By: Deborah Lutz

The compelling story of the Brontës is told through the things they wore, stitched, wrote on, and inscribed at the parsonage in Haworth. From Charlotte’s writing desk and the manuscripts it contained to the brass collar worn by Emily’s dog, Keeper, each object opens a window onto the sisters’ world, their fiction, and the Victorian era. By unfolding the histories of the things they used, the chapters form a chronological biography of this interknit family. A walking stick evokes Emily’s solitary hikes on the moors and the stormy heath—itself a character in Wuthering Heights. Charlotte’s bracelet containing Anne and Emily’s intertwined hair gives voice to her grief over their deaths. These possessions pull us into their daily lives: the death of their mother and two sisters, the imaginary kingdoms of their childhood writing, their time as governesses, and their stubborn efforts to make a mark on the world.

Available on May 11, 2015 from W.W. Norton & Company