Biographical material on Emily Brontë is scarce. In the past, biographers have taken this as an excuse to portray intuition as fact, creating a confused and inaccurate image of the author of Wuthering Heights. In A Life of Emily Brontë, Edward Chitham searches diligently for the truth. He describes his book as an 'investigative biography', delving into Emily's childhood, her relationships with her family, her father's Irish roots, and the influences of her friends and acquaintances. Using material neglected by other biographers, Chitham makes an illuminating and scholarly study of the events and characters that shaped Emily's inspiration - a puzzle that has confounded many and made her, up to this point, an enigmatic and misrepresented figure.

Edward Chitham is an authority on the history and heritage of the Midlands, and has published many books on the area.