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A review by kmhst25
Shirley by Charlotte Brontë
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
2.0
Truly shocked by how much I disliked this book. If the author of a classic has other, forgotten works, it's worth considering that they may be forgotten for a reason.
Overall, I found it boring and meandering. It's hard to say what Bronte was trying to achieve here. At one point, she seems to be setting up an ensemble cast, Middlemarch type of book, but she quits halfway through and presents 90% of the remaining content from the perspective of a single character. Early in the book, we ponder the complicated ramifications of industrialization, but that plotline fizzles and is more or less abandoned. The title character doesn't show up for almost 200 pages and actually isn't the primary focus of the book anyway. And in the last 50 pages, a previously minimal and sweet romance takes a turn to the possessive and controlling. The woman is almost dragged to the altar in a thrall, but this is presented as a happy ending.
In short, the plot was all over the place, and the "happy" ending left me uncomfortable.
Overall, I found it boring and meandering. It's hard to say what Bronte was trying to achieve here. At one point, she seems to be setting up an ensemble cast, Middlemarch type of book, but she quits halfway through and presents 90% of the remaining content from the perspective of a single character. Early in the book, we ponder the complicated ramifications of industrialization, but that plotline fizzles and is more or less abandoned. The title character doesn't show up for almost 200 pages and actually isn't the primary focus of the book anyway. And in the last 50 pages, a previously minimal and sweet romance takes a turn to the possessive and controlling. The woman is almost dragged to the altar in a thrall, but this is presented as a happy ending.
In short, the plot was all over the place, and the "happy" ending left me uncomfortable.