Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte.

 “Reading is my favourite occupation, when I have leisure for it and books to read.” 

Anne Bronte was the only Bronte I hadn't met yet. Neither of her books made it onto my 250 project list, but I made sure to include them both on my Classics Club List. And since Agnes Grey was both short and by the last Bronte sister, I wanted to make sure that I got to it during the Victorian event.

I am so glad I did.

My experiences with both Emily and Charlotte have been wonderful. I met Emily first when I read Wuthering Heights. And while I didn't really love the characters, I admired the story and Emily. I've also read both Jane Eyre and Villette by Charlotte. Both of those blew me away and definitely overshadowed my reading experience with Emily. So, it was time for Anne to speak to me. And speak to me she did.

I should first say that while I wasn't completely blown away by Agnes Grey, I did love it. It was her first novel, and it seemed a bit rough around the edges...almost as if she wasn't sure what she was going to write about and say when she began. The book opens with telling the reader a bit about Agnes' life. Her family isn't super well off, and while she doesn't have to, she decides to find work as a governess. The first family she works for has a bunch of little hellions, and the parents aren't much better. She eventually finds a second situation that seems to be a little better, but not perfect. I really loved the descriptions of her struggles with her students. Some bits made me chuckle because guess what, I go through the same thing when I'm teaching!

“I had been seasoned by adversity, and tutored by experience, and I longed to redeem my lost honour in the eyes of those whose opinion was more than that of all the world to me.”

But, the book shifts gears about midway through when Agnes is in her second placement. A love interest emerges, and while he isn't necessarily all the book focuses on from that point forward, the change made the novel feel a bit disjointed.

The novel begins to focus a bit on one of Agnes' students-Rosalie-and her quest to find a proper husband. In some ways, I felt that the novel took a bit of a shallow turn here. Where I was interested in Agnes' almost invisible role as the governess to spoiled and rotten children (I really did love her observations of the children and her own reactions to their actions), I felt that her observations of Rosalie's situation were...well...judgemental.

Let me explain. As a governess, Agnes would have been almost invisible to the wealthy members of the family. As long as she did her job properly, she would lead a lonely life among the children of the family-her charges. Those observations, like those that took place in the beginning of the book, were fascinating on their own. But once Agnes' observations became intertwined with Rosalie, I began to lose a bit of interest.

However, there were some interesting and underlying things that caught my attention once I shut the book. First, the Bronte sisters worked as governesses, so obviously some of the material was probably inspired by Anne's own experiences. She wanted to show the life of a governess in this time period to those who were unfamiliar with the lonely and unrecognized side of taking on that kind of employment. I am sure that the experiences poor Agnes had as a governess would have meant something different to men and women reading this novel back in the 19th century.

But I was also struck by the difference in lifestyle between Agnes and Rosalie-arguably the two main female characters. Agnes made it a point to tell her readers that she lived in a reasonably well off family (I would say a middle-class family. She never really wanted for anything and her family always supported her) and that Rosalie came from money. So, here are two women with slightly different circumstances...but such a difference in choice.

Agnes was allowed to choose to go and find work on her own. She wanted to help support her family, so she found work as a governess and pursued it. She was allowed to do almost as she pleased in her spare time-spend time with the poor, read, write letters, etc. On the other hand, Rosalie was raised more by a governess than her own mother. She was instructed from the beginning to be a flirt and to find a place with a well to do man. Her life was consumed by finding a husband whereas Agnes was allowed to be herself.

It was an interesting comparison and one that really struck me only when I finished the novel. In many ways, I think that Agnes' story was a way for Anne to acknowledge that her own life was something more than many others could hope for. If you really think about it, the Brontes were an incredibly interesting family. The three sisters were allowed a lot of freedom and choice in what they wished to do-something that probably wasn't all that common.

In the end, I really did love Agnes Grey. Do I think it would have been better to have a novel focused on the plight of a governess and a separate one to point out the comparison between classes? Absolutely. But this was still fabulous and gave me a lot of food for thought once I finished it. It also made me eager to read The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, which I am hoping to get to later this fall.

“I still preserve those relics of past sufferings and experience, like pillars of witness set up in travelling through the valve of life, to mark particular occurrences. The footsteps are obliterated now; the face of the country may be changed; but the pillar is still there, to remind me how all things were when it was reared.”

After finishing this one and writing a post about the Brontes last week, I was stuck thinking for awhile about which Bronte sister I am most like, now that I have "met" them all. I think I would like to be Charlotte. She was adventurous, romantic, and took chances. After all, she traveled to Belgium, and was resolute in getting the novels she and her sisters wrote published. She was also strong after losing her siblings and carried on. But I'm not really like that. Anne was the youngest and from her writing, she seemed incredibly passionate about social issues and exploring the nature of human relationships. She also ventured out on her own a bit and worked as a governess as well.

But Emily...she was a quietly passionate and stormy one. She was more of a homebody (she refused to go to London to prove her identity to her publisher) and seemed to be a bit more...dreamy. I think that if there was a Bronte I am the most like...it would have to be Emily.

Who do you think you would be most like? Or do you disagree with my observations on the sisters?

Author Focus: The Bronte Sisters and Giveaway (A Victorian Celebration).

This week's author focus is a 3 for 1 deal on the Bronte sisters. If you are interested  in any of the other posts I've written on other Victorian authors, they are linked here:

• George Eliot
• Wilkie Collins
• Charles Dickens
• Thomas Hardy

I'm excited to talk a little bit about the Brontes! I had never picked up a Bronte novel until my project, but with each new title, I am more and more in awe of the three sisters.

I should say up front that I am no expert on the sisters or their lives, but there are a number of biographies on them if you're interested in learning more. Think of this post as a very broad overview into their lives!

The Bronte family consisted of their parents, Patrick and Maria, as well as their two older sisters, Maria and Elizabeth, and their brother Branwell. Their mother and two older sisters all died when the girls were young, leaving the three sisters with their brother and father.

The Bronte Sisters.

Charlotte, the oldest of the trio, was born in 1816. As a child, she was sent away to school at the Cowan Bridge School, which later inspired Lowood School in Jane Eyre. It was there that her two older sisters contracted tuberculosis and passed away in 1825. After her removal from the school, she served as a teacher to Branwell, Emily, and Anne. Emily was born in 1818 and was also enrolled at the Cowan Bridge School. Like Charlotte, she was pulled from the school and sent home when disease spread in the school. The second youngest, she was under the care and instruction of Charlotte and her Aunt Elizabeth for the remainder of her schooling. Anne was the youngest of the Brontes. Born in 1820, she was too young to be sent away to school like her older sisters, so she was already at home when the girls returned and her eldest sisters passed away.

At home, the four remaining Bronte siblings had to entertain themselves as best they could. They created literary worlds where they could escape from the everyday and explore their own interpretations of literature. They even created their own mythical land and began to write stories centered on Branwell's toy soldiers and their own imaginings of events in their heads.

In 1831, Charlotte was sent away to school at Miss Wooler's school. She seemed to thrive in the environment, and when the opportunity arose, she took on work teaching. Emily also accompanied her for a time, but came back home after three months. Anne took her place.

Charlotte Bronte

During their education and travels, all three of the girls continued to write. There are excerpts of letters from Charlotte to Branwell with more descriptions and narratives to go along with their childhood stories. Before beginning to really focus on writing, both Charlotte and Anne worked as governesses to help out their family (perhaps their inspirations for Jane Eyre and Agnes Grey). Emily seemed to have issues with leaving home, so she stayed with her father while her sisters worked.

It was in 1842 that their Aunt Elizabeth determined to send both Charlotte and Emily to Brussels to study in a boarding school. She felt that this exposure outside of England would do both girls some good, and since both of them showed a high level of intelligence, she was happy to spend the money. Anne stayed back home and continued in her post as a governess. In Brussels, the girls studied under the Hegers. After 6 months, both were offered the opportunity to stay on for free if they also taught some lessons at the school. Both accepted, but returned to England a few months later when their aunt passed away. While their inheritance paid off their debts and would allow them to live comfortably, Charlotte chose to return to Brussels to teach a little longer while Emily chose to stay home.

Charlotte was away for another year before returning home. It's rumored and believed there was some level of affection on her part towards Mr. Heger, which may have encouraged her to come home. However, things were also going downhill at home. Mr. Bronte had been sick and Branwell was also in declining health.

Emily Bronte

It is after Charlotte returned home that the sisters began writing seriously. Charlotte began writing Jane Eyre while sitting beside her ailing father and brother. She also began to take interest in the writings of both of her sisters. Emily had been writing poetry and after being convinced by Charlotte, the three sisters decided to try and get a volume of their poetry published. It eventually was and they published the work under their pen names-Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell. The volume only sold 3 copies, but it sparked more literary discussions around the dinner table.

In 1847, the Bronte sisters each published a work. Jane Eyre by Charlotte, Wuthering Heights by Emily, and Agnes Grey by Anne were all published under their pen names to varying levels of success. It was after the publication of all three novels that rumors sprouted about Currer, Ellis, and Acton being only one person. To prove their publishers otherwise, Charlotte and Anne traveled to London with letters from their publisher (Emily refused to go and stayed home).

Branwell passed away in September 1848 from tuberculosis, but it was rumored he had a drinking problem. Emily fell ill in September of the same year and passed away in December-from tuberculosis. It is rumored she left behind a manuscript when she passed, with orders for Charlotte to burn it. After the publication of Wuthering Heights, she didn't want any more of her work out to the public (Wuthering Heights was a bit scandalous). Anne had published The Tenant of Wildfell Hall in the same year, but passed away in May 1849. Again, the cause of death was attributed to tuberculosis.

After suffering through the deaths of her three remaining siblings in only 8 months, Charlotte turned back to writing and published Shirley in October 1849. She also moved to London and befriended some of the other literary minds of the era-namely Elizabeth Gaskell and William Makepeace Thackeray. She became close friends with Gaskell, who later wrote a biography of Charlotte after her death.

Anne Bronte

Her third novel, Villette, was published in 1853. In June 1854, she married Arthur Bell Nicholls. She became pregnant shortly after her marriage, but her health declined. She passed away on March 31, 1855 at only 31 years old. Her last novel, The Professor, was published after her death (the novel was actually written around the time of Jane Eyre).

After Charlotte's death, the only surviving member of the Bronte family was their father Patrick. He outlived all of his children and passed away in 1861 at 84 years old. 

I think the Brontes are tragic in many ways. It is shame that such intelligent minds were taken far too soon. I wonder what other things they would have written given the time and opportunity to create more. To date, I have read Jane Eyre, Villette, Wuthering Heights, and Agnes Grey. I have loved all four of the novels I've read so far, but I can't wait to read more. Their complete novels are as follows:

Anne Bronte:

• Agnes Grey (1847)
• The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848)

 Emily Bronte:

• Wuthering Heights (1847) 

Charlotte Bronte:

• Jane Eyre (1847)
• Shirley (1849)
• Villette (1853)
• The Professor (1857)

There is also the collection of their poems that they published together and a fragment of Charlotte's unfinished work, Emma.

For this week's giveaway, I am giving away THREE Bronte titles-one from each sister. I will pull names based on which sister you choose (so if there is only one entry for one sister, that person will automatically win). To enter, read the following and comment below:

• This giveaway will be open internationally (I will be shipping from The Book Depository, so as long as they ship to you, you can enter)
• You MUST be a participant of A Victorian Celebration to enter.
• You MUST be 13 years or older
• You do not have to follow me or subscribe to qualify
• You MUST leave me your e-mail so that I contact you if you win
• The winner will have 48 hours to respond or I will pick a new winner.
• To enter, comment on this post and answer the following question: Which Bronte sister is your favorite and why? Also, what book would you choose if you won?
• The giveaway will be open until 11:59 PM on Friday, July 27, 2012 EST.

Good luck and thanks for entering!

*All information came from wikipedia.org and Elizabeth Gaskell's The Life of Charlotte Bronte*

A Victorian Celebration: Shirley Giveaway!

I have to tell you guys, you are making me feel like I'm not reading fast enough. There are so many wonderful posts on the Master post! Keep up the great work!

It's time for the weekly giveaway (have you caught on that there is at least one giveaway a week? Because there is!).

This week's giveaway is for a book I haven't had a chance to read yet, but will sometime in the future. Shirley by Charlotte Bronte, is one of those books I know I'll be reading sooner, rather than later. I've loved the other titles by Charlotte that I've read, and I'm hoping someone will love this one too!

Some more information taken from Goodreads.com:

"Following the tremendous popular success of Jane Eyre, which earned her lifelong notoriety as a moral revolutionary, Charlotte Brontë vowed to write a sweeping social chronicle that focused on "something real and unromantic as Monday morning." Set in the industrializing England of the Napoleonic wars and Luddite revolts of 1811-12, Shirley (1849) is the story of two contrasting heroines. One is the shy Caroline Helstone, who is trapped in the oppressive atmosphere of a Yorkshire rectory and whose bare life symbolizes the plight of single women in the nineteenth century. The other is the vivacious Shirley Keeldar, who inherits a local estate and whose wealth liberates her from convention.

A work that combines social commentary with the more private preoccupations of Jane Eyre, Shirley demonstrates the full range of Brontë's literary talent. "Shirley is a revolutionary novel," wrote Brontë biographer Lyndall Gordon. "Shirley follows Jane Eyre as a new exemplar but so much a forerunner of the feminist of the later twentieth century that it is hard to believe in her actual existence in 1811-12. She is a theoretic possibility: what a woman might be if she combined independence and means of her own with intellect. Charlotte Brontë imagined a new form of power, equal to that of men, in a confident young woman [whose] extraordinary freedom has accustomed her to think for herself....Shirley [is] Brontë's most feminist novel.""

I can't wait to get to this one too!

Up for grabs is a new Penguin Classics edition of Charlotte Bronte's Shirley. To enter, read the rules and comment below!

• This giveaway will be open to any residents of the U.S. or Canada (my international participants, I have special giveaways planned for you later on).
• You MUST be a participant of A Victorian Celebration to enter.
• You MUST be 13 years or older
• You do not have to follow me or subscribe to qualify
• You MUST leave me your e-mail so that I contact you if you win
• The winner will have 48 hours to respond or I will pick a new winner.
• To enter, comment on this post and answer the following question: What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?
• The giveaway will be open until 11:59 PM on Friday, June 22, 2012 EST.

Good luck and keep up the great job reading!

Book 84: Wide Sargasso Sea and Book Stats.

Title: Wide Sargasso Sea

Author: Jean Rhys (1890-1979)

First Published: 1966

My Edition: Norton Paperback Fiction (No images of my version were available)

Pages: 190

Other Works Include: Voyage in the Dark (1934), Sleep it Off Lady (1976)

I had a roommate in college who was originally an English major (she later switched to Criminal Justice). She took a class on Post-Colonial Lit (it wouldn't fit in my class schedule), and we had long conversations about the things she was reading in class.

I can remember the conversation where this title came up. We were talking about the canon and why we read it, which was all related back to her class. They were in the middle of reading this, but since I had never read Jane Eyre, I didn't want a lot of details about it.

I figured that now is as good a time as any to dive into this one. Coming right out of Jane Eyre, why not read the "prequel?" All I do know about this one is that it gives details about the life of the mad-woman in the attic before any of the events in Jane Eyre take place. I have a feeling that I am either going to love or hate this one, but who knows. I'm a little worried it is going to ruin my feelings about Bronte's novel, but since this one is so highly regarded, I know it won't be a mash up.

How many of you have read this one? What did you think about it?

Book 83: Finished/Reflections on Reading.

I'm always amused by my feelings towards certain titles. When I was first discovering reading, I had very strict feelings about the types of books I read. Obviously as a young girl, I read a lot of classic children's literature, like The Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I also read The Babysitter's Club, The Boxcar Children, and random titles from other big names.

Moving into middle school, I began to discover other things that captured my interest. I don't ever remember the young adult section being as big or as diverse as it is now, so I had a hard time finding interesting things for my age group. That is when I began to branch out (one of my friend's and I loved to read Mary Higgins Clark and would share our books). It was only after some great English teachers that I began to venture into the classics, and I did so with great trepidation.

When our English teachers passed out lists of classic titles, I always searched for titles similar to what I already enjoyed-I read a lot of H.G. Wells, Orwell, etc. It was only after some gentle nudging that I started to read and enjoy other classic pieces.

But during all the time, I never had any interest in reading anything by any of the Brontes. I equated Brontes with stuck-up, old school literature that I had no interest in. And while I loved Homer, Austen, Eliot, Fitzgerald, Woolf, and Faulkner, I just skipped right over the Brontes and moved on.

I don't know why I held that prejudice for so long. When I finally read Wuthering Heights last year, I loved it. And then I loved Villette, but there was something inside of me that stayed far away from this title. Something about Jane Eyre spooked me.

At first, I was worried it wouldn't be any good. But after reading Charlotte's other title, I knew that the writing would be excellent. Then I was worried that I would be the one person who wouldn't like it. I would find some fatal flaw that would ruin it.

I was also worried that I would be too dumb to understand the story. I wouldn't enjoy it because I wouldn't get it.

All silly thoughts.

It also became a game as I resisted. There were many tweets going on about the fact that I needed to just dive in and read the novel. I resisted out of fun, but mainly fear.

Now I realize that was silly.

There is nothing to fear about reading a book, and especially a classic. What I have learned throughout this entire process is that classics are far more accessible than we realize. The story of Jane Eyre IS timeless and something we can all cherish and love. Who doesn't want a gruff Mr. Rochester to love? (I tried to call Matt Rochester. He didn't like it).

The story is beautiful and captured me from the beginning. And when Jane left Thornfield, I found myself freaking out. Would she return? Would Rochester take her back? Will the crazy lady die so they can be happy? I was invested and hooked. I flipped through those last 150-200 pages quickly, sucking in the story as fast as I could. By the end, I held the book closed in my lap and just sighed.

I love the adventure that literature takes us on. I love that it takes our emotions and scrambles them up so we can see all sides to an issue. I love that it can make us change our minds about the way we approach reading and what we truly enjoy. But most of all, I love that no matter how much I read, I am constantly moved in new and deeper ways. I am in love with literature, and my experience of reading Jane Eyre perfectly explains why.

I like to look back at the beginning of this journey here and see myself as a 5 year-old clutching her Laura Ingalls Wilder novels. I was curious, but cautious. I started out slowly and approached each new novel with fear and excitement.

Now, I still approach them with fear and excitement, but I also feel hopeful, that the book I am reaching for will take me on that same journey.

So thank you to those pesky few who continually nagged me to pick up Jane Eyre. I can honestly say that it is now a favorite and I cannot wait to read it over and over again.

Favorite Lines:

"I can live alone, if self-respect, and circumstances require me so to do. I need not sell my soul to buy bliss. I have an inward treasure born with me, which can keep me alive if all extraneous delights should be withheld, or offered only at a price I cannot afford to give."

"I have little left in myself -- I must have you. The world may laugh -- may call me absurd, selfish -- but it does not signify. My very soul demands you: it will be satisfied, or it will take deadly vengeance on its frame."

"Good-night, my-" He stopped, bit his lip, and abruptly left me."

"I have now been married ten years. I know what it is to live entirely for and with what I love best on earth. I hold myself supremely blest - blest beyond what language can express; because I am my husband's life as fully as he is mine. No woman was ever nearer to her mate than I am: ever more absolutely bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. I know no weariness of my Edward's society: he knows none of mine, any more than we each do the pulsation of the heart that beats in our separate bosoms; consequently, we are ever together. To be together is for us to be at once free as in solitude, as gay as in company. We talk, I believe, all day long: to talk to each other is but more animated and an audible thinking. All my confidence is bestowed on him, all his confidence is devoted to me; we are precisely suited in character - perfect concord is the result."

Book 83: Love.

Oh dear.

I am so totally in love with Jane Eyre that I just can't help it.

I love the drama of her life at Thornfield, her conversations with Mr. Rochester, the mystery of what lives upstairs. It is all so beautifully wonderful. And if you haven't read the novel, please STOP READING this here because I am totally going to spoil it for you.

Jane just left Thornfield and has escaped after the disaster of her wedding day. I had to set the book aside to record my thoughts, because there is so much to talk about.

First, I absolutely adored the scene with Rochester playing the gypsy. So fun and enlightening. I think that as readers, we really got to see him interact with Jane in a different way.

I also love their interactions leading up to that moment of the wedding. It is passionate and truthful-something I find so necessary in love. Here is a piece of what I love:

"I have for the first time found what I can truly love–I have found you. You are my sympathy–my better self–my good angel–I am bound to you with a strong attachment. I think you good, gifted, lovely: a fervent, a solemn passion is conceived in my heart; it leans to you, draws you to my centre and spring of life, wrap my existence about you–and, kindling in pure, powerful flame, fuses you and me in one."

*sigh* Just let me swoon over here...

Really, the novel is full of passion and hope, something very different from what I found in Villette. In this one, it so much more...youthful. It is so full of hope for what the future will bring these two, that the wedding day disaster tears them all apart. I can understand why Jane would leave.

I am sure I am saying nothing new about this. Everything I could say, has been said, and probably much more eloquently. But seriously, this is a such a beautiful novel. I know that Jane must return to Rochester, she must!

I am off to find out!

Book 83: First Impressions.

I really think there is some value in reading an author's works in the order in which they were published. For present-day, living authors, we eagerly await their newest titles and read them as they are published. Of course we read things from the middle, but I always find it fascinating to see how writers grow as they mature and perfect their craft. A perfect example of this is J.K. Rowling. The first couple of Harry Potter novels seem very youthful and fun. Granted, the subject matter wasn't as dark as it gets in the later novels, but you can also see a sense of growth as she continues Harry's story.

So when I read an author "out of order," it sometimes leaves me wondering if I should grow in knowledge about that author through their work. When I made the decision last fall to read Villette over Jane Eyre, I did it mainly because I was worried Jane Eyre wouldn't live up to all the hype. I wanted another experience with Charlotte Bronte to get me into her writing. And I was told, at the time, that the two novels are different in scope and style.

And my first impressions of Jane Eyre?

Charlotte Bronte was a different person when she wrote this novel. There is a sense of...beauty and hope in life that wasn't always clear in Villette. And from the little I know about her life, she went through some major life experiences between the publications of these two novels. Where Lucy Snowe hid information from the reader, kept secrets, and seemed distant, Jane Eyre is rather...strong in her opinions and thoughts. I have a firm grasp of who she is from the beginning. I sense that she also has a strong handle on who she is and what she wants to accomplish. Unlike Lucy Snowe, she has not let the circumstances of her life completely take over her identity. Jane is still optimistic in so many ways, even with the grimness of her situation. Lucy just seems wistful throughout her narration.

But I am loving younger Charlotte just as much as older Charlotte. There is something insanely refreshing about the character of Jane Eyre. She is bright, ambitious, and seems to have a strong sense of identity. I am through the portion where Jane is at Lowood and she is about to embark on her journey to her new situation as a governess. But during these opening scenes, I can see that Jane is one of those people who does not let their misfortune in life dictate who they are. That is an admirable trait, and I love that in characters.

And I am not sure what I was expecting from this novel, seeing as I knew nothing about the plot when I began, but I don't know if this was it. I know there will be a love connection (with that Rochester fellow when he shows up), but he is no where to be found just yet. I am anxious to see what kind of man is a match for Jane.

In any case, I am looking forward to my adventure with young Charlotte Bronte. I am already half in love with the novel, the writing, and the ability Charlotte has to create a perfectly likable character, who is strong and independent. We will just have to see if that feeling continues as I move forward.

Book 83: Jane Eyre and Book Stats.

Title: Jane Eyre

Author: Charlotte Bronte (1816-1855)

First Published: 1847

My Edition: Penguin Clothbound Classic (seen at left)

Pages: 578

Other Works Include: Shirley (1849), Villette (1853), The Professor (1857)

I read Villette back in September/October and many of the comments I received mentioned that it was odd I wasn't started with Bronte's more famous novel, Jane Eyre. When I was deciding between the two, I was extremely hesitant to pick up this title, so I grabbed Villette first. To be honest, it looked more interesting and suited my mood. I ended up loving the novel and have wondered ever since how this one could possibly top it. That might be the reason I have been so hesitant to begin reading it.

Here are links to my posts on Villette if you are interested:

• Book Stats/Intro Post
• On Part One
• On Part Two
• On Part Three/Finished

In any case, with the new movie out and all the hype, I realized I should probably read the novel to avoid spoilers. Somehow I have managed to avoid any knowledge of the plot of the book during my lifetime. Impressive, isn't it? All I do know is that there is some fellow named Rochester, a girl named Jane, and that she is an orphan. There is a lot missing to make that a story.

As I start this, I am nervous and hesitant. I am worried it won't live up to my high expectations, or that it will be overshadowed by the beauty of Villette. Another part of me is a little sad that I am reading this so soon. Once I finish it, I won't have any more Brontes to look forward to on my list (Obviously they have more novels between the three of them, and I haven't read any of Anne's work, but none of their other titles are on my 250 list). But, I am excited and I can't wait to see what all the fuss is about.

How many of you have read this one? How does it compare to the other Bronte titles you have read?

Book 59: On Part Three and Finished.

This is a heavy book. And I'm not sure how it does compare to Jane Eyre since I haven't read it, but I loved it anyway.

While it was certainly a chunker of a book, it was beautiful and required every word and moment to accomplish its purpose. And when it came to its end, I was in love.

Lucy Snowe and M. Paul Emmanuel eventually did come together in the way I thought they would, even if obstacles were thrown in their way. It was a love that grew slowly during their conversations, and I could see it long before Lucy admitted it.

The result is a climax that I was yearning for, but Bronte still left it to the imagination...

The fact is, Villette has an ambiguous ending. As a reader, you aren't sure what direction Bronte is heading. Is Lucy happy? Did it end the way I wanted it to? I'm not sure, but I still liked it.

As a person, you are unsure of who Lucy is-her purpose, her goals. She floats through her life and the experiences chronicled here with little significant care for the direction her life took. And while she befriends Emmanuel and seemingly falls in love with him, I have to wonder of she merely fell in love because he was there and he cared. Don't get me wrong, I feel that he loved her and wanted the best for her, but I am not sure how she felt. Lucy was never overly emotional about the men in her life.

So Bronte left us a puzzle at the end, and a way to figure it out for ourselves what happened after the last page. Sometimes this can annoy me in a book, but that open-ending worked here. It fit the mood and the purpose.


Overall, I am left feeling like I found a very deep friend in Lucy Snowe. I related to her, felt her pain, and understood many of her mannerisms. This was certainly a novel I will have to revisit.

My only concern is how I will feel about Villette's big sister Jane Eyre. Will I love it as much? Will I remember this novel with as much fondness? Will Jane Eyre ruin my love for this particular Bronte?

Only time, and more reading, will tell.

Book 59: On Part Two.

Part two of Charlotte Bronte's Villette continues the sad and isolated tone from the first part. Where I felt that the first part focused on Lucy's introversion a little too much, the second part began to expand on who Lucy appears to be to those around her.

Lucy connects with Dr. John after falling ill, and soon realizes that he is Graham Bretton, the son of her godmother that she stayed with years before. Discovering that John and his mother both live in Villette seems to open up a part of Lucy. She stays with them during her recovery, and continues to visit with them. She begins a correspondence with Dr. John that opens her up.

Lucy begins to change from a sheltered and lonely woman, to someone who is finding her inner strength. Her life at the school seems to pick up. She interacts more with the girls and teachers around her, including the teacher M. Paul Emanuel. She and Emanuel begin a pseudo-relationship. He begins to pull her from her shell.

Lucy also spends time with the Brettons, and little Polly, who also happens to be living in Villette with her father. Where her friendship with Dr. John solidifies Lucy, it is her renewed relationship with little Polly, who is all grown up, that has a further impact on Lucy. Even more, her inner strength continues to grow.

What I loved the most about this section was the slow and gradual change I began to see in Lucy. No longer was she sheltered and alone. She began to find people to surround herself with that added to her personality and strength. Dr. John's friendship seemed to show her that relationships with others was something she had sorely been lacking. After being alone for so long, Lucy craved the closeness of another individual.

And, I can certainly see where the novel is going. Her encounters with M. Paul Emanuel hint at a relationship forming. It is the slow kind of love the burns underneath before the two individuals realize it. I am looking forward to seeing how this isolated and quiet individual realizes what she needs.

I think I mentioned in a post as I was reading that I felt a kinship to Lucy, which is why it is taking me so long to finish this novel. A very big part of me is a hermit. I love being at home. I am content with my solitude and my own thoughts. For that, I am very similar to Lucy. I enjoy being alone. But Matt is the social part of myself. He makes me go out and interact, and encourages me to try new things. I guess you could compare him to what Emanuel does for Lucy-he pushes her and challenges her.

We all need that kind of push and shove at times.

Anyway, there were a few more passages I want to share from this section. I just adore Bronte's writing style. It really captures the mood of the characters.

"There are human tempers, bland, glowing, and genial, within whose influence it is good for the poor in spirit to live, as it is for the feeble in frame to bask in the glow of noon," (223).

"For once a hope was realized. I held in my hand a morsel of real solid joy: not a dream, not an image of the brain, not one of those shadowy chances imagination pictures, and on which humanity starves but cannot live; not a mess of that manna I drearily eulogized awhile ago-which, indeed, at first melts on the lips with an unspeakable and preternatural sweetness, but which, in the end, our souls full surely loathe; longing deliriously for natural and earth-grown food, wildly praying Heaven's Spirit's to reclaim their own spirit-dew and essence-an ailment divine, but for mortals deadly," (270).

"If there are words and wrongs like knives, whose deep-inflicted lacerations never heal-cutting injuries and insults of serrated and poison-dripping edge-so, too, there are consolations of tone too fine for the ear not fondly and for ever to retain their echo; caressing kindnesses-loved, lingered over through a whole life, recalled with unfaded tenderness, and answering the call with undimmed shine, out of that raven cloud foreshadowing Death himself," (279).

I can't wait to finish Bronte's beautiful and haunting work. If I feel this strongly about Villette, I can't wait until I read Jane Eyre!!

Book 59: On Part One.

Villette is the story of a woman named Lucy Snowe, a woman who appears to be cold and isolated from the people around her. It opens with her standoffish observations of the people in her godmother's house, and continues as she journeys to a place where she will find acceptance.

In this first part, we are introduced to Lucy as a resident of her godmother's house in Bretton. In addition to Lucy, her godmother Mrs. Bretton, her son John Grahan Bretton, and little Paulina. The opening pages describe the relationships between them, as Lucy observes. Its obvious that these characters will appear later in the novel, and that little Miss Polly has a crush on John. Their relationship and Polly's views of the world are the beginning focus.

Eventually Lucy leaves the Bretton home and finds another place to work. She is alone with no family and flounders for a bit in her new role. After her mistress passes away, Lucy boards a ferry across the water to Labassecour (supposedly Belgium) in hopes of finding work to do, even though she doesn't speak French. There she meets Madame Beck and lands a job working in her boarding school. It is shortly after that Lucy finds herself teaching English to the girls and finding a place.

There is a great cast of characters who appear in the school around Lucy. And while Lucy narrates and discusses them, you get the idea from Lucy herself that she considers none of them loved ones. She seems so alone and desolate-forced into a role that she perhaps never wanted.

It is this sadness that lays over the entirety of this novel (so far). While the world around Lucy seems brights, the girls in her school happy and young and bubbly, Lucy seems to pull away from the love and light around her. The other teachers acknowledge her and talk with her, but I wouldn't consider any of them her friends or people to rely on.

But Lucy is content with her solitude, which is something I can relate to. In many ways I am a hermit. I like having my own time and space to do what I need. I am happy to stay in with a book rather than go out with a group. Perhaps this is why I feel so deeply for Lucy. I know how she feels.

I also love Charlotte Bronte's writing. It is deep, lyrical, and beautiful. I find myself marking passages left and right and letting her language seep over me in a deep wave. I would give anything to write this way, to evoke such deep and powerful emotion with every sentence. She was certainly a master of her craft.

This first passage shows a little of Lucy's optimism:

"A strong, vague persuasion, that it was better to go forward than backward, and that I could go forward-that a way, however narrow and difficult, would in time open, predominated over other feelings," (52).

And this passage is my favorite so far. A female student is speaking to Lucy, confronting her if you will:

"You have no relations; you can't call yourself young at twenty-three; you have no attractive accomplishments-no beauty. As to admirers, you hardly know what they are; you can't even talk on the subject; you sit dumb when the other teachers quote their conquests. I believe you never were in love, and never will be: you don't know the feeling, and so much the better, for though you might have your own heart broken, no living heart will you ever break. Isn't it all true?" (164-165).

So powerful and beautiful, and Lucy admits it all as true.

Yes, I am loving the power and beauty of Villette, and I cannot wait to see what will happen to Lucy Snowe.

Book 59: Villette and Book Stats.

Title: Villette

Author: Charlotte Bronte (1816-1855)

First Published: 1853

My Edition: Barnes and Noble Classics

Pages: 571

Other Works Include: Jane Eyre (1847), Shirley (1849)

I should say right off the bat that I haven't read Jane Eyre, and until this point the only other Bronte work I have read is Wuthering Heights. I chose to read this title first for a couple of reasons.

First, I have a definite feeling that I will really love Jane Eyre and so I wanted to "save it" until near the end of my challenge. Second, I don't want this novel to pale in comparison. I have heard mixed things about Villette, so I want to generate my own thoughts.

If Charlotte is anything like Emily, I know I will enjoy this. But, I have also heard that in some ways she is a little more talented than Emily, so who knows. I don't know a great deal about the Brontes, truth be told, but the little I do know is fascinating. Poor Anne is not on my list, but eventually I will have to give her a try as well.

In any case, its time to read another heavyweight and get another title ticked off!

On Villette....

This is sort of a random post, but I just need to ask you all some questions. Bear with me.

I am in the middle of reading Charlotte Bronte's Villette. It is the first thing I have ever read by this Bronte and I am enjoying it.

Well, more than enjoying. I am soaking up every word and loving it with all of my being. Perhaps it is because I see a lot of myself in Ms. Lucy Snowe (more on that in the future).

But, even while I am falling in love with it, it is taking me a great deal of time to read it. Perhaps it is my fear of it ending, or maybe it is because I am insane and just need to finish it already.

Anyway, what I would like to asked is if any of you have had this problem? I mean, loving a book as you read it, but not being able to just suck it up and finish it? Any words of advice??



And if you missed it, I made a post about the next installment of Sherlock Holmes short stories I read, so you need to read it too.

Happy Tuesday. :D

Book 28: Book Stats.

Title: Wuthering Heights
Author: Emily Bronte (1818-1848)
First Published: 1847

My Edition: Penguin Classics Hardcover (one of the new fabric bound editions)
Pages: 353

Emily was the second of the three Bronte sisters. Her big sister was Charlotte (author of Villete and Jane Eyre). Her younger sister, Anne, was also an author and wrote Agnes Grey. Emily also wrote poetry as well, but Wuthering Heights was her only known novel. When it was first published in 1847, it was published under the name of Ellis Bell. In 1850, Charlotte decided to republish the novel using her sister's actual name.

I have never read any of the work of the Bronte sisters. Surprising, isn't it? I suppose it has been fear that has kept me away. I am mostly afraid of not liking novels that I "should."

Eventually I will be reading Charlotte Bronte's Villete and Jane Eyre.

Book 4: Author Criticisms.

I like knowing how authors view the work of other authors. I think what they have to say about another’s work reflects on their own. I also find it humorous to see whether I agree or disagree with what they have to say about books and plays that I consider to be my favorites.

In my edition of Pride and Prejudice, there are a number of quotes in the back from other authors about her work (this is a fun addition to the Barnes and Noble Classics Editions, of which I own many and really like). Austen is obviously well-known and her work is loved. So in addition to the praise, I also wanted to post some of the more…scandalous things that other authors had to say about her work. Many of these authors are on my list and whether I have read their work or not, their words will be on my mind when I finally get around to their pieces.

Enjoy.

Lady Byron:

"I have finished the Novel called Pride and Prejudice, which I think a very superior work. It depends not on any of the common resources of novel writers, no drownings, no conflagrations, nor runaway horses, nor lap-dogs and parrots, nor chambermaids and milliners, nor rencontres [duels] and disguises. I really think it is the most probable I have ever read. It is not a crying book, but the interest is very strong, especially for Mr. Darcy. The characters which are not amiable are diverting, and all of them are consistently supported."

Charlotte Bronte:

“Anything like warmth or enthusiasm, anything energetic, poignant, heartfelt, is utterly out of place in commending these works: all such demonstrations the authoress would have met with a well-bred sneer, would have calmly scorned as outré or extravagant. She does her business of delineating the surface of the lives of genteel English people curiously well. There is a Chinese fidelity, a miniature delicacy, in the painting. She ruffles her reader by nothing vehement, disturbs him with nothing profound. The passions are perfectly unknown to her: she rejects even a speaking acquaintance with that stormy sisterhood ... What sees keenly, speaks aptly, moves flexibly, it suits her to study: but what throbs fast and full, though hidden, what the blood rushes through, what is the unseen seat of life and the sentient target of death--this Miss Austen ignores....Jane Austen was a complete and most sensible lady, but a very incomplete and rather insensible (not senseless woman), if this is heresy--I cannot help it.”

Walter Allen:

“More can be learnt from Miss Austen about the nature of the novel than from most any other writer.”

Sir Walter Scott:

“Also read again, and for the third time at least, Miss Austen's very finely written novel of Pride and Prejudice. That young lady had a talent for describing the involvement and feelings and characters of ordinary life which is to me the most wonderful I ever met with. The big Bow-wow strain I can do myself like any now going, but the exquisite touch which renders ordinary commonplace things and characters interesting from the truth of the description and the sentiment is denied to me. What a pity such a gifted creature died so early!”

Anthony Trollope:

“"Miss Austen was surely a great novelist. What she did, she did perfectly. Her work, as far as it goes, is faultless. She wrote of the times in which she lived, of the class of people with which she associated, and in the language which was usual to her as an educated lady. Of romance, -- what we generally mean when we speak of romance -- she had no tinge. Heroes and heroines with wonderful adventures there are none in her novels. Of great criminals and hidden crimes she tells us nothing. But she places us in a circle of gentlemen and ladies, and charms us while she tells us with an unconscious accuracy how men should act to women, and women act to men. It is not that her people are all good; -- and, certainly, they are not all wise. The faults of some are the anvils on which the virtues of others are hammered till they are bright as steel. In the comedy of folly I know no novelist who has beaten her. The letters of Mr. Collins, a clergyman in Pride and Prejudice, would move laughter in a low-church archbishop."

Ralph Waldo Emerson:

"I am at a loss to understand why people hold Miss Austen's novels at so high a rate, which seem to me vulgar in tone, sterile in artistic invention, imprisoned in their wretched conventions of English society, without genius, wit, or knowledge of the world. Never was life so pinched and narrow. ... All that interests in any character [is this]: has he (or she) the money to marry with? ... Suicide is more respectable."

E.M. Forster (who wrote A Room with a View which I just finished and loved):

“I am a Jane Austenite, and therefore slightly imbecile about Jane Austen. My fatuous expression, and airs of personal immunity — how ill they sit on the face, say, of a Stevensonian! But Jane Austen is so different. She is my favorite author! I read and reread, the mouth open and the mind closed. Shut up in measureless content, I greet her by the name of most kind hostess, while criticism slumbers.”

Mark Twain (who has many things to say about many authors—remind me to mention his hatred of Cooper when I get to it):

“To me his prose is unreadable -- like Jane Austin's [sic]. No there is a difference. I could read his prose on salary, but not Jane's. Jane is entirely impossible. It seems a great pity that they allowed her to die a natural death.”

“I haven't any right to criticize books, and I don't do it except when I hate them. I often want to criticize Jane Austen, but her books madden me so that I can't conceal my frenzy from the reader; and therefore I have to stop every time I begin. Every time I read 'Pride and Prejudice' I want to dig her up and beat her over the skull with her own shin-bone.”

And my favorite, from W. Somerset Maugham:

“Nothing very much happens in her books, and yet, when you come to the bottom of a page, you eagerly turn it to learn what will happen next. Nothing very much does and again you eagerly turn the page. The novelist who has the power to achieve this has the most precious gift a novelist can possess."