The Brontes: Wild Genius on the Moors: The Story of a Literary Family
“Barker’s updated and enthralling biography of the Brontës carries us deeper into the everyday realities of their strange world. The stuff of lurid legend.” (Maureen Corrigan, NPR's "Fresh Air")“As a work of scholarship it is brilliant. For those with a passion for the Brontës, or for Victoriana, it is a stupendous read.” (Independent on Sunday)“Definitive. Barker’s greatest service is to rescue the family of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne from myth, who were provided particularly hideous stereotypes by Charlotte’s first biographer, Elizabeth Gaskell. The doom and tragedy are there.” (The Daily Beast)“Each section offers further insight into this family's struggles,  illnesses and losses and, above all, their closeness and affection.It  is this unique intimacy, Barker argues, that yielded their  extraordinary creative endeavors — despite difficulties, rivalries and  temperamental differences, each family member ultimately sustained the  other. After more than 150 years, the Brontës remain as  fascinating (and inspiring) as ever. They have lost none of their  allure. If any writer has earned the final word about their lives, it's  Barker, with her triumphant and eloquent book.” (The Los Angeles Times)