Villette
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I am only just returned to a sense of real wonder about me, for I have been reading Villette... (George Eliot)"
Product Description
With neither friends nor family, Lucy Snowe sets sail from England to find employment in a girls' boarding school in the small town of Villette.
There she struggles to retain her self-possession in the face of unruly pupils, an initially suspicious headmaster and her own complex feelings, first for the school's English doctor and then for the dictatorial professor Paul Emmanuel. Drawing on her own deeply unhappy experiences as a governess in Brussels, Charlotte Brontë's last and most autobiographical novel is a powerfully moving study of isolation and the pain of unrequited love, narrated by a heroine determined to preserve an independent spirit in the face of adverse circumstances.
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First Sentence
My godmother lived in a handsome house in the clean and ancient town of Bretton. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
My godmother lived in a handsome house in the clean and ancient town of Bretton. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
48 of 52 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
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 Brontė'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 Brontė 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!
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
Villette was written by Charlotte Bronte, and published in 1853. It follows the adventures of Lucy Snowe as she leaves her home and England to go teach at an all-girls school in the fiction town of Villette, in France.
Like with Jane Eyre, Bronte draws on alot of her own experiences to write this book, working in a Pensionnat in Brussels. The book really explores Lucy Snowe's psychology as she deals with living abroad, meeting new people, both good and bad, and falling in love. There is a great many gothic elements in the book, ghostly nuns included and it is a really enjoyable read.
My only complaint would be the ending. Not wanting to spoil the book for potential readers I won't elaborate too much, but I felt it was unnecessaraly sad and almost half hearted. According to the introduction, Bronte adappted her original ending at the request of her publisher who felt it was too sad, and so changed it to what it is, leaving it up to the reader to decide.
Like with Jane Eyre, Bronte draws on alot of her own experiences to write this book, working in a Pensionnat in Brussels. The book really explores Lucy Snowe's psychology as she deals with living abroad, meeting new people, both good and bad, and falling in love. There is a great many gothic elements in the book, ghostly nuns included and it is a really enjoyable read.
My only complaint would be the ending. Not wanting to spoil the book for potential readers I won't elaborate too much, but I felt it was unnecessaraly sad and almost half hearted. According to the introduction, Bronte adappted her original ending at the request of her publisher who felt it was too sad, and so changed it to what it is, leaving it up to the reader to decide.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
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.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Reader, I really like Villette
By the time I had forced myself through the first volume of Villette I was seriously concerned I would not be able to finish it, which bothers me as I hate it when I feel defeated... Read more
Published 7 days ago by Stracs
A wonderful trip into a bygone era
It is some years since I read a Bronte work, so will not try to make any comparisons here. I'll simply limit myself to commenting solely on my feelings about this particular... Read more
Published 16 days ago by Bezzy
ANOTHER BRILLIANT BRONTE
Looking forward to finishing this book.
Also try SHIRLEY - another brilliant book, the writer makes the old days in northern UK come alive - couldn't put it down.
Also try SHIRLEY - another brilliant book, the writer makes the old days in northern UK come alive - couldn't put it down.
Published 1 month ago by D. Parks
Enjoyable read- but need to know French!
For me not as good as Jane Eyre but still a very worthwhile read. It made me long to be on holiday in sunny France rather than in cold Britain. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Girl with the Pink Kindle
OK, but nowhere near as good as Jane Eyre.
Well, after reading all the gushing reviews about this book, I was rather disappointed in the end.
I can't for the life of me see how anybody could say that this book is... Read more
I can't for the life of me see how anybody could say that this book is... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Darren
Charlotte's darkest work
As so often happens when great writers produce great works of fiction, Charlotte Bronte's name has become synonymous with just one book - `Jane Eyre', a justified infamy but one... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Banks15
What an amazing novel
I had low expectations of this - and was completely wrong. It's a WONDERFUL novel, in some ways even better than the sacred and unmatchable Jane Eyre. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Lola Bergen
My favourite book
Villette is my favourite book of all time (well, maybe it ties with Mansfield Park but I think it wins by a whisker). Read more
Published 11 months ago by Diana
Hard going
I read Jane Eyre many years ago and remember really enjoying it. So I thought I would give Villette a go. And to be honest, I was a little disappointed by this one. Read more
Published 12 months ago by M. E. Walker
villette -what's all the fuss?
Sorry folks, but all this inordinate praise of the preachy, starchy, eminently dull "Villette" calls for some kind of balanced response. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Greta M. Robinson
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