This novel depicts a mill owner, Robert, whose business is struggling and in turn, rejects his attraction to an orphaned woman, Caroline, in favour of proposing to a rich landowner, Shirley.
In Charlotte Bronte's classic, Shirley rejects him as she loves Robert's poor brother, Louis, but has too much pride to admit her feelings. Caroline withers away due to the rejection by Robert until discovering Shirley's governess is her long lost mother which rekindles her life.
Robert's obsession with profits means he ignores his workers needs until he is shot by an opposing faction. His experience at relying entirely on other people lead him to realise his mistakes and as his business picks up he helps his workers and reignites his attraction to Caroline.
Shirley and Louis overcome their differences to begin speaking to one another in hope of an eventual marriage.
Lia Williams, a remarkable talent, reads this English classic.
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"I'd have to say that compared to Jane Eyre and Villette, Shirley took the longest to get into, but after a while I really enjoyed it. I read somewhere that it's not a romance, but whatever! Not one couple, but two! YAY! There was certainly a lot more social commentary than I'm used to and since I know nothing about British history during the Napoleonic wars, I had to rely on the notes quite a bit. Overall I really liked it. I really identified with Caroline (one of the central characters - not Shirley, who is introduced a third of the way into the book). She was very sad for most of the book, mainly due to a lack of communication, as seems to be the case in a lot of books set in this time period. However, her feelings and CB's writing were powerful nonetheless."
—
rinabeana (4 out of 5 stars)