A review by mejooorita
Villette by Charlotte Brontë

5.0

If you intend to read this as a casual past time or to go through it as you would other volumes in that genre; with composure of mind and soul or with feelings mildly ruffled then restored to order by reaching the back cover, my best advice would be to drop this book immediately, donate it, burn it, but never venture to peruse its pages. Because once you set foot in that world, that mesmerizing, heart wrenching world, you won't return from it the same. Lucy will manage to fasten your very existence to her own and stamp on your innocent unprepared heart scars that will haunt you forever. You'll learn alot from each character and story described, you will spend hours attempting to disentangle the intricate threads of philosophy and intellect that gave shape to this magnificent work but with no avail. Don't be mistaken in thinking it's all dark and serious though; it will throw you into fits of genuine laughter at the clash of wits between the two protagonists and will manage to moisten the eyes of the most callous readers while forcing the more sensitive ones into a full blown weep.

In short, I loved it. I will most probably read it again and again yet surly not soon; it's one of those books that lingers heavily on your mind for a long time without fading in poignancy, and for which a premature revisit is considered almost cruel to whatever measure of sentiment you have.