The story of the tragic Bronte family is familiar to everyone: we all know about the half-mad, repressive father, the drunken, drug-addicted wastrel of a brother, wild romantic Emily, unrequited Anne and 'poor Charlotte'. Or do we? These stereotypes of the popular imagination are precisely that - imaginary - created by amateur biographers from Mrs Gaskell onwards who were primarily novelists, and were attracted by the tale of an apparently doomed family of genius. 'As a work of scholarship it is briliant . For those with a passion for the Brontes, or for Victoriana, or for sheer wealth of historical minutiae, it is a stupendous read' INDPENDENT ON SUNDAY.