I’m a fan of Jane Eyre and I have read other books by the Brontë sisters, but I knew nothing of Villette before I started reading it. It had both good and bad aspects.
The story follows Lucy Snowe, a gentlewoman without fortune or marriage proposal, who must find a way to support herself. She recklessly follows advice to go abroad and ends up as a teacher in the french city of Villette. It’s a story about loneliness and unrequited love. Lucy has a need, like so many of us, to find her equals and true life-companions (not necessarily a love interest).
This part of the story is what I really loved about the book. It’s not afraid to explore loneliness and feelings of isolation. Lucy is set apart from her surroundings everywhere she goes, yet longs to be on equal terms with those around her and for genuine friendships. It even explores how isolation can make us physically ill and how we start looking for a release from it in the most unlikely places. It was strange to read about a character’s journey through these feelings at a time when I felt unusually isolated myself.
But there were other things I didn’t like about the story. Although we follow Lucy through different stages of her life and the theme of finding friendship runs throughout the book, it also feels fragmented. It was like reading several books in one. It was as if the different parts didn’t naturally connect. There were also characters popping up out of nowhere. Two of the other main characters must be part of the story long before they “enter the scene.” I found that really jarring. It made me wonder where they were earlier in the story. One of these instances is partly explained away but the other isn’t.
I also found the ending very unsatisfactory. Without giving any spoilers, I didn’t feel the issue of Lucy’s isolation was resolved and it was such a deep running theme throughout that I felt it needed some sort of resolution.
I would still recommend Villette. Afterall, I found it really hard to put down once I started reading. There was something about it that, despite its quiet tone, urged me to read on.
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