A recent trip to Haworth, in West Yorkshire, got me thinking about Anne Brontë, who died 177 years ago this month. Stepping into St Michael and All Angels’ Church, a carved stone pillar prominently declares the location of the Brontë family vault. All members of the Brontë family – parents Patrick and Maria, sisters Elizabeth and Maria who died young, the rebellious brother Branwell, and Emily and Charlotte – are all listed. Yet, not mentioned is Anne Brontë, who is buried in Scarborough, almost 100 miles away.

Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre and Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights are repeatedly included on lists of Britain’s favourite novels and are firmly ensconced in the popular literary canon.

Anne Brontë’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and Agnes Grey occasionally receive an honourable mention, but are often nowhere in sight. Like their author, they have been too frequently overlooked. Googling for articles on Anne Brontë brings up very few hits. I began to wonder: why is that?

Agnes Grey, A Novel was the name of Anne’s first book, published in December 1847. She had been working on the text for many months before sending it off to the publisher Thomas Cautley Newby in July of that year. Emily’s Wuthering Heights was also accepted by Newby at the same time. It was a painful two months later that Charlotte finally found a publisher for her book, Jane Eyre.

Unluckily for her sisters, Charlotte’s publisher was more........

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