In a revised and updated edition, the real story of the Bront sisters, by distinguished scholar and historian Juliet BarkerThe story of the tragic Bront family is familiar to everyone: we all know about the half-mad, repressive father, the drunken, drug-addicted wastrel of a brother, wildly romantic Emily, unrequited Anne, and ';poor Charlotte.' Or do we? These stereotypes of the popular imagination are precisely thatimaginarycreated by amateur biographers like Elizabeth Gaskell who were primarily novelists and were attracted by the tale of an apparently doomed family of genius. Juliet Barker's landmark book is the first definitive history of the Bronts. It demolishes the myths, yet provides startling new information that is just as compellingbut true. Based on firsthand research among all the Bront manuscripts and among contemporary historical documents never before used by Bront biographers, this book is both scholarly and compulsively readable. The Bronts is a revolutionary picture of the world's favorite literary family.