The Canon
Illustrated cover for Shirley by Charlotte Brontë

Novel · 1849

Shirley

Charlotte Brontë

Aya Saleh · Ink & Ivy

Novel · 1849 · English · Victorian

Shirley

Charlotte Brontë

Two women negotiate love and independence amid Yorkshire industrial conflict.

Industrial novelSocial fictionLabourGenderFriendship

Read the book

English reading edition

Full Project Gutenberg text, newly typeset—not a publisher scan. Public-domain status varies by country; check local laws. The source license is included.

Edition and source

How to read it

Its paired heroines distribute possibilities that Jane Eyre concentrates in one voice. The social plot asks whose work, money and speech are recognised.

Chapter guide

A verified, edition-specific chapter guide has not yet been added. The overview above covers the work as a whole, not individual chapters.

Where to read & what to read about it

More by Charlotte Brontë