Biographer of the Brontës gets her own biography

A leading biographer of the Brontës herself comes under the spotlight in a new book. Helen McEwan has written a biography of Winifred Gérin, whose own four volumes were for many years the standard biographies of the family members. Winifred first visited Haworth in her 50s and was so impressed that she went on to write separate biographies of Charlotte, Emily, Anne and Branwell. After a life spent trying poetry and playwriting, she achieved renown for her biographies, written between 1959 and 1971. She died in 1981. The life of Winifred has been explored by Helen MacEwan, a long-time Brontë scholar and founder of the Belgian branch of the Brontë Society.
A Brussels resident for the past 11 years, she decided to write about Winifred after discovering their shared links with the Belgian city. Helen said Winifred was “bowled over” by Haworth during her 1954 visit and felt people could not understand the Brontë family without becoming immersed in a their environment. Helen said: “Very romantically, on that first visit Winifred met her second husband, John Lock, also a Brontë enthusiast. “They both decided to move from London to Haworth and devote themselves to writing biographies of the Brontës.
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