http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/bronte/cbronte/eyreov.html
life of Charlotte Bronte

Charlotte Brontë was born in 1816, in Thornton, Yorkshire, England. She was the eldest of the surviving Brontë children; her younger sisters were novelist Anne and poet/novelist Emily (Wuthering Heights is her most famous work). Her older sisters, Maria and Elizabeth, both died as children from tuberculosis. Her brother, Patrick Branwell, died at the age of 31. In 1854, Charlotte married Arthur Bell Nicholls, and died in 1855, during pregnancy.

Charlotte Brontë's most famous novel, Jane Eyre was originally published as Jane Eyre: An Autobiography in October of 1847, when Brontë was just 30 years old. As was common at the time, it was published in three volumes: Volume 1 comprised chapters 1 to 15, Volume 2 comprised chapters 16 to 26, and 27 to 38 were published in Volume 3. (We will be reading them as sequential chapters, rather than three volumes.) She first published the novel under the pen name Currer Bell. In fact, the three sisters all published under male pseudonyms:  Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell.  We will be reading Brontë's third edition of the book, which she dedicated to poet William Makepeace Thackeray. This edition is published under her name, but bears the name of Currer Bell as editor. 

Jane Eyre is often referred to as a bildungsroman,  a novel that follows the psychological and moral development of its protagonist from childhood to adulthood. With this novel,  Brontë is seen as revolutionizing  the field of fiction. Many consider Jane Eyre to have been ahead of its time, due to its treatment of class politics, individualism, sexuality, religion, and feminism. 

Many also see this book as a fictional autobiography as well. Details from Brontë's school experiences are present, as are other details that tie the book to the Brontë family.