Vibrant inner life

Express ranks the 'greatest books by women'.

6. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Charlotte Brontë's novel follows the story of Jane Eyre, who is an orphan suffering from mistreatment by her relatives. As she grows up, she becomes a governess and falls for the mysterious Mr. Rochester. But a dark secret from his past threatens to ruin their future together. It's a poignant exploration of a woman's struggle for independence. [...]

3. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

This is a classic tale of love and revenge, mixed in with social standing. The main storyline is centred around the relationship between Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, an orphan adopted by her father. Despite their palpable connection, Catherine chooses to marry Edgar Linton, who is of higher social standing and wealth, and the fallout of this unravels throughout the book. (Molly Toolan)

The Star recommends some recent historical fiction books, and one of them is

Fifteen Wild Decembers

Karen Powell

Europa Editions, 288 pages, $27

With its title appropriately lifted from an Emily Brontë poem, this captivating coming-of-age novel opens with six-year-old Emily joining her sisters at a girls’ school in 1824, where the unsanitary conditions lead to the rampant spread of tuberculosis and the Brontës’ subsequent return home to Haworth.

Raised by their widowed father and his sister-in-law, and educated both at home and in boarding schools, encouraged to draw, write stories and stomp about the moors in the company of several cherished family dogs, the surviving Brontë children — Charlotte, Branwell, Emily and Anne — share lives enriched and inspired by the natural world.

Powell’s sumptuous, careful prose vividly recreates Victorian Yorkshire and richly conveys Emily’s vibrant inner life that sets her imagination aflame as she writes “Wuthering Heights,” its wildness in her heart.

An immersive, moving, literary page-turner. (Janet Somerville)

AnneBrontë.org posts about visiting Brussels for a talk.