Author: Charlotte Bronte
Genre: Fiction, Classics
Blurb: With her final novel, Villette, Charlotte Brontë reached the height of her artistic power. First published in 1853, Villette is Brontë's most accomplished and deeply felt work, eclipsing even Jane Eyre in critical acclaim. Her narrator, the autobiographical Lucy Snowe, flees England and a tragic past to become an instructor in a French boarding school in the town of Villette. There she unexpectedly confronts her feelings of love and longing as she witnesses the fitful romance between Dr. John, a handsome young Englishman, and Ginerva Fanshawe, a beautiful coquette. The first pain brings others, and with them comes the heartache Lucy has tried so long to escape. Yet in spite of adversity and disappointment, Lucy Snowe survives to recount the unstinting vision of a turbulent life's journey - a journey that is one of the most insightful fictional studies of a woman's consciousness in English literature.
Me: When I read Jane Eyre for the first time a few years ago, it absolutely blew me away with how complex the characters and fictional world were in just a simple story. I received Villette as a birthday present a little bit after, and though I always told myself I would get around to it, I never seemed to have a reason to. But being in self-isolation and trying to get through all the physical I haven't read gave me the time to fully enjoy it and oh my gosh- it might be my favorite Victorian novel yet.
The Ups: Charlotte Bronte is known for how quickly she develops full-fledged personalities and complex psyches in her work, and the character of Lucy Snowe is probably the best example I've seen. It's amazing that this book was written 150 years ago. Something about Bronte's writing just makes me feel like I'm best friends with Lucy instantly- I think there's an honesty and closeness to her characters that I just so rarely feel. Lucy is intelligent but also confused about her feelings, observant of others but also headstrong, and I just could listen to her talk about anything forever.
The other amazing thing about Bronte's narration through Lucy is the awareness of the reader that it has. I know this might be just an old Victorian novel thing ("Reader, I married him") but it is refreshing to see and works as a really brilliant tactic for an author. There was a point in the book where something new was revealed about a character and Lucy literally admits to having known the entire time but just choosing not to tell the reader. Who does this?? But I loved it.
The book is in many ways a romance, but it is also so much more than that; it's almost more of a coming-of-age story that has just stunning phrases and parts about love. My favorite part was just being able to see Lucy go through unrequited love but then grow from it- I feel like it's rare to see someone who struggles with not really clicking with someone yet still being entranced by them. The best, best part is definitely the end - I don't want to spoil it but the quotes about love are just amazing (written down below!)
Personally, it's just so rare to read a book from such a different time and a different place (especially one that is so specific in its context) and connect with it instantly. It's something about Bronte- I'm fully convinced she's magic.
The Downs: Probably the biggest difficulty for me while readings was that just sometimes the locations switch or time jumps and I wasn't really able to catch them. So I found myself just slightly confused on where we were in the book sometimes, which also led me to be a little unclear on why certain characters were popping up.
Another really specific thing but possibly big downside to consider before reading is that because the book is set in an equivalent of Brussels, Belgium, some of the dialogue is in French and not translated (except at the end in my edition). I got really lucky and have been studying French since middle school but I feel like having an edition with the translations directly on the pages could be helpful.
Rating: 5 kisses!
"Lucy, take my love. One day share my life. Be my dearest, first on earth."
"He deemed me born under his star: he seemed to have spread over me its beam like a banner. Once- unknown and unloved, I held him harsh and strange: the low stature, the wiry make, the angles, the darkness, the manner, displeased me. Now, penetrated with his influence, and living by his affection, having his worth by intellect, and his goodness by heart- I preferred him before all humanity."
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