Shirley (Diversion Classics)

Charlotte Bronte

Apr 2016 · Diversion Books

About this ebook

Featuring an appendix of discussion questions, the Diversion Classics edition is ideal for use in book groups and classrooms.

Written amidst great personal tragedy in Charlotte Bronte’s life, her second novel after Jane Eyre looks toward a complicated, but brighter future. Set in a rapidly industrializing England in a time of social and economic unrest, Shirley bridges two very different worlds. Caroline Helstone, reeling from the loss of her father, abandoned by her mother, has been doomed to a life of poverty. To make matters worse, the only man she has feelings for, Robert Moore, must marry into wealth or risk losing his family mill. Robert proposes to Shirley, a woman set free by her inheritance and newly-found wealth and independence. The path towards matrimony winds as people seek happiness and enlightenment on the dawn of an exciting—and anxious—tomorrow. Part compelling romance, part searing social commentary, Shirley, following the tremendous success of Jane Eyre, is a revolutionary novel.

About the author

Charlotte Bronte, the third of six children, was born April 21, 1816, to the Reverend Patrick Bronte and Maria Branwell Bronte in Yorkshire, England. Along with her sisters, Emily and Anne, she produced some of the most impressive writings of the 19th century. The Brontes lived in a time when women used pseudonyms to conceal their female identity, hence Bronte's pseudonym, Currer Bell. Charlotte Bronte was only five when her mother died of cancer. In 1824, she and three of her sisters attended the Clergy Daughter's School in Cowan Bridge. The inspiration for the Lowood School in the classic Jane Eyre was formed by Bronte's experiences at the Clergy Daughter's School. Her two older sisters died of consumption because of the malnutrition and harsh treatment they suffered at the school. Charlotte and Emily Bronte returned home after the tragedy. The Bronte sisters fueled each other's creativity throughout their lives. As young children, they wrote long stories together about a complex imaginary kingdom they created from a set of wooden soldiers. In 1846, Charlotte Bronte, with her sisters Emily and Anne published a thin volume titled Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell. In the same year, Charlotte Bronte attempted to publish her novel, The Professor, but was rejected. One year later, she published Jane Eyre, which was instantly well received. Charlotte Bronte's life was touched by tragedy many times. Despite several proposals of marriage, she did not accept an offer until 1854 when she married the Reverend A. B. Nicholls. One year later, at the age of 39, she died of pneumonia while she was pregnant. Her previously rejected novel, The Professor, was published posthumously in 1857.