Talented sisters

SORRY to nitpick, but there were a few inaccuracies in “Guided by the Brontes’ Voices” [Nov. 11]. While it is true that all three Bronte sisters died before the age of 40, it is now thought that Charlotte did not die of consumption the way Emily and Anne did. According to Juliet Barker’s 1994 biography of the family, “The Brontes,” Charlotte’s symptoms are consistent with hyperemesis gravidarum -- severe vomiting during pregnancy. Also, between the three of them, the Bronte sisters produced (in addition to their copious juvenilia) seven books, not six: “Wuthering Heights” by Emily, “Agnes Grey” and “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall” by Anne, and Charlotte’s four novels, “The Professor” (published posthumously), “Jane Eyre,” “Shirley” and “Villette.”

L.J. Strom

Los Angeles