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WORDS AND IMAGINATION<o:p></o:p>The weather on the Yorkshire moorlands was often bleak and chill winds often blew across the rolling hills.&nbsp; But I felt it suited my imaginative story writing. The parsonage in Haworth, where I lived with my family, became the perfect backdrop. <o:p></o:p>Mother died when I was five. There were six of us children and in 1824, my sisters Maria, Elizabeth, Emily and I were sent to Clergy Daughters’ School, a boarding school in Lancashire. We were handed a uniform which labelled us as ‘charity children’.<o:p></o:p>There was little heating and we were always hungry. Maria and Elizabeth became ill with tuberculosis, and both tragically died. Father quickly sent for Emily and me to return to the parsonage. On the way home, I remember the ‘clouds of gloom’ and feeling so angry and so sad.<img src="https://cdn.builder.io/api/v1/image/assets%2Fb3b13b7f131f44b8b9040dab74852379%2Ffac97fa0b6144bef8a7d7d0f380f4da2" alt="" style="width: 263.956px; height: 378.156px;"> But back home on the moors, our imaginations flourished once more. With our sister Anne and brother Branwell, we made up stories about the Glass Town and the Kingdom of Angria. STAYING STRONG<o:p></o:p>I was growing up but becoming what you want to be in life is never easy. And dreams can’t feed you nor keep you warm. So I took a job as a governess. Whilst teaching children, my mind filled with ideas for my writing. I was never one to give up believing in myself.<o:p></o:p>When I was just 20 years old, I took the bold step of writing to Poet Laureate&nbsp;Robert Southey, asking him to read my work. He made some nice comments, but he warned me that ‘literature should not be the business of a woman’s life.’ I wondered if I should have hidden the fact that I was a woman. <o:p></o:p>A PUBLISHED AUTHOR<o:p></o:p>Even under a name that hid my identity, my first novel, The Professor, was rejected. But I wasn’t put off. I wrote a new book called Jane Eyre. It was the story of a girl who worked as a governess. Jane overcame the obstacles in her life through sharp wit, courage and determination – something I was familiar with. <o:p></o:p>The book was instantly successful and, importantly, earned me £500 – far more than I’d earned as a governess. And I wasn’t the only one to achieve success with my writing. Emily's work Wuthering Heights and Anne’s books Agnes&nbsp;Grey and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall were also published.<o:p></o:p>We were all using the made-up surname Bell for our work. Novels from three Bells in quick succession began to stir readers' suspicions. Were the three Bells actually one man? Our publisher, Thomas Newby, decided to&nbsp;tell an American publisher that ‘yes’, it was one author. This angered us.<img src="https://cdn.builder.io/api/v1/image/assets%2Fb3b13b7f131f44b8b9040dab74852379%2F81595c940c9a4767b8c7940b7a05e0a9" alt="" style="width: 328.076px; height: 397.5px;"> We needed to stand up for ourselves as women writers. In July 1848, we made a long and difficult journey to London to reveal our true identities. We confronted our publisher and from then on, our real names were always attached to our work. <o:p></o:p>LOVE AND LOSS<o:p></o:p>Yet how quickly the world can fall apart. In eight short months, during 1848 and1849, my life shifted dramatically. Branwell, Emily and Anne died in quick succession. I took comfort by burying myself in my own stories and editing my sisters’ unpublished works.<o:p></o:p>On more than one occasion my father’s assistant, Arthur Bell Nicholls, was at my side, supportive and kind. He told me that he had secretly adored me for years and proposed. Father felt that Arthur was not good enough to marry me now that I was a famous author.<img src="https://cdn.builder.io/api/v1/image/assets%2Fb3b13b7f131f44b8b9040dab74852379%2F403e747caba9494abe083d03d5557d75" alt="" style="width: 236.99px; height: 382.938px;"> Parents can be so controlling in their wishes and ideas for their children. They generally give advice from the heart however I understood that my father only wanted the best for me – his only surviving child.&nbsp; But love won over and Arthur and I married in the end. Dealing with loss, grief and hardship became a pattern in my life. However, rather than give in to all the sadness, I found joy and purpose through creative writing. My siblings became my friends and creative partners. Experiences I lived through and people I met gave me the ideas to create believable plot lines and develop characters that my readers would understand and could believe in. <o:p></o:p>There will always be hard times, but it is how you deal with these times that develops your character.<o:p></o:p>GLOSSARY<o:p></o:p>Parsonage – a church house provided for a member of the clergy.<o:p></o:p>Tuberculosis – potentially serious infectious bacterial disease that mainly affects the lungs.<o:p></o:p>Poet Laureate – a poet officially appointed by a government.<o:p></o:p>Governess – a woman employed by a family to live with them and educate their children.LEGACY AND RECOGNITION<o:p></o:p><ul><li>Ahead of her time, Charlotte Brontë is not only remembered as a brilliant writer but also as a strong role model for women. </li><li>Charlotte’s widely read novel Jane Eyre is thought to reflect much of her own life. </li><li>The Brontë Society was founded in 1893 and runs the famous Bronte Parsonage Museum in Haworth, which promotes the Bronte siblings’ literary legacy.</li><li>The heroines in Charlotte’s books suffer hardship and heartache but survive the tough times. </li><li>Unlike other female authors of that time, Charlotte became popular and was respected as a writer during her lifetime.</li><li>Brontë 200, launched in 2017, is a five-year programme celebrating the bicentenaries of the births of the Brontë’s with events, exhibitions and celebrations worldwide.</li></ul>IMAGE CAPTIONS AND CREDITSPortrait of Charlotte Brontë, John Hunter Thompson, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons<o:p></o:p>The Brontë Sisters, Branwell Brontë, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons<o:p></o:p>Jane Eyre title page, Chick Bowen, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons<o:p></o:p>

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