Anne Bronte

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall Anne Bronte

Publisher Marketing: You must go back with me to the autumn of 1827. My father, as you know, was a sort of gentleman farmer in -shire; and I, by his express desire, succeeded him in the same quiet occupation, not very willingly, for ambition urged me to higher aims, and self-conceit assured me that, in disregarding its voice, I was burying my talent in the earth, and hiding my light under a bushel. My mother had done her utmost to persuade me that I was capable of great achievements; but my father, who thought ambition was the surest road to ruin, and change but another word for destruction, would listen to no scheme for bettering either my own condition, or that of my fellow mortals. He assured me it was all rubbish, and exhorted me, with his dying breath, to continue in the good old way, to follow his steps, and those of his father before him, and let my highest ambition be to walk honestly through the world, looking neither to the right hand nor to the left, and to transmit the paternal acres to my children in, at least, as flourishing a condition as he left them to me. 'Well!-an honest and industrious farmer is one of the most useful members of society; and if I devote my talents to the cultivation of my farm, and the improvement of agriculture in general, I shall thereby benefit, not only my own immediate connections and dependants, but, in some degree, mankind at large: -hence I shall not have lived in vain.' With such reflections as these I was endeavouring to console myself, as I plodded home from the fields, one cold, damp, cloudy evening towards the close of October. But the gleam of a bright red fire through the parlour window had more effect in cheering my spirits, and rebuking my thankless repinings, than all the sage reflections and good resolutions I had forced my mind to frame;-for I was young then, remember-only four-and-twenty-and had not acquired half the rule over my own spirit that I now possess-trifling as that may be. However, that haven of bliss must not be entered till I had exchanged my miry boots for a clean pair of shoes, and my rough surtout for a respectable coat, and made myself generally presentable before decent society; for my mother, with all her kindness, was vastly particular on certain points. Review Citations: Library Journal 11/01/1997 (EAN 9780754053002, Analog Audio Cassette) Wilson Fiction Catalog 01/01/2000 pg. 79 (EAN 9780679602798, Hardcover) Wilson Fiction Catalog 01/01/2006 pg. 110 (EAN 9780679602798, Hardcover) Wilson Fiction Catalog 01/01/2010 pg. 66 (EAN 9780679602798, Hardcover) Wilson Fiction Catalog 01/01/2014 pg. 91 (EAN 9780679602798, Hardcover) Contributor Bio:  Bronte, Anne English novelist and poet Anne Bront? was the youngest, and least recognized, member of the Bront? literary family. She wrote a volume of poetry with her sisters, Charlotte and Emily, before publishing two novels under the name Acton Bell. Bront? achieved modest success with her first novel, Agnes Grey, which was based on her time working as a governess, but her second novel, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall was a triumph, selling out in just six weeks. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is also considered one of the first feminist novels, with depictions of alcoholism and immorality that were profoundly disturbing in the 19th century. Bront? died of tuberculosis in 1849 at the age of 29. Collectively, the Bront? sisters' novels are considered literary standards that continue to influence modern writers.