Actress and writer Sheila Hancock has long been fascinated by the life and works of the Brontë sisters. In this programme, she searches for an answer to a puzzling question: “How did three spinsters who spent most of their lives in a remote parsonage on the edge of the moors come to write books so shocking, erotic, profoundly moving and quite wonderful?”

Sheila embarks on a journey that starts in the Yorkshire village of Haworth and the brutal moors that inspired Emily Brontë’sWuthering Heights, moves on to Brussels, where Charlotte Brontë developed the writing style that made Jane Eyre an enduring masterpiece, and ends in Scarborough, the last resting place of Anne Brontë.

Over the course of documentary, Sheila meets leading authorities on the Brontës as well as modern artists who have been inspired by their work. Delving through priceless artefacts and manuscripts, Sheila sheds new light on these remarkable and world-famous women: has she finally found the elusive answer to her question?