A review by markludmon
Villette by Charlotte Brontë

3.0

An intriguing account of a young woman’s experiences as a teacher in a private school in continental Europe at the start of the 19th century. Inspired by Charlotte Brontë’s time at a school in Brussels, it follows prim and buttoned-up Lucy Snowe who leaves England for the city of Villette in Labassecour (based on Belgium). She gets a job as a teacher in a girls’ private school, presided over by the watchful Madame Modeste Beck alongside the imperious professor, Paul Emanuel. Resembling a memoir at times, the story charts the everyday life of a school as well as the romantic escapades of one of its pupils, Ginevre Fanshawe. Lucy is drawn into the world of the local doctor, John, and his family, triggering passions that she dares not admit. Lucy is a consistently unreliable narrator, holding back information and telling the story based on her impressions, feelings and knowledge at the time of the events rather than with the insights of looking back several years in the future. Religion is a recurring theme, placing English Protestantism against continental Roman Catholicism, and Lucy’s narrative style is steeped in Christian rhetoric and metaphor that can get a bit tiresome. But behind its long-windedness is a strong narrative and some memorable characters. There is even a ghostly nun!