BOOK: Shirley by Charlotte Bronte

I thought I was never going to finish this book. It didn't start picking up until the title character finally appeared around page 200. Bronte must have had a lot of time on her hands to write a 600-page novel that is very, very stagnant . She's filled it with plenty of unnecessary characters who are for the most part very uninteresting.

I think if I gave it more than just my cursory attention I would have appreciated this book a lot more. I do give Bronte credit for being a great writer and coming up with some really original prose, but come on she could have told the story in half the amount of pages. I skimmed a great deal of the book because so much of it was pointless.

Anyway, the story centers around two girls and the two men they love. It takes place in the 1810's during the Napoleonic wars. Of course, class and gender are big issues in this story. Religion is also scrutinized a bit here. Overall, the story is not as compelling as Jane Eyre. The love stories are not as satisfying but you still root for the protagonists.

The only reason why I was able to finish this novel is because I was stuck in purgatory for 6 days which gave me plenty of time to go through it as fast as I could.

::3 stars::