"First published as The Taste of Sorrow in Great Britain by Headline Review, an imprint of Headline Publishing Group."

Isolated in provincial Haworth, sometimes venturing out into the wider world but always drawn back home out of a sense of duty or disappointment or homesickness, tending to die young, the Brontë sisters lived lives narrowed both by preference and circumstance. How did they produce such astonishing fiction? Morgan (An Accomplished Woman, 2009) cleaves closely to the facts in this fictionalized biography, beginning with mother Maria's death in 1821 and ending with Charlotte's death at 38 in 1855, having outlived her five siblings. What emerges is a picture of women who became remarkable artists partly because they found their imaginations far more compelling and rewarding than life outside the parsonage doors. Morgan is a deft enough writer that even readers who are familiar with the biographical details will relish seeing how they are fleshed out here. Since Anne has as much of a presence in the novel as Emily, the title is a bit misleading, but Anne never seems to get out from under her sisters' shadow.