William and Dorothy Wordsworth ─ All in Each Other

William Wordsworth's iconic relationship with his 'beloved Sister' spanned nearly fifty years. Separated after the death of their mother when Dorothy was six, and reunited as orphans after the death of their father, they became inseparable companions. This is the first literary biography to give each sibling the same level of detailed attention; with Dorothy's writings set fully alongside her brother's, we see her to be the poet's equal in a literary partnership of outstanding importance. But Newlyn shows that writing was just one element of their lifelong work to re-build their family and re-claim their communal identity; walking, talking, remembering, and grieving were just as important. This rich and holistic account celebrates the importance of mental and spiritual health, human relationships, and the environment.

Lucy Newlyn was born in Uganda, grew up in Leeds, and read English at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. She is now Professor of English Language and Literature at Oxford University, and a Fellow of St Edmund Hall. She has published widely on English Romantic Literature, including three books with Oxford University Press, and The Cambridge Companion to Coleridge. Her book Reading Writing and Romanticism: The Anxiety of Reception(O.U.P, 2000) won the British Academy's Rose Mary Crawshay prize in 2001. More recently she has been working on the prose writings of Edward Thomas. Together with Guy Cuthbertson she edited Branch-Lines: Edward Thomas and Contemporary Poetry, as well as England and Wales, a volume in the ongoing OUP edition of Thomas's prose. Married with a daughter and two step-children, Lucy Newlyn lives in Oxford. Ginnel, her first collection of poetry, was published in 2005: she is currently working on her second.