The Professor (1857) is English writer Charlotte Brontë's first novel.
Rejected by several publishing houses, Brontë shelved the novel in order
to write her masterpiece Jane Eyre (1847). After her death, The
Professor was edited by Brontë's widower, Arthur Bell Nichols, who saw
that the novel was published posthumously. Based on Brontë's experience
as a student and teacher in Brussels--which similarly inspired her novel
Villette--The Professor is an underappreciated early work from one
of English literature's most important writers.
After rejecting a life as a clergyman, William Crimsworth goes to work
as a clerk for his brother Edward, a successful businessman. Although he
excels, his brother grows jealous of his ability and intelligence,
abusing and belittling him until he is forced to quit. Disappointed, he
accepts a job at a boarding school in Belgium where, mentored by the
kind Monsieur Pelet, William flourishes as a professor. When news of his
work reaches Mademoiselle Reuter, a local headmistress at a school for
girls, she offers him a position, and William joins her staff. He begins
to grow suspicious, however, when he overhears Reuter speaking about him
with Pelet and discovers that the pair are engaged to be married. As he
begins to second-guess their kindness, he falls in love with Frances, a
young teacher-in-training. Harboring her own secret affection for
William, Mademoiselle Reuter decides she must dismiss Frances if she is
to maintain her control of the young Englishman. Charlotte Brontë's The
Professor is a novel of romance, jealousy, and gothic mystery, an early
and promising work by one of Victorian England's most prominent writers.
With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript,
this edition of Charlotte Brontë's The Professor is a classic of
English literature reimagined for modern readers.
