Main content
This programme will be available shortly after broadcast

Being the Brontës

Martha Kearney, novelist Helen Oyeyemi and journalist Lucy Mangan travel to Haworth Parsonage, the home of Charlotte Brontë and her sisters, Emily and Anne.

Martha Kearney, novelist Helen Oyeyemi and journalist Lucy Mangan travel to Haworth Parsonage, the home of Charlotte Brontë and her sisters, Emily and Anne, to discover the inspiration behind their classic novels Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights and Agnes Grey.

Just two years before the books were published, prospects for the three unmarried sisters were bleak. Their brother was battling alcoholism, Charlotte was hopelessly in love with a married man, and their father was going blind. But by 1848, they were a literary sensation. To find out how this extraordinary turnaround happened, Martha, Lucy and Helen each immerse themselves in the life of a Brontë sister. From everyday routines at the Parsonage to walks on windswept moors, from harsh schooldays to misadventures as governesses, the trio learn how the Brontës combined literary genius with real-life experience to create some of the best-loved novels in the English language.

59 minutes

On TV

Wed 26 Nov 2025 21:00

Music Played

  • Agnes Obel

    Aventine

  • Goldfrapp

    Alvar

  • Agnes Obel

    Dorian

  • Florence + the Machine

    Seven Devils

  • Julia Kent

    Tourbillon

  • Dustin O'Halloran, Maurizio Borgna

    Snow + Light

  • Agnes Obel

    Fuel To Fire

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Martha Kearney
Presenter Lucy Mangan
Presenter Helen Oyeyemi
Producer Linda Sands
Director Linda Sands
Series Producer John Das

Broadcasts

Featured in...

Meet the presenters

Find out more about the presenters of Being the Brontes