Published officially as Charlotte Brontë’s second novel and based on the backstory of the industrial revolution, ‘ Shirley’ by Charlotte Brontë follows a captivating story of two women – Caroline and ‘ Shirley’, their roller coaster life, and their eventual marriage to Robert and Louis Moore.įor Charlotte Brontë, ‘ Shirley’ was a particularly hard book to finish given that it coincided with arguably her most trying moment – where she suffered the loss of three siblings in a space of a few months. Also, there is an interesting battle he faces with Monsieur Pelet and Mademoiselle Reuter before he is finally able to marry his love Frances, establish his school, and travel around. William Crimsworth becomes the protagonist of the book as readers are introduced to his development through life – from family rejection to his teaching career through horrible treatment and his meeting and falling in love with Frances. The book was later reviewed and published in 1857 by Arthur Bell Nicolls, Charlotte Brontë’s surviving husband, after the author had passed away. The book would have comfortably been the author’s first publication had it not been for the series of rejections it saw at the hands of the publisher. ‘ The Professor’ represents Charlotte Brontë’s first attempt at novel writing and provides an interesting read despite her just getting started in the industry at the time.

‘ Jane Eyre’ follows the story of a plain and simple protagonist called Jane, her inability to give up on her self-belief and succumb to the pressures of family, school, and employer’s harsh treatment, and her triumph over social class, men’s influence, and gender social degradation. The book carries fragments of Charlotte Brontë’s real-life experiences concealed within its pages – as are most of her works, and this became partly why the book was a huge success because it talked about certain aspects of interest a large contingency of people could relate with. It was the perfect first published novel of hers which picked up popularity immediately after it was published, going on to resonate with Victorian readers and serving as a voice for early feminism. ‘ Jane Eyre’ is the face of Charlotte Brontë’s literary accomplishments and whole back catalog. This article exists to cut through and analyze those books. However, keeping her best book apart, there’s a handful of good books also published by the talented Charlotte Brontë. In terms of the novels written by Charlotte Brontë, ‘ Jane Eyre’ stands tall as her best book ever created – all thanks to how its storyline resonates across centuries of readership, even to date.

Shirley by Charlotte Brontë