duty.
The publisher of these two novels, T. C. Newby, turned out to care only about making a quick profit. Thanks to sloppy editing, his editions of
Wuthering Heights
and
Agnes Grey
contained many punctuation errors and misspellings. Even Agnes Grey’s name appeared as “Anges” on several pages. Much later it would come to light that he lied to the sisters about how many books he had printed and sold so he could cheat them out of money they had earned. In 1854, Charlotte, as the last surviving sister, would receive ninety pounds that should have been paid to Emily and Anne.
While Charlotte, Emily, and Anne continued writing, they also did the duties expected of a minister’s unmarried daughters. One of these was to sit and visit with ladies who called at the parsonage. One day, they spent two hours listening to a woman named Mrs. Collins, who told a tale of triumph over woe.
Six years earlier, this good woman had lived with her husband in Keighley. Mr. Collins had been a curate, a man of the cloth, but in his drunkenness he used to beat his wife and children. His reckless spending plunged the couple into debt, and finally his bad habits led to his dismissal. Mr. Collins abandoned his ailing wife and their offspring in Manchester and took off for places unknown. Slowly, Mrs. Collins worked to restore her health and reputation. When she called in Haworth she could boast that she was an independent woman who ran a lodging house in Manchester, and that she had saved her children from their father’s violence and bad example.
Anne soaked up every word.
eight
“A Dreadful Darkness Closes In”
T HE public’s great interest in
Jane Eyre
brought invitations through her publisher to venture into society, but Charlotte turned them down. In February 1848, a London theater company presented a play based on her novel, but she declined to see it. Stepping out meant telling the world that Currer Bell was really Charlotte Brontë of Haworth. Charlotte preferred to keep her secret, to stay home and write with her sisters. In the evening, after their father had retired to his bedchamber, they read aloud to one another from their work in progress.
While Charlotte searched her imagination for the story of her next book, Anne finished a second novel,
The Ten
ant of Wildfell Hall.
Anne stubbornly had it published by T. C. Newby, despite his slipshod handling of
Agnes Grey,
but she soon regretted her decision. Hoping to make a big profit on an American edition, the shady publisher told a U.S. firm that Anne’s new book was written by the author of the best-selling
Jane Eyre.
In other words, Currer and Acton Bell were really the same person. Word got around, and soon Charlotte received a perplexed letter from George Smith of Smith, Elder and Company. He demanded an explanation, and he deserved one, because Currer Bell’s next novel had been promised to him.
London was “the Emporium of the World,” noted a writer in 1847. It was a place of “magnificent squares, and noble mansions—tenanted by persons of the highest rank.” Such a view ignored the poverty that Dickens and others described.
The sisters knew that the time had come to reveal their separate identities—at least to their publishers. So in July 1848, Charlotte and Anne packed a small box. One day after tea, they walked four miles through a thunderstorm to Keighley, where they boarded a train to the West Yorkshire city of Leeds. There they caught an overnight train to London. Emily, the most private and homebound of the three, had flatly refused to go.
Anne and Charlotte reached the great city at eight in the morning and went to their lodging, the Chapter Coffee House. It was an old, paneled place where gentlemen stayed. It was thought unsuitable for ladies on their own, but the Brontë sisters came from the country and knew no better. They washed up, had breakfast, and set out on their errand.
A plaque at 65, Cornhill, London, commemorates the visit
The publisher of these two novels, T. C. Newby, turned out to care only about making a quick profit. Thanks to sloppy editing, his editions of
Wuthering Heights
and
Agnes Grey
contained many punctuation errors and misspellings. Even Agnes Grey’s name appeared as “Anges” on several pages. Much later it would come to light that he lied to the sisters about how many books he had printed and sold so he could cheat them out of money they had earned. In 1854, Charlotte, as the last surviving sister, would receive ninety pounds that should have been paid to Emily and Anne.
While Charlotte, Emily, and Anne continued writing, they also did the duties expected of a minister’s unmarried daughters. One of these was to sit and visit with ladies who called at the parsonage. One day, they spent two hours listening to a woman named Mrs. Collins, who told a tale of triumph over woe.
Six years earlier, this good woman had lived with her husband in Keighley. Mr. Collins had been a curate, a man of the cloth, but in his drunkenness he used to beat his wife and children. His reckless spending plunged the couple into debt, and finally his bad habits led to his dismissal. Mr. Collins abandoned his ailing wife and their offspring in Manchester and took off for places unknown. Slowly, Mrs. Collins worked to restore her health and reputation. When she called in Haworth she could boast that she was an independent woman who ran a lodging house in Manchester, and that she had saved her children from their father’s violence and bad example.
Anne soaked up every word.
eight
“A Dreadful Darkness Closes In”
T HE public’s great interest in
Jane Eyre
brought invitations through her publisher to venture into society, but Charlotte turned them down. In February 1848, a London theater company presented a play based on her novel, but she declined to see it. Stepping out meant telling the world that Currer Bell was really Charlotte Brontë of Haworth. Charlotte preferred to keep her secret, to stay home and write with her sisters. In the evening, after their father had retired to his bedchamber, they read aloud to one another from their work in progress.
While Charlotte searched her imagination for the story of her next book, Anne finished a second novel,
The Ten
ant of Wildfell Hall.
Anne stubbornly had it published by T. C. Newby, despite his slipshod handling of
Agnes Grey,
but she soon regretted her decision. Hoping to make a big profit on an American edition, the shady publisher told a U.S. firm that Anne’s new book was written by the author of the best-selling
Jane Eyre.
In other words, Currer and Acton Bell were really the same person. Word got around, and soon Charlotte received a perplexed letter from George Smith of Smith, Elder and Company. He demanded an explanation, and he deserved one, because Currer Bell’s next novel had been promised to him.
London was “the Emporium of the World,” noted a writer in 1847. It was a place of “magnificent squares, and noble mansions—tenanted by persons of the highest rank.” Such a view ignored the poverty that Dickens and others described.
The sisters knew that the time had come to reveal their separate identities—at least to their publishers. So in July 1848, Charlotte and Anne packed a small box. One day after tea, they walked four miles through a thunderstorm to Keighley, where they boarded a train to the West Yorkshire city of Leeds. There they caught an overnight train to London. Emily, the most private and homebound of the three, had flatly refused to go.
Anne and Charlotte reached the great city at eight in the morning and went to their lodging, the Chapter Coffee House. It was an old, paneled place where gentlemen stayed. It was thought unsuitable for ladies on their own, but the Brontë sisters came from the country and knew no better. They washed up, had breakfast, and set out on their errand.
A plaque at 65, Cornhill, London, commemorates the visit
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