Product Description

This novel is based on the author's personal experience as a teacher in Brussels. It is a moving tale of repressed feelings and subjection to cruel circumstance and position, borne with heroic fortitude. It is also the story of a woman's right to love and be loved.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #17554 in Books
• Published on: 1993-10-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 496 pages

About the Author
Introduction and Notes by Dr Sally Minogue, Canterbury Christ Church University College.

Customer Reviews

It's criminal!
I do not in any way mean to say that this book is bad; indeed, I mean the very opposite. It is criminal that "Villette" is not widely recognised as Charlotte Brontë's tour de force. Overshadowed by the tremendous success of "Jane Eyre" - which is, in itself, a wonderful novel - "Villette" has been largely ignored. Yet, in my opinion, it is superior: it has a better structure, a better heroine and a well designed plot. In what can only be described as an "aesthetically satisfying work," we engage with the main character, Lucy Snowe; we feel her passion, her isolation, her desperation - in fact, it is a highly autobiographical work. It is the story of unrequited love. It is the study of the development of a character put into adverse circumstances. It is the expression of , as never seen in English before, of the complexities and subtleties of a woman. It is poetical, beautiful. We follow Lucy as she grows up: living with her aunt, becoming a teacher in a school called Villette, standing up to the hostility of many other teachers and finally ... I think that anyone who loved "Jane Eyre" - there are not many of us who don't - will appreciate this criminally overlooked novel. Moreover, it is the perfect novel for a first-time Brontë reader - followed very closely by "Jane Eyre". Please do not take my word for it - read it and be mesmerised in a vividly painted world that will haunt you forever!

A superior work of fiction; intelligent and entertaining
In Villette, Charlotte Bronte creates a work of fiction which rivals in complexity with the better known Jane Eyre. In it, the heroine, Lucy Snowe, goes to France to find work and a home, having no friends or relatives to support her,and enroles as a governess in a boarding school. The story follows her through her life and her journey in an unfamiliar world, but never the less one she manages to work in.
Lucy Snowe is a girl who has learnt from a very early age to hide her feelings and - attempts - to control her despairs and desires. On the outside she appears to be a very solemn creature, but one who does not suffer as much as the 'real' Lucy does. She has suffered through her life a series of misfortunes which are only hinted at, particularly the events taking place in her childhood, and the end of the book hints at yet another tragedy - I won't say any more.
I enjoyed this book much more than I did Jane Eyre, probably because the character was, to me at least, more interesting. Lucy was slightly sarcastic, and the illusion she cultivates throughout the book enables her to take the role of observer, drawing us into lives of the people around her and the conflicts which they are quite public about, and the conflicts taking place within herself, which are much more private.
Although this book is quite long, with a huge opportunity for becoming slow and boring, it never becomes dull or loses pace. I loved reading it, the descriptions at the beginning of the book really appealed to me, and I would recommend it to just about anyone.

If you thought Jane Eyre was good...
Then definitely read this!

I liked Jane Eyre very much, but it was Villette that really captured my imagination and heart. In my opinion (though I realise it is verging on this criminal to admit this) it is better than Jane Eyre - it certainly has more depth, the plot is far superior, and it's just... more enjoyable. I admit that JE has the irreplaceable Mr Rochester, but Villette has Mousieur Paul, a Rochesterian (?) character himself - idiosyncratic, harsh, domineering, austere, and yet simultaneously attractive. I preferrd him to Rochester as he, and his love for the protagonist Lucy Snowe, is more believable, and has more depth.

The only thing I would say is that unless your French is pretty good don't buy the Oxford edition - there is a lot of French dialogue, and OUP clearly didn't want to spend the money on paper and ink to translate it all - which I found extremely frustrating.

Overall - a fantastic book to curl up with and lose yourself in - it is one of my favourites!