Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #152571 in Books
• Published on: 1994-05-26
• Binding: Paperback
• 528 pages

Synopsis
Left by harrowing circumstances to fend for herself in the great capital of a foreign country, Lucy Snowe, the narrator and heroine of "Villette", achieves by degrees an authentic independence from both outer necessity and inward grief.

Customer Reviews

I preferred Jane Eyre
I have just finished reading Charlotte Bronte's Villette after loving Jane Eyre. I must say I did prefer Jane Eyre, but thats not to say this book is bad. My criticism of Villette is it is sometimes monotonously slow. Brontes description is beautiful, however sometimes the narrative is too long winded. If you like fast paced books, I have to say this is not for you. Read this book before any Jane Austens though. Bronte is a far superior writer, who is realistic, where as Austen focuses upon happily ever after. What I did love about the book, same as Jane Eyre, is the way it makes you feel for the characters. By the end you cannot help wanting lucy to be happy.A beautiful book, but by the end I was wanting it to end.

Interesting and passionate
"Villette" is the history of Lucy Snowe, an original and absorbing character. The title of the book refers to the city she moves to after finding herself completely alone in England. In Villette, Labassecour she is employed as a teacher by inquisitive Madame Beck, director of a "pensionnat de demoisellles". Several fascinating characters are presented, like capricious M. Paul Emanuel, chivalrous Graham Bretton, strange Paulina and frivolous Ginevra Fanshawe, and all throughout the novel the complex plot is carried out excellently. In comparison with "Jane Eyre"- Charlotte Brontë's most famous book - "Villette" is a more mature work and features a better-developed characterization. To sum up, I would recommend "Villette" to readers already familiar with its author's style, but who want something more sophisticated.

why isn't this the Charlotte Bronte novel that we read?
I would just like to add my praise of this book to that of the other reviewers. For whilst we may be enticed be the romance at the heart of Jane Eyre, Villette, as a later novel shows far better writing both in structure and description. In Lucy Snowe C.B also finds a narrator through whom she can successfully 'speak'. It is an unusual novel in its plot, setting and ending; far less 'victorian' than Jane Eyre (even if we allow C.B. the happy coincidences that litter the novel) ,this is a work which deserves to be more widely read.