Emily Jane Brontë was born on July 30, 1818, in Thornton, Yorkshire, England. She was the fifth of six children born to Maria Branwell and the Reverend Patrick Brontë, an Irish Anglican clergyman. Emily's mother died of cancer when she was three years old, and Emily and her sisters Charlotte, Branwell, and Anne were raised by their father and their aunt Elizabeth Branwell.
The Brontë children were largely self-educated, and they developed a love of literature and writing at an early age. They created their own fictional worlds, which they wrote about in their own books and magazines. Emily's earliest known writings date from 1829, when she was just eleven years old.
In 1835, Emily and Charlotte attended Roe Head School for a few months, but both sisters became ill and were forced to return home. Emily never attended school again. In 1837, Charlotte became a governess, and Emily followed in her footsteps the following year.
In 1846, Emily and Charlotte published a joint volume of poetry under the pseudonyms Ellis and Currer Bell. The book received very few sales, but it gave them the encouragement to continue writing. In 1847, Emily's only novel, Wuthering Heights, was published under the pseudonym Ellis Bell.
Wuthering Heights was not well-received when it was first published, but it has since become one of the most popular and critically acclaimed novels in English literature. The novel tells the story of Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, two passionate lovers who are separated by social class and circumstance. Catherine eventually marries Edgar Linton, but she continues to love Heathcliff and is haunted by his presence. After Catherine's death, Heathcliff returns to Wuthering Heights and takes revenge on those who have wronged him.
Emily Brontë died of tuberculosis on December 19, 1848, at the age of thirty. She never married or had children. She left behind a small body of work, but her novel Wuthering Heights and her poems are considered to be masterpieces of English literature.