Villette

Published in 1853, Villette is Charlotte Brontë's final novel. The narrator, Lucy Snowe, leaves England and her troubled past to work as an instructor at a French boarding school in the town of Villette. While there, she experiences unexpected feelings of love and longing as she observes the relationship between Dr. John, a young English doctor, and Gineva Fanshawe, a beautiful and flirtatious woman. As one source of pain leads to others, Lucy encounters the heartache she had hoped to leave behind. Despite adversity and disappointment, Lucy survives to tell her story—an account that offers an insightful examination of a woman's inner life and consciousness.