Jane Eyre is one of my lifetime favorites. Every now and then, I take it off my bookshelf just to re-read my favorite scenes. So when I learned that Charlotte Bronte connoisseurs consider Villette her masterpiece, I was actually reluctant to try it. I didn’t want my favorite to get dethroned! But I didn’t deny myself the pleasure, and I was richly rewarded. Jane Eyre and Villette now share the throne quite comfortably.

I’ll admit that Villette has some very slow sections. The early scenes of the protagonist’s adolescence are grabbing, but after that, there are a few chapters that are so dull, I almost gave up on the book. If that’s your reaction when you read it, push on. Things pick up when the protagonist arrives in the town of Villette, and before you know it, you’ll be in the middle of what must be one of the best-written love triangles in all of literature. There’s one love scene that’s as beautiful as any you’d want to read, except that you see it from the point of view of the protagonist, the outsider. Oh, how I cried for poor Lucy Snowe in that scene, yet simultaneously I was rejoicing for the couple. No author has ever made me feel two contradictory emotions so strongly.

In short, I highly recommend Villette, but besides the warning above, I’ve got a few more.

#1 – Some of the dialogue is written in French, so it’s worth getting a copy with translations. But even if you don’t, you’ll still enjoy the book. I don’t understand a word of French and I read it without translations. Perhaps I missed a few subtleties, but I definitely got the essence.

#2 – Part of this book is about the dispute between British Protestantism and French/Belgian Catholicism. There’s a whole chapter devoted to it at the end. As I’m neither Catholic nor Protestant, I just skipped it, and I don’t think I missed out. But I’ve been told that some Catholics might be offended by Bronte’s opinions on the matter.

#3 – Read with a box of tissues nearby!