VICTOBER 2025 discussion

This discussion board is for all of us as we read along with Shirley.

If you are rereading or ahead of the schedule, please be wary of posting spoilers or letting slip any plot details to those who are reading for the first time.

However, do feel free to mention what's happening in the chapters that we're due to read on the day we're due to read them. If you're behind, best avoid the boards until you're caught up!

The schedule is as follows, over the course of October:

1st: Chapter 1
2nd: Chapter 2
3rd: Chapter 3 & 4
4th: Chapter 5
5th: Chapter 6
6th: Chapter 7
7th: Chapter 8
8th: Chapter 9
9th: Chapter 10
10th: Chapter 11
11th: Chapter 12
12th: Chapter 13
13th: Chapter 14
14th: Chapter 15 & 16
15th: Chapter 17
16th: Chapter 18 & 19
17th: Chapter 20
18th: Chapter 21
19th: Chapter 22
20th: Chapter 23
21st: Chapter 24 & 25
22nd: Chapter 26
23rd: Chapter 27
24th: Chapter 28
25th: Chapter 29 & 30
26th: Chapter 31
27th: Chapter 32
28th: Chapter 33 & 34
29th: Chapter 35
30th: Chapter 36
31st: Chapter 37

I'm so happy I decided to take part in this readalong. I've just finished the first chapter and enjoyed it. Hope to chat with others about it soon. This is a book I've been wanting to purchase and read for a while but the length put me off. I'm glad to be reading along with you all as it will be a good motivator for me. This will be my first time reading this book... The only other book I've read by Charlotte Bronte is Jane Eyre and I loved that. So I think it's time to branch out to some of her other works.

Happy Victober, everyone! I've started Shirley, and I'm really enjoying it. I posted this link in another thread, but now that the Shirley threads are open, I'll repost it in those. This is an article that will give us some background into the conflicts around industrialization at the time.
https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK...

Thanks April for sending that link, very useful :)

Rachel wrote: "Thanks April for sending that link, very useful :)"

Glad you enjoyed it. Since I'm American, I found it really helpful to get the historical background.

Yes thank you! This is my first time with Victober and my first time reading Shirley.

April wrote: "Happy Victober, everyone! I've started Shirley, and I'm really enjoying it. I posted this link in another thread, but now that the Shirley threads are open, I'll repost it in those. This is an arti..."

Thanks for sharing! This isn't a topic in British history that I know much about, so this should be interesting!

I didn't know anything about Shirley going in, and just assumed because it was a Bronte novel it would be about a governess haha, so this first chapter has me on my toes about where the plot is going!

Just started Shirley. This isn't my first attempt at reading it. I got about half way a couple of years ago but found it hard going so hoping reading as part of a read along will make it more enjoyable. I've enjoyed all the other Bronte novels so it will be rewarding to complete this.

Just finished the first chapter and I am already loving these characters and the setting is so beautifully conjoured by Charlottes fantastic writing! Yay Victober is finally here!

Ch. 1 - wonderful descriptions of the curates and the banter between them is great. I’m enjoying this,

I also enjoyed the descriptions of the curates. I found thier behaviour and attitudes very frustrating, so far I'm not liking them.

Hmm. Interesting characters and situations except for the anti-Irish and know-your-place-woman attitudes.

Did anyone else get some Lemony Snicket vibes from the second paragraph?

I read chapter 1 yesterday and I can tell I’m really going to enjoy it. Charlotte’s wit is already shining through.

I love the way she addresses the reader.

I also liked the way bronte personally took the reader into the story.

This is my 2nd Victober and Shirley is my last Bronte book to read. The 1st Chapter was very descriptive but have to say, I didn't really like the curates at all.

I’ve finished the second chapter. This is my first Charlotte Brontë book, and I look forward to reading it.

Happy Victober. This is my first and I just finished chapter one of Shirley. Im finding it slow going and waiting not so patiently for Shirley to make an appearance. On to chapter two.

Spinster wrote: "Happy Victober. This is my first and I just finished chapter one of Shirley. Im finding it slow going and waiting not so patiently for Shirley to make an appearance. On to chapter two."

The story does pick up in chapter two, but Shirley does not appear. I'm really enjoying the book.

Finished chapter two last night. I'm enjoying the book so far, I like Charlotte Brontes wit and humour and I love how she involves us (the reader) the reader by directly addressing us.

However I am already finding the sexism and racism a bit difficult to ignore. Having studied history though at uni, I know is a reflection of the time period so am trying to give the book some leeway.

On a separate note I'm happy to see we have readers from all over the world on this thread :) it's lovely to read with so many different but like-minded individuals. Hi everyone

I’ve just read chapters 3 and 4. I love the way the characters are described.

Hello everyone! It's my first time to join victober! I'm a Filipino reader from Singapore and it's also my first time reading Shirley. :) I just finished reading chapter 2 last night and will now read chapters 3 and 4. I found the first two chapters interesting and I'm totally excited to find out more as I go along the way and throughout the whole book.

I read ahead a little bit and got up to chapter 4 yesterday, and I have to say I’m really not liking this so far. I know it’s very early on and I’ll carry on reading but I’m just so bored. Nothing is grabbing my attention and as my first Charlotte Brontë I was hoping for a little bit more to really draw me in from the start. Hoping it gets better!

I've just finished chapters 3 and 4. Wow. I thought it was interesting how she personified the Church, Capitalism and Socialism(to a degree) and had them all in the same room. I've found myself comparing to the issues in society today. The unrest in Europe and trouble in America and the effects of globalization surprised me as I always considered this as a modern phenomenon. My favourite line so far 'Misery generates hate'.

It’s 7am in California and I just finished 3 & 4! Love her descriptive narrative of Mr Yorke, Mr. Moore and Mr Helstone.....

Gelli wrote: "Hello everyone! It's my first time to join victober! I'm a Filipino reader from Singapore and it's also my first time reading Shirley. :) I just finished reading chapter 2 last night and will now r..."

Welcome, Gelli! Victober is great fun. Enjoy!

Hi Everybody!

This is my second time reading Shirley but don't remember much about it so high time for a reread.

Interesting that four chapters in we're reading almost entirely about men and their concerns, but I wondered if Charlotte was winking at us when the curate Malone calls at Robert Moore's house and a young woman--in curl papers!--looks out a doorway for a minute. It's as if the author is telling us the ladies of the novel are preparing for their appearance as they might for any other social occasion but they're not quite ready yet.

Love the idea that the young woman in curl papers was a hint that the ladies are getting ready to appear.

I’ve read chapter 5. Here come the women! 😜
I am enjoying the book, actually more than I expected. I think I am enjoying this “episodic” reading.

Does anyone notices that some words are eaten out from the comments?

Just finished chap. 5 and really enjoying the book :-)

In this chapter Bronte includes both French speech and Joe Scott’s lower class speech, translating the French when appropriate and transcribing Scott’s way of speaking phonetically. In this way, English used by upper class English people is shown to be the norm. What does this say about how cultural differences are handled?

Not going to lie, if this wasn't the group read I probably would have DNF'd it after the first few chapters, but I'm so glad I stuck with it, because I really enjoyed today's chapter and am eager to see where Caroline's story goes!

I'm glad we got to meet Caroline today. I think the story will start to pick up now. Isn't it funny how Charlotte makes a point of saying that this is an English novel so she will write the French parts in English too, but then she does end up writing parts in French? It's inconsistent, but she must be making a point with that.

Finished chapter 5 and I am enjoying the unfolding story and layered characters and situations. I like the way Charlotte sharply contrasts her characters without making them caricatures. She keeps reminding the dear reader that humans consist of a variety of traits and conflicting motives/desires.

MacKenzie wrote: "Just finished the first chapter of Shirley and am really enjoying it! This is my second Charlotte Brontë book. My first was Jane Eyre ..."

Same here! Though I didn't read Jane Eyre until I was in my 30s, and I think this may also be my second book by any of the Brontë sisters. I am coming to realize that my Victorian literature background consists mainly of Sherlock Holmes and the occasional attempt at Dickens. (It took me about a decade to get through Great Expectations, and unless I can power through A Tale of Two Cities for this readathon, it's looking to take even longer.)

I have two chapters of Shirley down now and really enjoyed the first chapter. The second was a little dry by comparison, but I'm still engaged.

MacKenzie wrote: "The chapter today made me more excited to read the rest of the book! The first few chapters were interesting, but I did not necessarily want to read a full book on the issues covered in the first f..."

That`s exactly what I thought too. I'm glad the story is starting to pick up...

I’ve just read Chapter 6, and am definitely starting to get into the story. As others have also found, the first few chapters didn’t really interest me, but now the characters and story are both starting to develop. I look forward to reading on.

Im also reading Secret Sisterhood that has a few chapters on the friendshop between Charlotte Bronte and a school friend named Mary Taylor. Mary kind of told Charlotte off in a letter saying she liked her sisters novels better than she did Jane Eyre because Jane Eyre did not address political issues. Mary was the daughter of a miller and after reading Shirley Mary thought some of it was based on her family. That kind of helps me plow through the political writing because I can see what lead to it.

I really enjoyed chapter six and the domestic details. Sarah and Hortense interactions are really funny.

Lorri wrote: "Finished chapter 5 and I am enjoying the unfolding story and layered characters and situations. I like the way Charlotte sharply contrasts her characters without making them caricatures. She keeps ..."

In Chapter Five I especially liked the line "...every character in this book will be found to be more or less imperfect, my pen refusing to draw anything in the model line..."

Janet wrote: "Lorri wrote: "Finished chapter 5 and I am enjoying the unfolding story and layered characters and situations. I like the way Charlotte sharply contrasts her characters without making them caricatur..."

Exactly!

Chapter 7 made me laugh out loud several times. I read Jane Eyre a long time ago so I didn’t remember how funny CB is.

Hi everyone!

I read chapter 7 today. I’m so glad that this is a group read! The gender roles in this story are painful to read. I am trying to keep in mind that getting a female perspective from this time is amazing in of itself! The Bronte sisters are miraculous women.

Hello, everyone! I am from Iowa, U.S. This is my third Victober. I am enjoying Shirley now but the first few chapters before the women were introduced had me confused. I then went back to the introduction and read about Bronte’s frame of mind when she wrote this book, and it helped me. Now I am enjoying the inclusion of new characters and Charlotte’s direct conversing with the reader. Hortense’s fussiness is hilarious!

I'm really enjoying this so far, I've got very into it especially reading about Caroline and her interest in Robert Moore - I'm a sucker for love stories and romance really :) At the start of the book I was worried their wouldn't be much romance but I've finished chapter 7 and am reading chapter 8 along with the schedule today and am happy to find there is some. I am finding the sexism weird to read like I know others are too but still enjoying reading 'Shirley' more than I expected to. At first the language and style was difficult to get into but the more I read the easier it becomes I've found

I am willing for Caroline and Mr Moore to fall in love and marry!

Chapter V
She nodded her head, and her eyes lit up. Moore lingered yet two minutes. He bent over Caroline’s desk and glanced at her grammar, he fingered her pen, he lifted her bouquet and played with it; his horse stamped impatient; Fred Murgatroyd hemmed and coughed at the gate, as if he wondered what in the world his master was doing. “Good-morning,” again said Moore, and finally vanished.

I am very much enjoying my reread. I have to say I feel like I'm picking up so many things I didn't notice last time, and it's such an interesting novel.

Hi everyone, this is my first Brontë novel. I am liking the novel, I'm in the middle of chapter 5, the descriptions of the landscape are gorgeous - so stunning! - and I'm really enjoying the characters. I'm sometimes finding the writing a little difficult, I think it's due to the odd word I've never heard of or the lines in French (I have a dictionary on my phone open for both so I can understand what Charlotte Brontë intended to say) - but it is getting easier and I'm loving the quiet moments that Charlotte Brontë shows us to demonstrate someone's character. And the way she addresses the reader - I love it cause even though this is a 170/180 year old book and to still feel as though she is talking directly to you, it just feels so special!