WORLD-renowned novelist Tracy Chevalier has visited the Brontë Parsonage Museum to work on her new exhibition.

She spent time last week scouring the museum’s collections for suitable items to put on display for the next few months at the Haworth museum.

Tracy will return tomorrow for the launch of Charlotte Great And Small, her major collaboration with the Brontë Society.

Brontë enthusiast Tracy been appointed the society’s ‘creative partner’ during the museum’s year-long celebrations of the 200th anniversary of Charlotte Brontë’s birth.

Tracy, writer of bestsellers like Girl With A Pearl Earring, has curated Charlotte Great And Small with the aim of exploring the contrast between Charlotte’s constricted life and her huge ambition.

She said: “I have always loved Charlotte’s work, and it has been a wonderful luxury while planning this show to get to know her life better.

“The place where she lived and worked, the clothes she wore, the objects surrounding her, all have a special magic that makes me feel as if Charlotte is just in the next room, nodding.”

At the parsonage Charlotte and her sisters lived in confined spaces, sharing beds and all working together in one room.

They created miniature books and magazines, and Charlotte ruined her eyesight by writing, drawing and painting on such a small scale.

She also had big ideas about the kind of life she wanted and the contribution she expected to make to literature.

Highlights of the exhibition include Charlotte’s child-size clothes, tiny books and paintings she made, a scrap from a dress she wore to an important London dinner party hosted by Thackeray, and a moving love letter.

On the walls quotes from Charlotte’s letters and writings will demonstrate the scale of her hopes and dreams.

Contemporary art installations will also be displayed throughout the Parsonage by UK and international artists.

The exhibition is free with admission to the Brontë Parsonage Museum.

Tracy will talk about the exhibition and the inspiration behind it at 2pm on Saturday in the West Lane Baptist Centre in Haworth.

Tracy has also edited a new collection of short stories influenced by the writing of Charlotte Brontë, entitled Reader, I Married Him.

The book will be launched in Haworth on April 7 with readings by Tracy Chevalier and fellow contributors Helen Dunmore and Salley Vickers.

Visit bronte.org.uk/whats-on or call 01535 640188 for more details and to book for the events.