Reading 1001 discussion

[b]Shirley[\b] by Charlotte Bronte
I read most of the works by the Bronte sisters in my early 20s and enjoyed all of them so I don’t know why it has taken me so long to get to Shirley. It’s not my favourite book by Charlotte but I still enjoyed reading it. The story is set in a town in Northern England in 1811-12 against a background of social unrest and rebellions from the workers against the mill owners and the introduction of machines. One thing I love in all the books by Charlotte that I have read so far are the characters. Not just the main characters but the smaller ones too, some of my favourites being Mr Yorke and his family. The character of Shirley was another of my favourites. I liked the way she knew her own mind, especially when contrasted with Caroline who is a more typical example of how a woman of this era might have behaved.

Rating: 4 Stars


This book was written on the heels of the successful Jane Eyre. Charlotte Bronte's lost three siblings to tuberculosis while she was writing this novel, including both the authors Emily and Anne Bronte.

The book is set in early 19th Yorkshire, England against the backdrop of Luddite labor uprisings within the textile industry. This story is an example of social realism in that it focuses on real situations and the quest for justice. The book centers on two main protagonists, Shirley and Caroline. The author modeled the character of Shirley on her sister, Emily, and Caroline's character on her sister, Anne.

Overall, a good book, although it had its flaws. Not necessarily a flaw, but I did find it odd that Shirley's character didn't appear until well into the story. I found that confusing since Caroline had seemed to be the main protagonist until that point.

This very ambitious novel has Bronte presenting the reader with a large group of characters that represent different aspects of the political situation in Yorkshire around 1810. The Napoleonic wars are on-going and the mills have been prevented from enjoying their previous global trade. The Mill workers have been laid off and they are also facing the increasingly automated innovations coming into the mills at that time. Bronte focuses on the The Luddite uprisings and the labor equation with interest and empathy although not with complete neutrality. She is not a daughter of the working class.
More importantly to the key themes of the book, Bronte comes to Shirley with a list of criticisms from reviewers of her first book, Jane Eyre. Further, her equally talented sisters, Emily and Anne have recently passed away. So the Charlotte Bronte we are met with in Shirley is angry, fierce and full of the need to mock and mimic. Her focus is largely on the gender dynamics of that time when there were many more women than men, and the middle and upper class women had almost nothing to do and many could not even marry. Our dreamy Caroline is in contrast to our indomitable Shirley who stands up for the right to marry who she pleases.
The structure of the book does not always hold together, for example, our uprising workers all but disappear after the first half of the book. Shirley takes forever to enter the stage and another of the main characters isn't introduced until the last third of the book. Bronte's flowery language can sometime over power the senses. However, in general, the quips, the gutsy anger, the Biblical and literary references, and the simply masterful character development made me really enjoy reading the book.

Ambitious novel set in Yorkshire during the Napoleonic Wars when government action caused great hardship to the textile industry in the North of England. Against this backdrop we have the love stories of two women - shy gentle Caroline who is in love with her cousin Robert and longs for a traditional marriage, and the indomitable heiress Shirley who believes she should be able to make her own choices in love as well as business.

Despite an interesting setting and some memorable characters (the feisty Shirley is a joy, and I really liked the various clerical characters) I found this a real slog to get through. The style is incredibly wordy, not only in the descriptive parts but also in the dialogue, and becomes very preachy at times. Even the attack on the mill by disaffected workers was dull and plodding. I’m not sure the omniscient narrator device plays to CB’s strengths.

As Gail has pointed out, the structure is also flawed. Shirley does not appear for about 150 pages, by which time I was thoroughly fed up with the tiresome Caroline, and her love story takes even longer to evolve. My least favourite novel by any of the Brontë sisters.