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Oct 23, 2015julia_sedai rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
It took me a long time to finish this book, not necessarily because it was boring, but because it is so dense. Also, I had to keep flipping to the back to translate the French parts. I really wish this edition would use footnotes instead of endnotes, at least for translation. Anyway, the plot is really good. A young woman with no family, no money, no connections, decides to set out by herself to a town called Villette (which is based on Brussels in Belgium). She ends up becoming a teacher at a girls' school. The novel is based on her feelings; you discover early on that the character suffers from depression. It's not really a romance story. In fact, most of it is about an unrequited love that Lucy has for Dr. John and watching him fall in love with someone else. She does find someone else who she doesn't like at first, but later, she falls in love with him, only to lead to a tragic ending. The author does leave the ending ambiguous, but she originally meant it to be tragic. I would love to study this book in a university setting, because there are so many themes and it is so well-written. Also, I would like to discuss it with other people because I did find some parts very hard to understand. The main character, Lucy Snowe, who is also the narrator, turns out to be unreliable. She "hides" something from the reader that you don't find out until halfway through. I recommend this for anyone who loves Brontë's other books, as well as anyone who enjoys reading Victorian books, but I do think you need to take a lot of time to read it.