Charlotte Bronte

Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte

Publisher Marketing: There was no possibility of taking a walk that day. We had been wandering, indeed, in the leafless shrubbery an hour in the morning; but since dinner (Mrs. Reed, when there was no company, dined early) the cold winter wind had brought with it clouds so sombre, and a rain so penetrating, that further out-door exercise was now out of the question. I was glad of it: I never liked long walks, especially on chilly afternoons: dreadful to me was the coming home in the raw twilight, with nipped fingers and toes, and a heart saddened by the chidings of Bessie, the nurse, and humbled by the consciousness of my physical inferiority to Eliza, John, and Georgiana Reed. The said Eliza, John, and Georgiana were now clustered round their mama in the drawing-room: she lay reclined on a sofa by the fireside, and with her darlings about her (for the time neither quarrelling nor crying) looked perfectly happy. Me, she had dispensed from joining the group; saying, "She regretted to be under the necessity of keeping me at a distance; but that until she heard from Bessie, and could discover by her own observation, that I was endeavouring in good earnest to acquire a more sociable and childlike disposition, a more attractive and sprightly manner-something lighter, franker, more natural, as it were-she really must exclude me from privileges intended only for contented, happy, little children." "What does Bessie say I have done?" I asked. "Jane, I don't like cavillers or questioners; besides, there is something truly forbidding in a child taking up her elders in that manner. Be seated somewhere; and until you can speak pleasantly, remain silent." A breakfast-room adjoined the drawing-room, I slipped in there. It contained a bookcase: I soon possessed myself of a volume, taking care that it should be one stored with pictures. I mounted into the window-seat: gathering up my feet, I sat cross-legged, like a Turk; and, having drawn the red moreen curtain nearly close, I was shrined in double retirement. Folds of scarlet drapery shut in my view to the right hand; to the left were the clear panes of glass, protecting, but not separating me from the drear November day. At intervals, while turning over the leaves of my book, I studied the aspect of that winter afternoon. Afar, it offered a pale blank of mist and cloud; near a scene of wet lawn and storm-beat shrub, with ceaseless rain sweeping away wildly before a long and lamentable blast. Review Citations: Kliatt 11/01/2005 pg. 44 (EAN 9789626343579, Compact Disc) - *Starred Review Ingram Paperback Advance 05/01/2005 pg. 63 (EAN 9781416500247, Paperback) Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2006 pg. 327 (EAN 9780679994312, Library Binding) Kliatt 01/01/2005 pg. 45 (EAN 9780563526414, Compact Disc) Booklist 02/01/2005 pg. 986 (EAN 9780563526414, Compact Disc) Booklist 07/01/2003 pg. 1850 (EAN 9781593080075, Mass Market Paperbound) Library Journal 04/01/1994 (EAN 9780886463519, Analog Audio Cassette) Booklist 01/01/1997 pg. 828 (EAN 9780791040638, Library Binding) School Library Journal 04/01/1997 pg. 143 (EAN 9780791040638, Library Binding) Wilson Fiction Catalog 01/01/2006 pg. 110 (EAN 9780679405825, Hardcover) Wilson Senior High Core Col 01/01/2007 pg. 728 (EAN 9780679405825, Hardcover) Wilson Fiction Catalog 01/01/2010 pg. 67 (EAN 9780679405825, Hardcover) Wilson Senior High Core Col 01/01/2011 pg. 889 (EAN 9780679405825, Hardcover) Wilson Fiction Catalog 01/01/2014 pg. 91 (EAN 9780679405825, Hardcover) School Library Journal 07/01/2010 pg. 82 (EAN 9781607546672, Library Binding) Contributor Bio:  Bronte, Charlotte The eldest of the three Bront? sisters, Charlotte is best known for her novel Jane Eyre, which was published under the pseudonym Currer Bell. Bront?'s works were revolutionary for their time, reflecting a truthfulness about love and relationships that was not common in Victorian-era England. While Jane Eyre was, and continues to be, her most popular work, Charlotte Bront? published numerous works during her short life, including juvenilia, poetry, and the novels Shirley and Villette. Charlotte Bront? died in 1855, outliving both of her sisters, Anne and Emily. Collectively, the Bront? sisters' novels are considered literary standards that continue to influence modern writers.