Editing Charlotte Brontë (section)

==''Shirley'' and bereavements==
In 1848 Brontë began work on the manuscript of her second novel, [[Shirley (novel)|''Shirley'']]. It was only partially completed when the Brontë family suffered the deaths of three of its members within eight months. In September 1848 Branwell died of [[Bronchitis#Chronic bronchitis|chronic bronchitis]] and [[marasmus]], exacerbated by heavy drinking, although Brontë believed that his death was due to [[tuberculosis]]. Branwell may have had a [[laudanum]] addiction. Emily became seriously ill shortly after his funeral and died of pulmonary tuberculosis in December 1848. Anne died of the same disease in May 1849. Brontë was unable to write at this time.

After Anne's death Brontë resumed writing as a way of dealing with her grief,<ref>Letter from Charlotte to her publisher, 25 June 1849, from {{cite book |title=The Letters of Charlotte Brontë: Volume Two, 1848 – 1851 |editor-last=Smith |editor-first=M |publisher=Clarendon Press |year=1995}} cited in {{harvnb|Miller|2002|p=19}}</ref> and ''Shirley'', which deals with themes of industrial unrest and the role of women in society, was published in October 1849. Unlike ''Jane Eyre'', which is written in the first person, ''Shirley'' is written in the third person and lacks the emotional immediacy of her first novel,{{sfn|Miller|2002|p=19}} and reviewers found it less shocking.  Brontë, as her late sister's heir, [[The Tenant of Wildfell Hall#Suppression and subsequent criticism|suppressed]] the republication of Anne's second novel, ''[[The Tenant of Wildfell Hall]]'', an action which had a deleterious effect on Anne's popularity as a novelist and has remained controversial among the sisters' biographers ever since.<ref>[http://www.mick-armitage.staff.shef.ac.uk/anne/an-novls.html The Novels of Anne Brontë]. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513024120/http://www.mick-armitage.staff.shef.ac.uk/anne/an-novls.html|date=13 May 2021}}</ref>