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Five Novelettes
1971. No edition remarks. 367 pages. No dust jacket, Folio edition with slipcase. Red cloth with gilt lettering with slipcase. Clean pages are bright with heavy foxing throughout. Tightly bound with faint thumb-marking throughout. Pencil inscription to front endpaper. Boards have light shelf-wear with corner bumping. Mild sunning to spine. Mild scratching and marking to boards. Slipcase has moderate edge wear with markings to panels and scuffing to edges. Heavy tanning to edges.
367 pages, Mass Market Paperback
Published January 1, 1971
21 people want to read
About the author
Charlotte Brontë
2,205 books19.2k followersCharlotte Brontë was an English 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, a remote town on the Yorkshire moors, where Patrick had been appointed Perpetual Curate. This is where the Brontë children would spend most of their lives. Maria Branwell Brontë died from what was thought to be cancer on 15 September 1821, leaving five daughters and a son to the care of her spinster sister Elizabeth Branwell, who moved to Yorkshire to help the family.
In August 1824 Charlotte, along with her sisters Emily, Maria, and Elizabeth, was sent to the Clergy Daughters' School at Cowan Bridge in Lancashire, a new school for the daughters of poor clergyman (which she would describe as Lowood School in Jane Eyre). The school was a horrific experience for the girls and conditions were appalling. They were regularly deprived of food, beaten by teachers and humiliated for the slightest error. The school was unheated and the pupils slept two to a bed for warmth. Seven pupils died in a typhus epidemic that swept the school and all four of the Brontë girls became very ill - Maria and Elizabeth dying of tuberculosis in 1825. Her experiences at the school deeply affected Brontë - her health never recovered and she immortalised the cruel and brutal treatment in her novel, Jane Eyre. Following the tragedy, their father withdrew his daughters from the school.
At home in Haworth Parsonage, Charlotte and the other surviving children — Branwell, Emily, and Anne — continued their ad-hoc education. In 1826 her father returned home with a box of toy soldiers for Branwell. They would prove the catalyst for the sisters' extraordinary creative development as they immediately set to creating lives and characters for the soldiers, inventing a world for them which the siblings called 'Angria'. The siblings became addicted to writing, creating stories, poetry and plays. Brontë later said that the reason for this burst of creativity was that:
'We were wholly dependent on ourselves and each other, on books and study, for the enjoyments and occupations of life. The highest stimulus, as well as the liveliest pleasure we had known from childhood upwards, lay in attempts at literary composition.'
After her father began to suffer from a lung disorder, Charlotte was again sent to school to complete 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. The school was extremely small with only ten pupils meaning the top floor was completely unused and believed to be supposedly haunted by the ghost of a young lady dressed in silk. This story fascinated Brontë and inspired the figure of Mrs Rochester in Jane Eyre.
Brontë left the school after a few years, however she swiftly returned in 1835 to take up a position as a teacher, and used her wages to pay for Emily and Anne to be taught at the school. Teaching did not appeal to Brontë and in 1838 she left Roe Head to become a governess to the Sidgewick family -- partly from a sense of adventure and a desire to see the world, and partly from financial necessity.
Charlotte became pregnant soon after her wedding, but her health declined rapidly and, according to biographer Elizabeth Gaskell, she was attacked by "sensations of perpetual nausea and ever-recurring faintness." She died, with her unborn child, on 31 March 1855.
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, a remote town on the Yorkshire moors, where Patrick had been appointed Perpetual Curate. This is where the Brontë children would spend most of their lives. Maria Branwell Brontë died from what was thought to be cancer on 15 September 1821, leaving five daughters and a son to the care of her spinster sister Elizabeth Branwell, who moved to Yorkshire to help the family.
In August 1824 Charlotte, along with her sisters Emily, Maria, and Elizabeth, was sent to the Clergy Daughters' School at Cowan Bridge in Lancashire, a new school for the daughters of poor clergyman (which she would describe as Lowood School in Jane Eyre). The school was a horrific experience for the girls and conditions were appalling. They were regularly deprived of food, beaten by teachers and humiliated for the slightest error. The school was unheated and the pupils slept two to a bed for warmth. Seven pupils died in a typhus epidemic that swept the school and all four of the Brontë girls became very ill - Maria and Elizabeth dying of tuberculosis in 1825. Her experiences at the school deeply affected Brontë - her health never recovered and she immortalised the cruel and brutal treatment in her novel, Jane Eyre. Following the tragedy, their father withdrew his daughters from the school.
At home in Haworth Parsonage, Charlotte and the other surviving children — Branwell, Emily, and Anne — continued their ad-hoc education. In 1826 her father returned home with a box of toy soldiers for Branwell. They would prove the catalyst for the sisters' extraordinary creative development as they immediately set to creating lives and characters for the soldiers, inventing a world for them which the siblings called 'Angria'. The siblings became addicted to writing, creating stories, poetry and plays. Brontë later said that the reason for this burst of creativity was that:
'We were wholly dependent on ourselves and each other, on books and study, for the enjoyments and occupations of life. The highest stimulus, as well as the liveliest pleasure we had known from childhood upwards, lay in attempts at literary composition.'
After her father began to suffer from a lung disorder, Charlotte was again sent to school to complete 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. The school was extremely small with only ten pupils meaning the top floor was completely unused and believed to be supposedly haunted by the ghost of a young lady dressed in silk. This story fascinated Brontë and inspired the figure of Mrs Rochester in Jane Eyre.
Brontë left the school after a few years, however she swiftly returned in 1835 to take up a position as a teacher, and used her wages to pay for Emily and Anne to be taught at the school. Teaching did not appeal to Brontë and in 1838 she left Roe Head to become a governess to the Sidgewick family -- partly from a sense of adventure and a desire to see the world, and partly from financial necessity.
Charlotte became pregnant soon after her wedding, but her health declined rapidly and, according to biographer Elizabeth Gaskell, she was attacked by "sensations of perpetual nausea and ever-recurring faintness." She died, with her unborn child, on 31 March 1855.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 24, 2021
I found a 1971 edition of Five Novelettes via a rare book dealer, and boy is it a real gem! An astonishing accomplishment by the 20-year old Charlotte Brontë. Through the five ‘novellas’, we witness the transition of her creative writing process and gain a glimpse of what was to follow in Jane Eyre.
The final two manuscripts are better than the preceding ones. They are revelatory, hinting at a growing maturity and a nod to the reality of a more ‘cynical’ world.
It was fascinating to learn of the sources of her inspiration for plot and character, her time spent in Brussels, and her writing style (entirely with her eyes shut to block out interference). Fortunately, the inevitable chaotic spelling and punctuation errors remain unaltered in the text, which only adds to its charm!
The final two manuscripts are better than the preceding ones. They are revelatory, hinting at a growing maturity and a nod to the reality of a more ‘cynical’ world.
It was fascinating to learn of the sources of her inspiration for plot and character, her time spent in Brussels, and her writing style (entirely with her eyes shut to block out interference). Fortunately, the inevitable chaotic spelling and punctuation errors remain unaltered in the text, which only adds to its charm!
October 8, 2018
This collection consists of five of Charlotte's Angrian novelettes edited by Brontë scholar Winifred Gerin. As these works are some of the final pieces of Charlotte's juvenilia, they have a maturity and a sophistication that may surprise people.
The novelettes included are: Passing Events, Julia, Mina Laury, Captain Henry Hastings, and Caroline Vernon. Unlike most other pieces of Charlotte's juvenilia, some of these texts can be read and enjoyed in isolation, particularly the latter two. Henry Hastings (as it is now known) is the story of a teacher's attempt to save her disgraced brother's life after he commits murder and flees, whilst Caroline Vernon is a coming of age tale and an example of young adult fiction before the term was coined.
Passing Events and Julia have not re-appeared in print since the publication of this edition in 1971 but the final three texts do appear in more recent editions of Charlotte's early fiction.
Featuring politics, romance, infidelity, mistresses, beautiful women, unrequited love, drunken murderers, and a Jane Eyre figure, these tales are hidden gems that deserved to be read
The novelettes included are: Passing Events, Julia, Mina Laury, Captain Henry Hastings, and Caroline Vernon. Unlike most other pieces of Charlotte's juvenilia, some of these texts can be read and enjoyed in isolation, particularly the latter two. Henry Hastings (as it is now known) is the story of a teacher's attempt to save her disgraced brother's life after he commits murder and flees, whilst Caroline Vernon is a coming of age tale and an example of young adult fiction before the term was coined.
Passing Events and Julia have not re-appeared in print since the publication of this edition in 1971 but the final three texts do appear in more recent editions of Charlotte's early fiction.
Featuring politics, romance, infidelity, mistresses, beautiful women, unrequited love, drunken murderers, and a Jane Eyre figure, these tales are hidden gems that deserved to be read
April 6, 2020
This book is definitely just for fans of Charlotte Bronte. The last story was the best written of the lot. The second to last story was quite good as well. The earlier stories were rather awkward. I actually took several weeks to read through this whole collection, taking breaks to read other books as well. These stories give interesting insight into Charlotte’s growth as a writer. Of course, they aren’t nearly as good as the novels she published during her life. This collecting was interesting. I’m glad I read it. I’m unlikely to read it again.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews