Featuring an appendix of discussion questions, the Diversion Classics edition is ideal for use in book groups and classrooms.

Written amidst great personal tragedy in Charlotte Bronte’s life, her second novel after Jane Eyre looks toward a complicated, but brighter future. Set in a rapidly industrializing England in a time of social and economic unrest, Shirley bridges two very different worlds. Caroline Helstone, reeling from the loss of her father, abandoned by her mother, has been doomed to a life of poverty. To make matters worse, the only man she has feelings for, Robert Moore, must marry into wealth or risk losing his family mill. Robert proposes to Shirley, a woman set free by her inheritance and newly-found wealth and independence. The path towards matrimony winds as people seek happiness and enlightenment on the dawn of an exciting—and anxious—tomorrow. Part compelling romance, part searing social commentary, Shirley, following the tremendous success of Jane Eyre, is a revolutionary novel.