After the death of her mother, she and her three sisters; Emily, Maria and Elizabeth, were sent to the Clergy Daughters' School at Cowan Bridge in Lancashire (which she would describe as Lowood School in Jane Eyre). She believed that Its poor conditions permanently affected her health and hastened the deaths of her two eldest sisters, who died of tuberculosis not longer after leaving Cowan Bridge.
In May 1846, Charlotte, Emily and Anne published a joint collection of poetry but the book sold only two copies. Charlotte remained 'Currer Bell' when she published her first two novels and later wrote: "Averse to personal publicity, we veiled our own names under those of Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell; the ambiguous choice being dictated by a sort of conscientious scruple at assuming Christian names positively masculine, while we did not like to declare ourselves women, because -- without at that time suspecting that our mode of writing and thinking was not what is called 'feminine' -- we had a vague impression that authoresses are liable to be looked on with prejudice; we had noticed how critics sometimes use for their chastisement the weapon of personality, and for their reward, a flattery, which is not true praise."
After the enormous success of Jane Eyre, she revealed her true identity and began to move in a more exalted social circle, becoming friends with Harriet Martineau and Elizabeth Gaskell.
In June 1854, Charlotte married Arthur Bell Nicholls but died the following year in childbirth. Her death certificate gives the cause of death as phthisis (tuberculosis), but many biographers suggest she may have died from dehydration and malnourishment, caused by excessive vomiting from severe morning sickness. She was just 39.
