Although the Brontë story had been told many times, originally published in 1959, Ada Harrison and Derek Stanford wrote the first book to be devoted entirely to the life and work of Anne. The youngest of the three famous sisters, Anne was too often regarded as a mere appendage to the more spectacular Emily and Charlotte. Yet her work has stood the test of time no less than theirs. ‘If Anne Brontë had lived ten years longer,’ wrote George Moore, the first important critic to establish a claim for Anne as a writer of consequence, ‘she would have taken a place beside Jane Austen, perhaps even a higher place.’ It is in the light of such statements as this that the authors wrote their critical biography, showing the shy but engaging third sister as a writer and a character in her own right.
The story of Anne’s life is told by Ada Harrison, who unfortunately did not live to see proofs of this book; the assessment of Anne’s verse and fiction is undertaken by the poet and critic, Derek Stanford. The issues they raise, and their general conclusions, may be regarded as controversial; but not only have they made a number of original points in this first book on Anne, they have also, by moving the spotlight, shed fresh illumination on the whole Brontë picture.