Charlotte Brontèe

"If man could see us as we really are, they would be amazed," wrote Charlotte Bronte, the outwardly conventional parson's daughter who had rarely met any men beyond those of the church or classroom by the time "Jane Eyre" was published in 1847.

From the landscape of the Yorkshire moors, an appalling childhood and a family decimated by consumption, "Jane Eyre" came as an instant literary sensation.

It also brought Charlotte Bronte the notoriety that was to remain with her for the rest of her short and tragic life.