This biography of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, written with reference to Browning correspondence only recently available, argues that the poet was a strong and determined woman largely responsible for her own incarceration in Wimpole Street. The author traces her life from her early childhood and adolescence and explores her marriage. She draws a picture of early Victorian family life and aims to show that Elizabeth was a considerable and dedicated poet, self-willed, witty and courageous. Forster has also edited the companion volume "Selected Poems" of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and is author of several other biographies.

Born in Carlisle, Margaret Forster was the author of many successful and acclaimed novels, includingHave the Men Had Enough?,Lady's Maid,Diary of an Ordinary Woman,IsThere Anything You Want?, Keeping the World Away,OverandThe Unknown Bridesmaid. She also wrote bestselling memoirs Hidden Lives, Precious Livesand, most recently,My Life in Houses and biographies. She was married to writer and journalist Hunter Davies and lived in London and the Lake District. She died in February 2016, just before her last novel,How to Measure a Cow, was published.

'This is the most exciting sort of biography to read, or to write: the myth-dispelling biography which overturns an old story, and does so most convincingly' New Statesman