Synopses & Reviews
Fleeing an unhappy past in England, penniless Lucy Snowe starts life anew at a boarding school in cosmopolitan Villette, a stand-in for Brussels. The mystery, jealousy, and love that she finds there give Charlotte Brontës final novel much of the Gothic tone and psychological incisiveness that prompted George Eliot, Virginia Woolf, and others to call
Villette her finest work. Based on Brontës own experiences in Brussels and her attachment to a brilliant teacher with a strong and eccentric personality, this superb romantic novel is an exceptional example of how a great writer transforms the ordinary events of her life into vivid and exciting art.
Villette represents the inimitable Brontë genius by giving us a masterful portrait of Lucy Snowe, who belongs beside the great nineteenth-century literary heroinesand who will strongly appeal to modern readers.
With a New Introduction by Adriana Trigiani and an Afterword by Helen Benedict
Review
“Brontës finest novel.”—Virginia Woolf
“A still more wonderful book than Jane Eyre.”—George Eliot
Synopsis
Featuring an Introduction by Erica Jong, this book stars one of the most unforgettable heroines of all time.
Synopsis
Charlotte Bronte's romantic gothic novel, featuring one of literature's most memorable heroines.
With her 1847 novel, Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte created one of the most unforgettable heroines of all time. Jane Eyre is an orphan, penniless and plain, but full of courage and spirit. She has endured incredible hardship to secure her humble status as a governess in the household of her brooding employer, Mr. Rochester. Jane's sharp wit and defiant nature meet with Rochester's sardonic temperament. The two become enmeshed in a deep, intense bond. But Rochester has a terrible secret--a remnant from his past that could threaten any hope of happiness with his only love.
An unconventional love story that broadened the scope of romantic fiction, Jane Eyre is ultimately the tale of one woman's fight to claim her independence and self-respect in a society that has no place for her.
With an Introduction by Erica Jong
and an Afterword by Marcelle Clements
Synopsis
Featuring an Introduction by Erica Jong, this book stars one of the most unforgettable heroines of all time.
Synopsis
Featuring an Introduction by Erica Jong, this book stars one of the most unforgettable heroines of all time.
@ToEyreIsHuman Romance, romance, this poppa Rochester wants to get in my pants!
From Twitterature: The World's Greatest Books in Twenty Tweets or Less
About the Author
Charlotte Bronte lived from 1816 to 1855. In 1824 she was sent away to school with her four sisters and they were treated so badly that their father brought them home to Haworth in Yorkshire. The elder two sisters died within a few days and Charlotte and her sisters Emily and Anne were brought up in the isolated village. They were often lonely and loved to walk on the moors. They were all great readers and soon began to write small pieces of verse and stories.
Once Charlotte’s informal education was over she began to work as a governess and teacher in Yorkshire and Belgium so that she could add to the low family income and help to pay for her brother Branwell’s art education. Charlotte was a rather nervous young woman and didn’t like to be away from home for too long. The sisters began to write more seriously and published poetry in 1846 under male pen names – there was a lot of prejudice against women writers. The book was not a success and the sisters all moved on to write novels. Charlotte’s best-known book, Jane Eyre, appeared in 1847 and was soon seen as a work of genius. Charlotte really knew how to make characters and situations come alive.
Charlotte’s life was full of tragedy, never more so than when her brother Branwell and sisters Emily and Anne died within a few months in 1848/49. She married her father’s curate in 1854 but died in 1855, before her fortieth birthday.
Erica Jong left a Ph.D. program at Columbia to write her ground-breaking novel Fear of Flying, published in 1973. Jong is the author of numerous award-winning books of poetry and novels including Fanny, How to Save Your Own Life, Parachutes and Kisses, Any Woman’s Blues, and the forthcoming Sappho’s Leap. She is also the author of the memoir Fear of Fifty. She lives in New York City and Connecticut.