Charlotte and Emily Bronte: The Complete Novels

Great collection of Bronte sisters' work at a good price. Nice hardcover, with dust sleeve. Big prints. Love it. If you are a Bronte sisters fan, definitely get this book. The novel I like the most of course is "Jane Eyre". I read some of the dialogues between Jane and Rochester several times, and every time I read, I got something new out of it. I love Gothic romance, and the Byronic hero of the English literature.

This one book collection of Charlotte and Emily Bronte's five novels seems quite a deal indeed - and in hardcover! Anne Bronte's novels are must reads alongside this book of works to complete the genius circle of the Bronte sisters. As an ardent fan of all the Bronte sisters, not only for their storytelling brilliance but their high literature skills, I often find myself reading a sentence over and over again in order to absorb something profound or so perfectly worded. Even if you do not prefer the melodrama of Wuthering Heights or dramatic romance of Jane Eyre; as with all Bronte sisters' novels, they are worth the read just for the amazing literary food to be found therein. The bulk of the Bronte sisters' books also illustrate pages from their own interesting and challenging lives of 150 years ago. Kerri Bennett Williamson, Author

After many years of placing "Jane Eyre" at the top of my "favorite stories of all time" list, I was glad when my husband gave me this book so I could read some of Bronte's other novels.What I found was that I liked "Villette" even more than "Jane Eyre" - and, although it was arduous at first, I found "Shirley" was better yet."Jane Eyre", for anyone who hasn't read it, is a wonderful gothic romance, moralistic and spiritual, a very good read and fascinating tale. "Villette" is more mature. The author explores a deeper sort of love - not based on mere physical attraction or infatuation, but based on deep, abiding friendship and respect. This story, too, has its lessons.The character development in "Villette" was more complete than in any other novel I've ever read. I became fascinated by the unattractive little professor, and by other characters as well.Unfortunately, there is a lot of French in this story, and what appeared to be the most pivotal moments were written in French... dialogue that I really wanted to understand was just lost on me. That was truly unfortunate. I'll have to find someone to translate for me sometime."Shirley" is the best of all. The beginning is arduous. I had to use my dictionary throughout, but the beginning is particular difficult. Shall I say.. boring, even. I found that, once I forced myself through the beginning, I was very much rewarded.This story is a gem. The female heroines - Shirley and Caroline - were wonderful to get to know. Shirley is not the sort of female I would have thought Bronte had had occasion to know, so this was enlightening for me.Truly an eye-opening look at 19th century feminism! And incorporated into these wonderful romance stories."The Professor" was a bit more dry than the others, although it was fun to read a romance story strictly from the male viewpoint. For a first novel, this was really incredibly well written.As for "Wuthering Heights", it's been a number of years since I've read the story, so I won't attempt a review here.I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes "Wuthering Heights" or "Jane Eyre". All these stories are wonderfully written, with complex characters and interesting plots. The work of true genius.

Villette has recently become my all time favorite book. Although it is lacking somewhat in plot as compared to Charlotte's Jane Eyre, it is far superior in character development. Those of you who have read Jane Eyre know how incredible this statement is. I have never become so involved and emotionally tied to a character. Charlotte Bronte has put more of herself in this novel than any other author I am familiar with. If you loved Jane Eyre, you will adore Villette.

As much as I love Jane Eyre, I must say that Villette surpasses it for emotion and intellectual impact. It's the same reason I prefer this that I prefer Jane Austen's Persuasion to her Sense & Sensibility -- it's written for an older audience.