I loved this. I tried to read it slowly, just 30 pages or so a day since I was given it for my birthday some six weeks ago, but the joy had to end at some point, and that point was this evening. As a gift, it was a revelation and a eureka moment, as I have never been a Bronte fan, and -I think- only ever read Emily's "Wuthering Heights" (at uni). And yet I was pulled in and removed to the 1800s, to Yorkshire, through the intricate, detailed and interesting retelling of the Family Bronte, from father Patrick's journey to England from Ireland at the turn of the century, through his work, his middle-aged marriage and six children, and then through their wonderful imaginations and untimely deaths, their lonlieness and loves, their strength of family and sense of disconnectedness from the rest of the world. I could identify with much here, but was pulled in by the depth and thought behind all the fine detail. If you have any interest in the Brontes... or even if you had next to none, kind of like me, I would heartily recommend this somewhat large (almost 1000 pages) biography. It will fly by your fingers. Oh yes, I have also recently bought cheap n cheerful second hand copies of all seven Bronte novels, and will now relish every last one of them.