Despite the fact it took me months to read this mighty tome (just under 1000 pages of biography), I'm glad I persisted. Juliet Barker writes beautifully and accessibly and has clearly dedicated years to researching and presenting a truthful portrait of an extraordinary family. The early sections focus on Patrick Bronte; his education and early years as a minister of the church. With the same meticulous focus, the childhood "scribblemania" nearly defeated me, however my interest was revived in the siblings' early adulthoods and the formation of each one as literary cannons. This tome very much brings them all into sharp focus; the writing never bores or flags - Barker has done an incredible job.