Four Dreamers and Emily — Stevie Davies

Academics and Wuthering Heights fans are descending on the Bronte family homestead for an Emily Bronte conference. Among their ranks are a single, over-sixty, self-professed expert on the Brontes; an overworked wife, mother, and university lecturer; a widower sustained by nocturnal visits from Emily's ghost; and a young waitress suddenly drawn into the curios orbit of academia. Each looks forward to a weekend in the company of kindred spirits, but none is prepared for the unexpected conflicts and unpredictable alliances that result.

Four Dreamers and Emily is the United States debut of an acclaimed British novelist -- a sharply observed, hilarious, and bittersweet send-up of academic pretentiousness and literary obsession.