The definitive biography of one of English literature's most beloved, and misunderstood, female writers. "If men could see us as we really are, they would be amazed," wrote Charlotte Bronte, the outwardly conventional parson's daughter who rarely met any men beyond those of the church of classroom, and whose work "Jane Eyre" would bring her good name scandal and notoriety for the rest of her short and tragic life. Elizabeth Gaskell, Charlotte's first biographer, attempted to clear Charlotte of the charges of passionate immorality that were leveled at her--as unmarried woman no less. Rebecca Fraser, 130 years later, places Charlotte's life within the framework of contemporary attitudes towards woman, and addresses how attitudes and perceptions of Charlotte have or haven't changed since the Victorian era. An invaluable contribution to Bronte scholarship, Fraser's biography brings forth only admiration for a woman prepared to stand out against some of the cruelest Victorian ideas about her sex.