Emily Jane Bronte was born on July 30, 1818 in Thorton, Yorkshire, England. She was the daughter of Patrick, an Anglican clergyman, and Maria Bronte. Emily lived with her parents, sisters Charlotte and Anne, and brother Patrick Branwell. Two other sisters, Elizabeth and Maria, died while Emily was very young. Mrs. Bronte also died while Emily was young, in 1821. Mr. Bronte and an aunt, Elizabeth Branwell, raised the surviving children. They were educated at home and spent much of their time reading and writing. Charlotte and Emily spent a year at the Clergy Daughters' School in Lancashire. Charlotte received a job teaching at Miss Wooler's school in Roe Head in 1835 and Emily went with her as a student. However, Emily became homesick and returned to the moors of her hometown, Haworth, after only three months of schooling. In 1838 Emily taught in a school near Halifax but became exhausted after six months and resigned. Emily and Charlotte planned to open a girl's school in Haworth and went to Brussels to learn foreign language and school management in 1842. Emily's reserved personality seemed to fit into the style of city life but she yearned to return to the moors. Her quiet but passionate nature was more easily understood by the people of Brussels than her sister's somewhat restrained temperament. She finally returned to England when her aunt died. In 1845 Charlotte, Emily, and Anne jointly published a volume of poetry, Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell. The poems by Emily, "Ellis," received the best reviews. Emily had finished her only novel, Wuthering Heights, by the summer of 1847. It was published in December, after the release of Charlotte's hugely popular Jane Eyre. Emily's novel never received the attention that Jane Eyre received. It was considered hostile, savage, animal like, and poorly developed. Now Wuthering Heights is considered one of the greatest novels in the English la...
