‘How do I love thee, let me count the ways.’
Most people recognise the line. Few know the woman behind it.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning was one of the most influential poets of the 19th century — the first woman to be nominated for Poet Laureate, an inspiration to generations of writers, and a woman who fought fiercely to be heard in a world determined to silence her. Up against a controlling father, a debilitating illness and a literary world dominated by men, she refused to be defined by anything other than her own words.
How Do I Love Thee? traces her journey from London to Italy — the journey that changed the course of her life — and asks what becomes possible when a woman finds the freedom to write, to love, and to be herself. We hope to bridge the gap between her poetry and her story to continue to inspire generations.