Definitive, should be required reading because it adds all the context that is left out by teachers assigning "Jane Eyre" and "Wuthering Heights" - the context is what makes the Brontes' writing so exciting and relevant to modern readers. Rescues Patrick's and Branwell's reputations, and doesn't make a saint out of Charlotte, like some other biographies. I wish I had read this sooner, to better compare more recent Bronte biographies marketed as containing "new" information about Charlotte's death. Exhaustive but I'm sad to be done this book - what else can I read about the Brontes now, now that I feel like I've read everything?