reading between the lines—it’s seeing what is not there.” As they investigate, Charlotte, Emily, and Anne are confronted with a society that believes a woman’s place is in the home, not scouring the countryside looking for clues. But nothing will stop the sisters from discovering what happened to the vanished bride, even as they find their own lives are in great peril...

Part I of this authoritative handbook offers systematic essays, which deal with major historical, social, philosophical, political, cultural and aesthetic contexts of the English novel between 1830 and 1900. The essays offer a wide scope of aspects such as the Industrial Revolution, religion and secularisation, science, technology, medicine, evolution or the increasing mediatisation of the lifeworld. Part II, then, leads through the work of more than 25 eminent Victorian novelists. Each of these chapters provides both historical and biographical contextualisation, overview, close reading and analysis. They also encourage further research as they look upon the work of the respective authors at issue from the perspectives of cultural and literary theory.