The elder sister of Emily and Anne, Charlotte Brontë (1816-55) is most famous for her novel Jane Eyre. Based partly on her own experiences, this ground-breaking work introduced one of the best-loved heroines in modern literature and ranks as one of the most popular English novels of all time.

Inspired by a box of wooden toy soldiers given as a present to her elder brother Branwell in 1826, Charlotte Brontë created, together with her siblings, a series of tales set in the imaginary realm of Glass Town. In 'The Green Dwarf', against the backdrop of war, the arrogant aristocrat Colonel Percy and the enigmatic Mr Leslie are vying for the affections of the beautiful Lady Emily. Soon, with the rivals both on the front line, and with the scheming Percy hatching a plot that involves the mysterious Green Dwarf, Leslie finds himself facing danger on all sides.

Full of tragedy and passion, love and rivalry, the five sweeping tales contained in this volume display the precocious talent, lively imagination and flair for storytelling of the young Charlotte Brontë.

Who that has known her books has not admired the artist's noble English, the burning love of truth, the bravery, the simplicity, the indignation at wrong, the eager sympathy, the pious love and reverence, the passionate honour, so to speak, of the woman?

It's a cracker. It is novelettish. It is Gothic. It is funny.