Mother of the Brontës

Maria Branwell has spent 200 years in the shadow of her extraordinary children, Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë. Now the first biography of Mrs Brontë appears as a beautiful bicentenary paperback edition in October 2021, with a commissioned portrait of Maria at 38 based on the only two existing images in the Brontë Collection. Sharon Wright’s critically-acclaimed biography reveals Maria’s fascinating life as a Regency gentlewoman who went looking for an adventure and found one. A sudden passion and whirlwind love affair led to the birth of the most gifted literary siblings the world has ever known. From a wealthy home in Penzance, Maria was a contemporary of Jane Austen and enjoyed the social status of a prominent family with secrets. So how did Maria fall for the penniless curate she called ‘My Dear Saucy Pat’ hundreds of miles from the home she loved? And what adventures lead lover Patrick Brontë to their fateful meeting in Yorkshire? What family scandals did Maria leave behind in Cornwall? How did wealthy and independent Miss Branwell of balmy Penzance adjust to life as Mrs Brontë in Yorkshire during the industrial revolution? And what was her enduring legacy in the lives of those world famous daughters and troubled son?

Praise for Mother of the Brontës

‘This impressively researched, crisply written biography gives Maria her rightful place in the Brontë story.’ The Telegraph

‘Beautifully researched and vibrantly written.’ Daily Express

‘Exuberant, fast-paced and deeply moving biography of a remarkable woman.’ Jane Austen Regency Review

‘A haunting and timely portrait of mysterious Maria Brontë, mother of literature’s most gifted siblings. A groundbreaking piece of research - and a poignantly moving story.’ -Claire Harman, author of Charlotte Brontë: A Life

'This is a fine book.' - Brontë Studies