Villette (Signet Classics) [Paperback]

Charlotte Brontė (Author), Helen Benedict (Afterword)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 3, 2004

Brontë's romantic heroine Lucy Snowe, a penniless governess attempting to begin life anew in France, is an exceptional example of a great writer transforming her life into art.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Bronte's finest novel. (Virginia Woolf)

Product Details

• Paperback: 592 pages
• Publisher: Signet Classics (February 3, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451529227
• ISBN-13: 978-0451529220
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #226,357 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Charlotte Bronte (1816-1855) was from an English family that produced three novelists: herself, Emily, and Anne. Besides Jane Eyre, other best known works include Shirley and Villette.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An amazing feminist novel from 1859!, June 4, 2005

By 

A. Landau "midnight diva" (NY, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Villette (Signet Classics) (Paperback)

It was her last completed book, always in the shadow of Jane Eyre. It was insightful, irreverent, angry, tragic, funny, bizarre, gothic and wonderfully honest. At the time, the novel was harshly criticized by men, even feminist men like George Eliot's lover. But George Eliot herself and Virginia Wolf believed it to be her best work.

How unusual first of all to have a heroine like Lucy Snowe, not of noble blood, not rich, not charming, not even good-looking as women (esp in the Victorian period) were expected to be. Like the other characters, she is flawed, contradictory and multi-faceted in a way one rarely sees in literature but continually witnesses in real life. Yet she is decidedly brilliant, original and imaginative like no other. Unconventional and delightfully subversive!

In many ways, this is a truly modern novel to this day. I've never read a novel that so honestly and unflinchingly captures the plight of a woman-artist making her own way in the world despite the obstacles thrown in her path.

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More questions than answers, May 14, 2006

By 

Kristin Chadderton (Baltimore, MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Villette (Signet Classics) (Paperback)

Villette - astonishing! Difficult to decide whether this is a book to love or loathe; no middle ground seems possible. Lucy Snowe is a compelling, engaging narrator; her sharp sarcasm pricks holes in the most inflated personalities and makes us laugh at life's absurdities. But at the same time, Bronte's level-headed narrator is caught in a morass of despair and loneliness from which she never completely escapes. The storyline becomes enmeshed in a dark, surreal web, unsettling and discouraging; this reviewer almost gave up on the book halfway through. Lucy Snowe, like Jane Eyre, can find beauty in unlikely places; but unlike her earlier counterpart, it seems that happiness, for Lucy at least, is too good to be real.

Engaging, poetic, thought-provoking, skilfully created, deeply unsettling and profoundly dark. A mysterious, tragic narrative.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Charlotte Bronte's Best Work, July 5, 2005

By 

Professorlilith - See all my reviews

This review is from: Villette (Signet Classics) (Paperback)

As far as I'm concerned, Virginia Woolf had it right. This is Charlotte Bronte's best work, even if it isn't nearly as well known as _Jane Eyre_. I re-read it every few years; it's one of my favorites. It's a sort of coming-of-age story written from the perspective of a young woman who has nothing, not even a smidgeon of self-esteem, but who manages to build a life for herself where she has friends and meaningful work. I suppose that sounds a little dull, but Bronte is such an acute observor of people that every character is three-dimensional. The main character, Lucy, changes throughout the book, and her topics of discussion, her word choices, even her sentence structure slowly evolve with her, illustrating her growth. It's unsentimental and unromanticized, but I do like all the characters in it, even with all their flaws.