Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Shirley

by Charlotte Brontë, Lucasta Miller (Introduction), Jessica Cox (Editor)

3.62 of 5 stars 3.62 · rating details · 9,046 ratings · 315 reviews

Following the tremendous popular success of Jane Eyre, which earned her lifelong notoriety as a moral revolutionary, Charlotte Bronte; vowed to write a sweeping social chronicle that focused on "something real and unromantic as Monday morning." Set in the industrializing England of the Napoleonic wars and Luddite revolts of 1811-12, Shirley (1849) is the story of two contr...more

Paperback, 624 pages

Published September 26th 2006 by Penguin Classics (first published 1849)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë

Best of Brontë

7th out of 13 books — 209 voters

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

Novels about Business People

5th out of 67 books — 17 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

May 14, 2013 Elizabeth rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: bronte-bronte-bronte, reviewed, 2013, in-by-of-england, victorians-and-wannabes

Oh, Charlotte, why?

~~I've rarely come across a writer so determined to be contrary to what the fans want.~~

You know how the massive, runaway success of a book, can have the affect of the author wanting to show the audience another side? Or how criticism that the huge best seller is too this or too that results in a book that is just the opposite of the things that made the first book too, too good? It's like the follow up to Pride and Prejudice was Mansfield Park. It isn't that Mansfield Park isn't...more

42 likes · like · see review

Jul 05, 2012 MJ Nicholls rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: novels, sassysassenachs, pre-1900s, oxford-classics, distaff

Tackling Brontëism #4 — Shirley

Shirley is Charlotte’s sophomore slump. Her Kill Uncle. Her You Shall Know Our Velocity. Her Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie. And so on. I don’t care how cute Mr Rochester is, this novel is a deeply vexing mess. Firstly, there are several plotlines and not one has the urge to intersect. The rebelling miners plot launches the novel in tandem with the idle curates poor-versus-rich plot, then dribbles away with the introduction of the second plot: Caroline’s crush...more

15 likes · like · see review

Feb 18, 2013 El rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: early19th-centurylit, hear-me-roar

Favorite tidbit while reading this book: Shirley was largely a male name until this book's publication, at which time more baby girls were given the name. Good job, Charlotte, you changed like... everything.

Shirley's father wanted a boy, didn't get one, so the next best thing was for him to name his new baby chick a boy's name. Which leads me then to wonder if Shirley (as a female character's name) is sort of meant to denote she was a tomboy, kind of like Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird. In any c...more Favorite tidbit while reading this book: Shirley was largely a male name until this book's publication, at which time more baby girls were given the name. Good job, Charlotte, you changed like... everything.

Shirley's father wanted a boy, didn't get one, so the next best thing was for him to name his new baby chick a boy's name. Which leads me then to wonder if Shirley (as a female character's name) is sort of meant to denote she was a tomboy, kind of like Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird. In any case, Shirley wasn't so much a tomboy (I don't remember her climbing any trees) but she was most certainly far advanced in her thinking for the time period. We're talking 1811/1812, Napoleonic War and the War of 1812 times. Not only does the book deal heavily with the industrial revolution that came as a result of said wars, Shirley herself was what many would consider rather feminist. She wasn't so much a fan of the way women were treated, and it's likely that this was how Charlotte felt as well. (Remember she and her sisters had to publish under male pseudonyms in order for their books to receive any sort of attention.)

This book was more of a vehicle for Bronte to share her own thoughts on society, women, work, money, and whatever else. Shirley would go on these rants that after awhile made me wonder what she was ranting about to begin with because they tended to go on for a while. Though I do appreciate a good rant, sometimes in my literature I feel it can be a little preachy at times.

But Bronte covered a lot of important ground here, and I respect it for that. I wanted to like this more, but that's exactly how I felt when I read Jane Eyre as well. I'm beginning to think the Brontes aren't quite for me - I had issues with sis Emily's Wuthering Heights - right now I'd say that Anne's Tenant of Wildfell Hall was my favorite, and that certainly was not without fault. I just felt it was more of a solid read - even when it branched out into preachiness.

I hear Villette is another good one of Charlotte's, so I will read that before throwing in the towel.

Whatever. I should have written this review when I finished the book.(less)

9 likes · like · see review

Apr 29, 2008 Abigail rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Charlotte Brontë Fans / Readers Who Like 19th Century Novels with Social Commentary

Shelves: literature-classics

Review Temporarily Removed.

3 likes · like · see review

Apr 07, 2009 Alison rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Here be spoilers.

Jane Eyre was a masterpiece, and it's hard to get around it in reading and reviewing Charlotte Bronte's other novels. That's particularly true for Shirley, which has the same slow build as JE and Villette, without either the weirdness and genius of JE or the meticulous portrait of depression in Villette, so I'll mention the book's flaws, first.

First, the unequivocal acceptance of the ideas that technological/industrial "progress" is both inevitable and, necessarily, a positive...more Here be spoilers.

Jane Eyre was a masterpiece, and it's hard to get around it in reading and reviewing Charlotte Bronte's other novels. That's particularly true for Shirley, which has the same slow build as JE and Villette, without either the weirdness and genius of JE or the meticulous portrait of depression in Villette, so I'll mention the book's flaws, first.

First, the unequivocal acceptance of the ideas that technological/industrial "progress" is both inevitable and, necessarily, a positive good, and that the goal of progress is to better the owner, while maintaining only the status quo for the workers, because self-respecting workers don't want betterment or development or enrichment or growth: they just want their "honest" wages, i.e., no more than they deserve. Despite Bronte's compassion for unemployed workers, the "honest" and starving, she seemed unable to imagine a form of Progress that promoted the enrichment, development, and growth of all--she's terribly concerned about the cheekiness and insolence of the lower classes getting "above" themselves, when they're not busy being murderous Luddite rabble. Which is painful, given her great concern, in this book and the others, to prove that women (gentlewomen) might, if educated and given opportunity, do worthwhile things--might better themselves, and others. This failure to extend the analogy to other classes is not atypical of 19C proto-feminism (or, for that matter, of 20C feminisms, at least until Marxist feminism and the great Third Wave of postcolonial feminism!), but I'll still point out that it'll irritate the contemporary reader (assuming the contemporary reader is even aware of these issues).

Second, we begin with about 200 pages in which Bronte exhibits the worst of her faults as a writer: philippics against the French (by which she meant Belgians) and/or Catholics; an overreliance on phrenology to depict character; embarrassing scenes in which our middle-class heros repress insolent yokels by using big words at them; and even more classical references and speechifying about the Moon than usual (Bronte could never have improved on Jane's anguished Moment with Nature/The Moon/The Female Divine after the discovery of Rochester's treachery; she should have let well enough alone after that). These defects appear in the other novels but are muted somewhat by the good parts; here, you spend the next 100 pages, after the introduction of the character of Shirley, wondering when she'll take charge of her mousy friend Caroline's predictably melancholy love life, kick out the annoying cast of extraneous minor characters, and show us some action.

But then, somewhere around p. 300, we do get action, and what action! Maybe because Bronte had finally recovered from the deaths of her 3 favorite siblings that occurred between her first draft and this approximate point in the book; maybe, because she just wasn't all that good at beginnings, but, having introduced every single possible character who might occupy west Yorkshire, she could settle down and write a damn good story intertwining all their lives. Suddenly, a love quadrangle! A gender-bending, gun-toting heroine! And a RABIES plot! (There is no novel that cannot be improved by the introduction of a mad dog. Especially a mad dog named Phoebe.) And with all the new excitement and revelations going on, the reader looks back at the first 300 boring pages and sees how carefully Bronte constructed those pages. We see that powerful, rich, feminist Shirley, who bosses--sometimes literally--all the other men in the story, is as hampered by sexual inequality in the pursuit of love as downtrodden, poor, sad Caroline is: neither of them can ever make the first move, because the perceived lack of femininity in such a gesture would kill the love and respect of any man worth having. How unfair! The blood boils! (Until we see that Bronte agrees with this: it's an unjust situation, but it'd be still worse to behave like some unfeminine "Amazon"). We see how all the inaction and hemming and hawing in those early pages lead to moments of true regret and sorrow when the characters realize how they've wasted their lives (see the wonderful chapter of conversation between Moore and Yorke, "Rushedge, a Confessional"). And some of those dozens of characters that Bronte described in the beginning, for the sake of whose description she apparently sacrificed any notion of plot or theme, reappear to do extraordinary things: see Martin, the surly pre-teenager who hates "womenites," who's described in a paragraph and then disappears for, oh, 550 pages, suddenly pop out of the woods, utter some extraordinary dialogue, and give us some of the most funny and moving moments in the entire novel. Brilliant stuff!

Maybe on a second reading, I'll up the stars to a 4--I think that it's a book that might reward a single rereading. But I'm not going to read and reread it, as I do with her other novels.(less)

10 likes · like · see review

Apr 20, 2009 Ayu Palar rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Boof

Shelves: classics, bronte-sisters

Compared with other novels by Charlotte Bronte, Shirley is the toughest one for me to read. Narrated through third person POV, it is not easy to get acquainted with the novel. Another reason is because there are too many characters to remember. However, it is still a distinguished novel from the Victorian era. It might not be as enjoyable as Jane Eyre yet it is rich in characterizations and theme.

The novel is set in Napoleon era, in a village where machinery just enters the society. As we often...more

7 likes · like · see review

Mar 19, 2013 Dolors rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2011

Maybe the less romantic novel by Charlotte, but her most mature work, an account of the changing times in the early XIXth century.
The story follows the lives of four main characters. Miss Helstone, a young woman with no prospects, niece of a Curate in Yorkshire, her serious cousin Mr. Moore, a businessman who struggles to earn his living, Miss Shirley, a spirited heiress of a great fortune and her tutor Mr. Moore's brother, Louis.
Being a Brontë's novel though, there's not one, but two romances...more Maybe the less romantic novel by Charlotte, but her most mature work, an account of the changing times in the early XIXth century.
The story follows the lives of four main characters. Miss Helstone, a young woman with no prospects, niece of a Curate in Yorkshire, her serious cousin Mr. Moore, a businessman who struggles to earn his living, Miss Shirley, a spirited heiress of a great fortune and her tutor Mr. Moore's brother, Louis.
Being a Brontë's novel though, there's not one, but two romances going on, presented in the most extravagant way and what makes the novel even more compelling is that its characters have flaws and make mistakes and learn their way along the way with the reader.
In the end, we find realistic characters who fight to find their position in the world, each in their own way, the story being
a faithful portrait of women searching for independence and men challenging the order of the old regime.
I think that Charlotte used Shirley and Miss Caroline Helstone to speak her mind in several subjects such as politics or religion and that these two characters, being both so different from each other, were what Charlotte Brontë would have liked to be in her real life. Miss Helsonte, pious, humble and full of patience and good sense, is able to win over her man's heart. Shirley, with her strong character and of independent means, who is bold enough to speak her mind about business and politics with men, manages to marry who she chooses (and I'm sure Charlotte would have liked to be able to do that!!).
I could also glimpse Elisabeth Gaskell's influence in this work, the subject of industrialisation reminded me of "North & South" and the story had many similarities about the peripheral characters and the problems they had to deal with.
All in all, a rewarding reading with great final chapters which close the novel with a bitter sweet taste.
Don't be mistaken though, this is no Jane Eyre, so don't expect accelerated pulse and breathtaking dialogues because you won't find them in here.

Some quotations:

"I will never be where you would not wish me to be, nor see nor hear what you wish unseen and unheard"

" 'Never! We will remember that with what measure we mete it shall be measured unto us, and so we will give no scorn, only affection'
' Which won't satisfy, I warn you of that. Something besides affection - something far stronger, sweeter, warmer - will be demanded one day. Is it there to give?' "

"Am I to die without you, or am I to live for you?"(less)

2 likes · like · see review

Jul 20, 2009 Sherien rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 19th-century

Charlotte Bronte reminds us—readers that Shirley is “…something unromantic as Monday morning” (chapter 1). Well I found it true because I see Shirley more as a social novel than a romance. The social background depicts the Napoleonic War and the industrial depression caused by it. This is where I found hard to get to the core of the book because I do not have a wide knowledge about that historical-social background. Another thing that is hard for me to get through is that this book seems to have...more Charlotte Bronte reminds us—readers that Shirley is “…something unromantic as Monday morning” (chapter 1). Well I found it true because I see Shirley more as a social novel than a romance. The social background depicts the Napoleonic War and the industrial depression caused by it. This is where I found hard to get to the core of the book because I do not have a wide knowledge about that historical-social background. Another thing that is hard for me to get through is that this book seems to have two lines of plot, one about the industrial depression, the world of the unemployed workers of the lower classes and their fight and protest towards the invention of machine. Another plot tells the friendship between two women—Shirley and Caroline and their conflicted-romance relationship with two men—Robert and Louis. There are too many characters in this book and I found it hard to get engaged emotionally. Some characters don’t appear until the second half or almost reaching the end of the book. The romance part in this story I consider quite ordinary. A simple twisted relationship with a classic-predictable happy ending.

However, it’s still an enjoyable read. I found myself flipping the pages fast because like always, Charlotte Bronte narrates her story with beautiful and powerful language that makes you want to go on and on. Another thing that’s interesting is to see the comparison she portrays between her two strong female characters—Caroline and Shirley. Two women with different temperament, personality, and social status form an emotional bound of friendship. Money and social status is always an issue in the Victorian novels. In this story, we can see how those two factors play an important role in love, marriage, happiness and independence. This is a deep story that needs much concentration.

I’ve read The Professor and Jane Eyre and so far I’d have to say that Shirley is much more well-crafted than The Professor but still not as much amazing as Jane Eyre. Jane Eyre touched me deeply and still lingers warmly in my heart and mind until now. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same with Shirley.

One question that I have in mind is why Bronte decided to give the title ‘Shirley’, when Shirley does not seem to be the only main character in this story. It is interesting to find that the name ‘Shirley’ used to be a common male name in those days that the author here uses as a female name. (Chapter 11). As we now know, ‘Shirley’ is a more common female name nowadays. Probably she implicitly tries to deliver a strong point on gender equality through her character--Shirley. I know I have to read this book again someday just to get more absorbed deeply. I recommend this to anyone who loves Charlotte Bronte.

(less)

5 likes · like · see review

Mar 07, 2013 SarahC rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The novel Shirley was a pleasant addition to my reading this winter. I love the British novel, but I especially love the one that is little-known to me and takes me by surprise. I must admit that after reading last year and being once again blown away (in spite of past readings) by Emily's Wuthering Heights, I had not felt emotionally ready to tackle another Bronte novel. So glad I did this time though, because it was exactly what I needed this winter.

Shirley is so different from Jane Eyre, an...more The novel Shirley was a pleasant addition to my reading this winter. I love the British novel, but I especially love the one that is little-known to me and takes me by surprise. I must admit that after reading last year and being once again blown away (in spite of past readings) by Emily's Wuthering Heights, I had not felt emotionally ready to tackle another Bronte novel. So glad I did this time though, because it was exactly what I needed this winter.

Shirley is so different from Jane Eyre, an eternal favorite of mine. (Jane Eyre was a novel I went to as a young girl to reassure myself that some people out there somewhere, sometime, WERE in love and it mattered, and the sacrifices mattered. Didn't we all need that in our 20's?) With Shirley, once again Charlotte Bronte's clear, amazing voice sounds out social conflict during the earlier time period of the Napoleonic wars in England. She describes the socio-economic conflict of skilled factory workers, factory owners, and the trade environment caused by the wars. Within this setting, she describes the people of a set of rural estates and focuses on two young women and their struggles to find their place in life.

In light of criticism out there that Bronte did not complete the job of portraying the social conflicts as they truly were or of making her women characters heroic enough, I must say that I disagree. I read the novel for what it did provide and found it very rich. The words of the main characters ring out very clearly in my mind what the inner workings of women's thoughts may have been at this early time. Bronte best speaks for women cloistered in some way- by strict upbringing, social rules, denial of occupation or skills, and by expectations -- and relates them in ways I very much still understand in the 21st century. I feel it would be hard to deny that the female characters felt themselves quite equal to the men they were matched with in this story. They suffered from their conflicts and emotions, but maintained their self-value. I think this is a message in the story that should not be overlooked.

I highly recommend this novel to be added to your Bronte collection.(less)

4 likes · like · see review

Jun 24, 2011 Judy added it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. No rating of "Shirley" from me yet - I'm still undecided about the artistic achievement and merits of this work.

As is apparent from other reviews and synopses, Bronte dispenses with the first-person perspective so successfully exploited in her first novel ("Jane Eyre") and filters the story - a more broadly based story than JE, telling as it does of a Yorkshire community and its struggles at the time of the Luddite Rebellions of 1800-12 - through a third-person narrator. This narrator is conspi...more No rating of "Shirley" from me yet - I'm still undecided about the artistic achievement and merits of this work.

As is apparent from other reviews and synopses, Bronte dispenses with the first-person perspective so successfully exploited in her first novel ("Jane Eyre") and filters the story - a more broadly based story than JE, telling as it does of a Yorkshire community and its struggles at the time of the Luddite Rebellions of 1800-12 - through a third-person narrator. This narrator is conspicuously intrusive throughout the novel, and draws a great deal of attention to narrative technique by toying with various stances: satirical and ironical, or neutrally indifferent, or even earnestly sympathetic to the characters' inclinations/aspirations/plights/joys etc. Combined with this display of tonal diversity is an array of verbal registers, dialects and rhetorical levels as the various opposing camps (of religious denomination, of class, of political persuasion, of gender) engage and clash.
So readers are being prompted to reflect on authorial versatility and technique (the author's effort to consolidate her status as an accomplished novelist?) and therein is much to admire. I know there are many who defend Bronte's chosen technique as artistically motivated (and they point to the Juvenalia as evidence for a long period of experimentation with such technique) but the unease with which the narrative holds together in "Shirley" I think gives fair grounds for doubts about the author's ability to handle her chosen means. The abrupt transitions and rather episodic (almost compartmentalised) structures do, on the one hand, reflect the want of unity and harmony between various characters and groups and their ideologies in the novel, and the array of voices clamouring to be heard. But does Bronte's use of such a technique really help us grasp these themes? Or does it obscure the messages? I am still wondering......

As for the themes and messages in "Shirley", the rather bleak pictures of the human condition and of societal conflicts that emerge are thought-provoking and memorable. Explorations of human psychology/nature are forceful and convincing, and Bronte's flair for scene-setting/painting and imaginative deployment of nature/landscape as inspired as in her other works.

But against this has to be balanced some very unevenhanded treatments of some contentious issues of the day (e.g. between C of England and Dissenting religions, or between the unemployed of the working class and the middle class employers/millowners). Bronte's attempt to sway reader feeling in favour of the Established Church and the Middle Class, and Tory Politics seems (not withstanding some criticisms of these groups) quite facile at times because rather than presenting and analysing the arguments of opposite camps, she largely negates with pejoratives and emotive terms any claims they might have (e.g. There is no spokesperson to explain the rationale for religious Dissension -instead we are positioned outside the Dissenters place of congregation and invited to join the narrator's condemnation on the basis of their hysterical-sounding worship, and on the basis of violent and cowardly specimens such as Moses Barraclough).

Much more impressive, though, is Bronte's handling of women's issues (largely through the sufferings of Caroline Helstone) and perhaps this is because these issues are the emotional heart of the novel. Here we are treated to a sophisticated critique of the waste and want in the lives of women (especially single women). The misogyny of patriarchal society and the Christian doctrine which underpins it is boldy portrayed through Caroline's inner rejection of gender expectations sponsored by these forces.

Sadly we are not left to ponder a hopeful future for women or any other disadvantaged group in the novel. Even though arguments for reform (social and economic particularly) are aired through the novel, a kind of resignation about the powerlessness and pointlessness of human aspiration, agency, suffering overhangs the ending. Even though Caroline's fortunes alter for the better upon reunion with her mother, and although she finally marries her beloved, he is no longer, however, the chief of her affections or her passport to a better future - the fulfillment of Caroline's desire is thus an untimely one. Moreover, we see Shirley married to her lover at the novel's close, but as a result of this marriage stripped of all the power and consequence she had as an heiress. Similarly, the plight of the workers and struggling capitalists, though relieved by the novel's end, seems dependent not on human efforts and good mangagement, but on forces well beyond any individual or individual group's control (a rather courageous departure from the implicit or explicit calls to reform that provide the raison d'etre other novels of the day - thinking of Dickens and Gaskell especially, here). Though this pessimistic view of things was/will be probably resisted by most readers, it does stir lots consideration about the social, economic and religious institutions governing life during the 19th century and the victims of these slow-to-change systems.

(less)

2 likes · like · see review

Mar 11, 2012 Aura rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: victorians

Shelves: victorian

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. 3,5 stars. i could not give it less.

Firstly, i did like the novel. i liked the romantic side of it (mostly the relationship between Robert Moore and Caroline Helstone), the irony regarding the three clergymen (Malone, Donne, Sweeting), the struggle which was about to end Caroline's life and youth, but in the same time the realistic aspects, the historical and political details etc.

Though Bronte misleads you in the first pages by claiming it to be 'as unromantic as Monday morning', when the whee...more 3,5 stars. i could not give it less.

Firstly, i did like the novel. i liked the romantic side of it (mostly the relationship between Robert Moore and Caroline Helstone), the irony regarding the three clergymen (Malone, Donne, Sweeting), the struggle which was about to end Caroline's life and youth, but in the same time the realistic aspects, the historical and political details etc.

Though Bronte misleads you in the first pages by claiming it to be 'as unromantic as Monday morning', when the wheel of reality starts whirling, the novel is romantic enough.

Caroline is the classic Bronte heroine. She faces difficult times and endures suffering by way of her faith in God and existence, and for the sake of those whom she loves. She identifies her duty and sticks to it no matter her frame of mind. However, she continues to analyse; to feel where things went wrong; to search their true meaning; to fight against her weaknesses; this is where Caroline begins to understand that the social system does not have a place for women; that women must accept the place they're are limitedly offered;

And Bronte approves of Caroline christian stoicism, this was her creed, after all. She mentions at the beginning of the story what would Caroline's behaviour and emotions be in a certain situation if she had enough sense. She leaves it for us to discover, and for Caroline to prove her worth.

Certainly Charlotte Bronte is brilliant evoking atmosphere. You can feel directly and simultaneosly the sun warming Caroline's cheeks while her heart is weaping. You can properly feel the moon sympathising with Caroline's despondent state, where all trace of youth have faded but whose true heart can still forbid Sarah to place a mouse-trap and still remember to place a cake on her desk for her nocturnal visitor.

It is also sort of striking the way Caroline and Robert suffer the fear of death and that creates some sort of inexpressable chain between them. His confusion concerning his life aims and his pretended infatuations for Shirley ('s station and money), Shirley's affection for HIS brother blend together exquisitely as an explanation of the apparent romantic turn. On the other hand, Caroline begins to consider serious points of life prematurely, which makes her Robert's superior in understanding life's subtleties.

The characters are authentic and complex. They need no refinement. The plot develops slowly enough to allow an overall perspective of the Yorkshire society, manners and conventions and eases your understanding of the web which connects almost at the middle of the novel all the characters presented until then. Politics and history are the framework of the story but their reality weighs in Bronte's eyes just as much as moral decay or spirit's platitude. This makes it more of a social and human novel (IMO) rather than a historical novel.

Because of the historical aspects it reminds me of 'North and South'. I remember reading its introduction where it was mentioned that Elizabeth Gaskell inspired herself at some points from a Charlotte Bronte's novel - and now i understand it' being 'Shirley' precisely - not only of names (Helstone, Margaret) but the relations between cloth-mill owners and the unemployed low class, the state of the country and of the economy.

The ending (or the second half of the novel) lacks brilliancy. After introducing Shirley, elucidating her relationship with Robert Moore, presenting the contrast between the two heroines, the rioters' attack, you would still expect riveting things to occur - more than what already happened. Well, we've come to the point. This is the flaw that deterred me from liking it completely. From that on there are pages full of romance, internal struggles concerning hearts vs. the social reality - i won't say they were unwell written or misplaced. But what is the point of continuing a most linear and clear confession? it's obvious it will end up in yielding and marriage and living happily ever after. Some would like to see more of Caroline and less of Shirley in the end - after all, i take Caroline for the real heroine; more of Robert's mind; some would like some war calamities; less of a conventional ending; a little passion?

Finally, the last paragraph of the novel seems to imply lots of things which i cannot pinpoint - the so-called subtle moral. But i have really enjoyed reading this novel though i do not give it 4 stars light-heartedly, but we must also consider Charlotte's life during the writing of this novel, being rumoured she gave the course of the story a happies turn after her sister's death. So, after reading this, even if I were not a fan of hers, i would still read this and be proud of myself and her writing at the same time.

Recommended.(less)

2 likes · like · see review

Feb 08, 2013 Lynn Andrew rated it 4 of 5 stars

A far more political and philosophical book than i was expecting with suprisingly modern views. Interesting character descriptions though, as the author advises at the beginning, all flawed so not always likeable. I found the book a bit of a slog when i was trying to get through it for bookgroup but now i am finishing it off at my own pace i am really enjoying it. Not a book to rush.

1 like · like · see review

Oct 29, 2008 Friend the Girl rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone who loves a good Napoleonic love epic

Shelves: yearly-reread

Ahh, Shirley . . . I must read this book once a year, because it affects me so profoundly when I do read it. Though the heroine of Shirley is actually named Caroline, and she isn't a swashbuckling dame or a fiery temptress or really even anything remarkable, she makes for a remarkable read and is surrounded by brilliant people and events. It's a chaotic time in England during the height of the Napoleonic Wars and timid Caroline's world is turned upside-down, but the events that really hook me ar...more

5 likes · like · see review

Oct 09, 2011 Tara rated it 2 of 5 stars

This is a strange, difficult read, and doesn't capture the imagination as instantly as Jane Eyre. The omniscient narrator reminds me of a male Victorian author like Thackeray, an interesting choice given that the main characters are female, and Bronte deals with women's position in society. The plot and characters are well-drawn and there is some excellent writing here if you look hard enough. But I felt the subplot of industrial unrest wasn't as compelling because it was overshadowed by Charlot...more

2 likes · like · see review

Mar 28, 2013 Lisa Jones rated it 4 of 5 stars

Trivia time: My middle name is Shirley. I was the only granddaughter named after Grandma Shirley, who was a petite fireball of wit and personality. When I was young, I hated my old-lady middle name, but I have since embraced the retro name, even keeping it when I married. So, when I read that the popularity of Shirley by Charlotte Bronte led to the name’s prevalence among girl babies instead of boy babies, I knew I had to discover my original namesake.
The heroine of Shirley is actually Carolin...more

like · see review

Mar 13, 2013 Matthew Tree rated it 4 of 5 stars

Fascinating to see how England, even the North of England, traditionally more egalitarian, was so caught in the throes of class stratification back in the early 19th century that even the 'liberal' characters in this novel full of small-scale industrialists, clergymen and middle-class young ladies behave like the most repulsive snobs imaginable: something quite normal for the period, to judge by the author's lack of insinuated comment. On the other hand, the strident feminism or proto-feminism o...more

like · see review

Jan 28, 2013 Maya rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: freekindlebook

Well, this book was a lot longer than I thought it would be (not immediately apparent with the Kindle). First, I kept hearing that this was a book about social issues and really only the first 20% were like that. Then the bulk of the book was concerned with relationships. This middle part was pretty good. After [SPOILER] Robert got shot, however, it took a severe turn for the worse. There was a lot of lovely writing in this and wise insight into human nature. I especially liked the character of...more

like · see review

Nov 19, 2012 Laura rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Charlotte Brontë should have called this novel "Caroline and Shirley", in the style of Jane Austen. Or even just "Caroline"...
I was very intrigued by a book whose protagonist never seemed to turn up, even in other characters´conversation, but for me Caroline and Robert remain the stronger couple in the story. I was confused by Shirley, who is supposed to be the feisty, spirited girl, but strangely expresses her desire to find a husband who would "dominate" her (or she would allow herself to be d...more

1 like · like · see review

Nov 05, 2012 Arukiyomi rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 1001-books

Context: Was reading this when we took a final walk up the hills around Ukarumpa before leaving PNG.

Review: This completed my reading of the canon of Charlotte Brontë’s completed novels. Mind you, she only wrote three. I started off with Jane Eyre which I thought shallow, contrived and fell far short of the place it has in the pantheon of English Lit. I then tackled Villette and was mesmerised by an extremely accomplished author. Those were her first and last books. Shirley falls slap bang in t...more

1 like · like · see review

Aug 20, 2012 Melissa rated it 2 of 5 stars

I did not like Shirley.

That could be my entire review. After reading a novel that was at least 200 pages too long, it probably should be. Because it is late and I am not feeling too charitable towards Charlotte Bronte I will make this brief.

There were many things I disliked about Shirley (★★) but the one thing that I did like was the character of Shirley. Where Shirley was lively and engaging, the other characters were dull, overwrought and over described. I may be in the minority but I think it...more I did not like Shirley.

That could be my entire review. After reading a novel that was at least 200 pages too long, it probably should be. Because it is late and I am not feeling too charitable towards Charlotte Bronte I will make this brief.

There were many things I disliked about Shirley (★★) but the one thing that I did like was the character of Shirley. Where Shirley was lively and engaging, the other characters were dull, overwrought and over described. I may be in the minority but I think it is a huge problem if the eponymous character does not show up in your story until page 187. Once she did show up she gave everything a much needed jolt of life, including this reader. Honestly, I can’t believe I made it to page 187. I was very close many times to abandoning the book. I didn’t but I can’t say that I’m glad I didn’t.

After reading the brilliance of Anne Bronte’ masterpiece, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Shirley read like an author trying too hard. I should give Charlotte some slack since she lost her three siblings while writing Shirley (including Anne, *sniff*) but I cannot. Especially after learning that Charlotte repressed Anne’s work after she died. It infuriates me that Charlotte and Emily are well-know two hundred years later while Anne, who had much more to say and said it much better, was silenced. I admit I am biased against Charlotte because of it. I cannot help it.

Even if I did not have that prejudice I would not like Shirley. The language was pedantic, the characters annoying and the storyline meandered around searching for a social cause to champion. Unlike Bronte’s contemporary, Elizabeth Gaskell, who wrote brilliant novels about industrialization and the subsequent social struggles, it seems obvious that Bronte had no real experience or knowledge of the lower classes, only what she read in the newspaper. Even without first hand knowledge a writer of Charlotte Bronte’s caliber (at least the caliber she thought she was) should have been able to make her point eloquently. If she had a social point to make, I missed it. Or maybe after slogging through 600 pages I didn’t care.(less)

1 like · like · see review

Jun 01, 2012 Kadzia Osuch rated it 4 of 5 stars

„Ponieważ najbardziej pragnie się zatrzymać to, co można najłatwiej stracić.”

„Shirley” to książka, którą rozpoczęłam kilka miesięcy temu. Dlaczego więc cały czas ją odkładałam? Czy była aż tak zła?

Powieść rozpoczyna się od spotkania trzech wikarych. Już na początku panowie zaczynają prowadzić zażartą dyskusję na temat polityki. Nagle spotkanie zmierza w złą stronę i wybucha kłótnia, po której mężczyźni się rozchodzą.

Autorka od progu wita nas słowami „Jeśli ten wstęp wzbudził w Tobie, Czytelniku,...more

like · see review

Feb 13, 2012 Anastasia Hobbet rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: novel

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Having just finished Lyndal Gordon's great and ground-breaking biography of Charlotte Bronte, I had to read Shirley--and found it much better than I'd anticipated, especially after reading, in the biography, some of the comments of the original reviewers; but then many of them didn't like Jane Eyre either, called it 'coarse' and 'vulgar.' Even Lyndal Gordon agreed that Shirley is deeply flawed, as have many of the reviewers below. Nevertheless, this is a gripping and compelling novel, and it's e...more Having just finished Lyndal Gordon's great and ground-breaking biography of Charlotte Bronte, I had to read Shirley--and found it much better than I'd anticipated, especially after reading, in the biography, some of the comments of the original reviewers; but then many of them didn't like Jane Eyre either, called it 'coarse' and 'vulgar.' Even Lyndal Gordon agreed that Shirley is deeply flawed, as have many of the reviewers below. Nevertheless, this is a gripping and compelling novel, and it's every bit as romantic as Jane Eyre, perhaps more so because there are two romances developing against the odds in this story. Why doesn't it have more prominence? It was widely-read after publication, became another best-seller for Charlotte, so much so that it established 'Shirley' as a girl's name in all English-speaking nations. Until then, it was a man's name only: Bronte states that Shirley had been named as if she'd been a boy by parents who would have preferred one. It suits Shirley: she's an energetic, strong-minded, opinionated woman, who--in moments when her courage and mastery rise up and impress those around her, they speak of her as 'Captain' Shirley--and only half-jokingly. She is based in large part on Emily Bronte, who died while Charlotte was writing the book; and Caroline is based in large part on Anne. In fact, Charlotte lost both her sisters and her brother while she was writing this book--in the space of one year. It kept her sane to continue writing, she said, and the proof of her remarkable mental stamina is that the prose often sparkles with joy, amusement, wisdom--as well as inspired rebellion against the narrow lot of women. What a feat. It's thought that she intended the novel to end with the death of Caroline, but having just witnessed three horrifying deaths in her own family, she couldn't bear to witness another--and as the god of her novel, she could save Anne through the recovery of Caroline. And so she brings the novel to a happy ending. It's heartbreaking to imagine her in that newly-silent parsonage, writing her sisters back to life.
(less)

2 likes · like · see review

Jan 02, 2012 Greenjasminetea rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-read-2012

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Shirley is an interesting book by Charlotte Bronte. While reading it, I had to keep the wikipedia entry open just to keep track of the characters because there are quite a bit of them and also to keep in mind the setting of the book.

Bronte wrote Shirley after Jane Eyre. According to the literary historians, she lost all of her siblings while she working on the novel and the reader can sort of tell that there must have been a lot going on her life because Bronte never quite settles into a comfort...more

like · see review

Aug 18, 2011 Tania Brzovic rated it 3 of 5 stars

I found that I had a difficult time getting into this novel. The first 200 pages (maybe a bit less) were absolute torture. The only thing that made me get through the beginning section was that I liked the characters of Caroline and Robert. This novel is as much, or more, Caroline's story as Shirley's, actually. I'm quite sure that if someone were to do an analysis of which character (Shirley/Caroline) had the most "air time" in the book, Caroline would come out on top. The book is about their r...more I found that I had a difficult time getting into this novel. The first 200 pages (maybe a bit less) were absolute torture. The only thing that made me get through the beginning section was that I liked the characters of Caroline and Robert. This novel is as much, or more, Caroline's story as Shirley's, actually. I'm quite sure that if someone were to do an analysis of which character (Shirley/Caroline) had the most "air time" in the book, Caroline would come out on top. The book is about their relationship and how they impact each other's life. It's also a social history that gives the reader insight into the political upheaval of the Napoleonic Wars, and the economics of the time.

I couldn't get interested in the political/economic undertones of the book. My edition doesn't have a preface/introduction to give me the necessary background so that I could understand the issues presented. As the book is written, a certain degree of previous knowledge is assumed and required to really understand the historical context of the book. There are many secondary characters; it was hard to keep them all straight. A list of characters in the beginning, as is provided in Jane Austen's Emma, would've helped me. Also, I needed a glossary/footnotes to translate the French in the book.

The book seemed to slip back and forth between being about men, women, relationships, and the two main romances (won't give away which characters are involved in them) on the one hand, to being about the politics/economics/history on the other. The two issues aren't particularly merged successfully.

I did like the female characters. They were much more effectively drawn and multidimensional than the male ones. In fact, the male characters seemed really unimportant and secondary. The novel had a few surprising, upredictable twists I liked, too.

In summary, this is a good, not great book. If you like Bronte, I think you owe it to yourself to read it. Just bear in mind that it's not an easy read, and that the book has a very slow pace in sections.
(less)

like · see review

Apr 15, 2011 Yvann S rated it 1 of 5 stars

I battled with myself through the first two thirds of the book to keep reading, and it was only a day stuck ill in bed that gave me the opportunity to finish it. I suppose the foreword gave me plenty of warning, claiming that the book is as “unromantic as a Monday morning”, but still.

Shirley is set in the West Riding of Yorkshire in the early nineteenth century, in a collection of villages suffering religious division, economic hardship due to the Napoleonic War and the start of industrialisati...more

1 like · like · see review

Dec 06, 2009 Maria Grazia rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2009

It took me quite a long time to finish this novel by Charlotte Bronte and it is not because I didn’t like it. I started it in a moment of frantic work and ended up reading only few pages a day , at night, when I was completely exhausted. So I went through the first 100 pages in … two months … but I’ve finished reading the other 442 in the last few days. While reading a book, I suffer from what I call “professional distortion”, I mean, I cannot simply enjoy the reading getting involved in the sto...more

like · see review

May 31, 2011 Marie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Coming from an obssessive Brontë devotee who has read all of their works, this was the one that I read last. I tried, several times, to read it, but my interest always wained. Having said that, I am thrilled to have finally finished it and was really impressed with Charlottte's attempt at writing in the third person omniscient...her only attept with regard to her novels, though the technique was prevelant in her juvenilia. "Shirley" is set during the Napoleonic war as England is struggling with...more

3 likes · like · see review

May 14, 2009 Tricia rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is a great story about Caroline.
There are many characters in this story, but I never felt like there were too many, they only added to the richness.
At times I felt like sweet Caroline was a bit of a sap in how she wouldn't give up on her love for Robert. He was a bit of a frustrating character. The book alluded to a dark side to him, but in the end we only saw virtue. I kept trying to see where his dark side would take him, but it wasn't really there. Only a desire for fairness that had s...more

like · see review

Dec 31, 2010 Ann rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

Set in a woolen mill town in Yorkshire during the Napoleonic Wars, Shirley is the story of the beautiful heiress, Shirley Keeldar, her close friend, Caroline Helstone, impoverished mill owner Robert Moore, and his brother, Louis, who is tutor to Shirley's relatives, the Sympsons, and who is her former tutor as well.

In some ways, I was reminded of North and South by Brontë's friend Elizabeth Gaskell; especially in regards to the background of labor unrest in a woolen mill town. However, Brontë wr...more

like · see review

Aug 23, 2009 James rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, lplib-classics

Shirley is Charlotte Brontë's only historical novel and in that her most topical one. Written at a time of social unrest, it is set during the period of the Napoleonic Wars, when economic hardship led to riots in the woollen district of Yorkshire. A mill-owner, Robert Moore, is determined to introduce new machinery despite fierce opposition from his workers; he ignores their suffering, and puts his own life at risk. Robert sees marriage to the wealthy Shirley Keeldar as the solution to his diffi...more

2 likes · like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
The Brontë Family: Shirley (1849)	1	10	Dec 30, 2011 10:19am

combine
Other Editions (108)

More editions...

Genres

Classics

590 users

Literature > 19th Century

53 users

Romance

41 users

Historical Fiction

34 users

Literature

33 users

European Literature > British Literature

27 users

Classics > Classic Literature

16 users

Novels

15 users

Literature > English Literature

13 users

Adult Fiction

9 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

Agnes Grey
by Anne Brontë
Ruth
by Elizabeth Gaskell
He Knew He Was Right
by Anthony Trollope
The Woodlanders
by Thomas Hardy
East Lynne
by Mrs. Henry Wood

About Charlotte Brontë

Charlotte Brontë was a British novelist, the eldest out of the three famous Brontë sisters whose novels have become standards of English literature. See also Emily Brontë and Anne Brontë.

Charlotte Brontë was born in Thornton, Yorkshire, England, the third of six children, to Patrick Brontë (formerly "Patrick Brunty"), an Irish Anglican clergyman, and his wife, Maria Branwell. In April 1820 the fam...more Charlotte Brontë was a British novelist, the eldest out of the three famous Brontë sisters whose novels have become standards of English literature. See also Emily Brontë and Anne Brontë.

Charlotte Brontë was born in Thornton, Yorkshire, England, the third of six children, to Patrick Brontë (formerly "Patrick Brunty"), an Irish Anglican clergyman, and his wife, Maria Branwell. In April 1820 the family moved a few miles to Haworth, where Patrick had been appointed Perpetual Curate. Maria Branwell Brontë died of cancer on 15 September 1821, leaving five daughters and a son to the care of her sister Elizabeth Branwell. In August 1824, Charlotte was sent with three of her sisters; Emily, Maria, and Elizabeth, to the Clergy Daughters' School at Cowan Bridge in Lancashire (which she would describe as Lowood School in Jane Eyre).

Its poor conditions, Charlotte maintained, permanently affected her health and physical development and hastened the deaths of her two elder sisters, Maria (born 1814) and Elizabeth (born 1815), who died of tuberculosis in 1825 soon after they were removed from the school.

At home in Haworth Parsonage, Charlotte and the other surviving children — Branwell, Emily, and Anne — began chronicling the lives and struggles of the inhabitants of their imaginary kingdoms. Charlotte and Branwell wrote stories about their country — Angria — and Emily and Anne wrote articles and poems about theirs — Gondal. The sagas were elaborate and convoluted (and still exist in part manuscripts) and provided them with an obsessive interest in childhood and early adolescence, which prepared them for their literary vocations in adulthood.

Charlotte continued her education at Roe Head school in Mirfield from 1831 to 1832, where she met her lifelong friends and correspondents, Ellen Nussey and Mary Taylor. During this period (1833), she wrote her novella The Green Dwarf under the name of Wellesley. Charlotte returned as a teacher from 1835 to 1838.

In 1839 she took up the first of many positions as governess to various families in Yorkshire, a career she pursued until 1841. In 1842 she and Emily travelled to Brussels to enroll in a pensionnat run by Constantin Heger (1809 – 1896) and his wife Claire Zoé Parent Heger (1804 – 1890). In return for board and tuition, Charlotte taught English and Emily taught music. Their time at the pensionnat was cut short when Elizabeth Branwell, their aunt who joined the family after the death of their mother to look after the children, died of internal obstruction in October 1842.

Charlotte returned alone to Brussels in January 1843 to take up a teaching post at the pensionnat. Her second stay at the pensionnat was not a happy one; she became lonely, homesick, and deeply attached to Constantin Heger. She finally returned to Haworth in January 1844 and later used her time at the pensionnat as the inspiration for some of The Professor and Villette.

In May 1846, Charlotte, Emily, and Anne published a joint collection of poetry under the assumed names of Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell. Although the book failed to attract interest (only two copies were sold), the sisters decided to continue writing for publication and began work on their first novels.

Charlotte continued to use the name 'Currer Bell' when she published her first two novels. Of this, Brontë later wrote:
"Averse to personal publicity, we veiled our own names under those of Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell; the ambiguous choice being dictated by a sort of conscientious scruple at assuming Christian names positively masculine, while we did not like to declare ourselves women, because--without at that time suspecting that our mode of writing and thinking was not what is called 'feminine'--we had a vague impression that authoresses are liable to be looked on with prejudice"(less)

More about Charlotte Brontë...

Books by Charlotte Brontë

Charlotte & Emily Brontë: The Complete Novels, Deluxe Edition (Literary Classics)

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Shirley

2 trivia questions
1 quiz

More quizzes & trivia...

Quotes from Shirley

“If men could see us as we really are, they would be a little amazed; but the cleverest, the acutest men are often under an illusion about women: they do not read them in a true light: they misapprehend them, both for good and evil: their good woman is a queer thing, half doll, half angel; their bad woman almost always a fiend.” — 128 people liked it

“God surely did not create us, and cause us to live, with the sole end of wishing always to die. I believe, in my heart, we were intended to prize life and enjoy it, so long as we retain it. Existence never was originally meant to be that useless, blank, pale, slow-trailing thing it often becomes to many, and is becoming to me, among the rest.” — 52 people liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: Shirley
avg rating	preview: Shirley Goodreads rating: 3.62 (9046 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31168.Shirley?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1299948983l/31168.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31168.Shirley?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Shirley by Charlotte Brontë[/url]

Shirley

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website