Ebook: The Essence of the Brontes: a Compilation with Essays

Muriel Spark always regarded the Brontës with a novelist's eye. As Boyd Tonkin argues in his lively introduction, written for this new edition, the Brontës inspired Spark at the very beginning of her own career, but not in a straightforward way. Through her critical and biographical work on the Brontës Spark identified not only their achievements but also their flaws and failings, and thereby began to define, as Tonkin puts it, ‘her own best route'. As she herself said, in a piece recorded for the BBC at Emily Brontë's grave in 1961, ‘I was fascinated by [Emily's] creative mind because it's so.;Cover; Title Page; Contents; Acknowledgements; Introduction: Muriel Spark and the Brontës by Boyd Tonkin; Foreword; Illustrations; 1: The Brontës as Teachers; The Brontës as Teachers; 2: Letters of the Brontës; Introduction; The Letters; 3: Emily Brontë: Her Life; Chapter One: Fact and Legend; Chapter Two: The Basic Story; Chapter Three: General; Appendix; 4: Selected Poems of Emily Brontë; Introduction; The Poems; 5: At Emily Brontë's Grave, Haworth, April 1961; 6: My Favourite Villain: Heathcliff; Principal Works of the Brontës; About the Author; Also by Muriel Spark from Carcanet Press.