Published in 1883, A. Mary F. Robinson's Emily Brontë is one of the earliest serious attempts to understand the famously private author. Written when memories of the Brontë family were still alive in their Yorkshire community, Robinson acts as both biographer and detective. She didn't have a mountain of letters or diaries to work with—Emily left almost none. Instead, Robinson builds her portrait from fragments: Charlotte Brontë's guarded comments, the raw power of Emily's poetry, and the imposing, lonely moors that shaped her world.

The Story

There isn't a plot in the traditional sense. The 'story' is the search for Emily Brontë herself. Robinson starts with the family's tragic history in the parsonage at Haworth. She shows us Emily as the reserved middle sister, more at home with dogs and the wild landscape than in society. The book follows her brief, unhappy stint as a teacher, her intense creative life at home, and the rapid publication and shocking reception of Wuthering Heights. The central drama is internal: how did this quiet, dutiful daughter produce one of literature's most passionate and turbulent novels? Robinson traces this by closely reading Emily's poems, seeing them as the key to her fierce, spiritual, and solitary inner world.

Why You Should Read It

You read this not for dry facts, but for atmosphere and early insight. Robinson writes with a Victorian's proximity to her subject. There's a palpable sense of trying to grasp someone who is just out of reach. Her analysis of the poems is particularly compelling—she argues they are the real Emily, while the novel was a kind of magnificent outburst. What stays with you is Robinson's respect for Emily's strangeness. She doesn't try to explain it away or make her conventionally likable. Instead, she presents a woman of immense, almost frightening, inner conviction, whose creative fuel was a deep, mystical bond with nature and a radical freedom of thought.

Final Verdict

This is a must-read for Brontë enthusiasts who want to go beyond the novels. It's perfect for anyone fascinated by literary history, as it captures the first wave of Brontë scholarship. You get to see how a contemporary writer grappled with Emily's legacy before it became legend. Be warned: it's not a modern, psychological biography. It's a thoughtful, sometimes speculative, and deeply respectful portrait that feels like a conversation started just after Emily's death. If you're looking for a definitive 'answer' to who Emily was, you won't find it here—but you will find a brilliant, heartfelt search that makes the mystery even more compelling.