This month, our Brontë Book Club discusses "Villette" by Charlotte Brontë, in conversation with author Helen MacEwan.

The Brontë Book Club is back to celebrate its fourth meeting here at Hatchards! This year, we have met monthly to discuss each of the Brontë sisters' novels in turn.

The meetings take place at our Piccadilly shop, and are hosted by Hatchards booksellers. This month, we also have the pleasure of welcoming author Helen MacEwan, author of The Brontës in Brussels, to join in the discussions!

This month's book is: Villette

With neither friends nor family, Lucy Snowe sets sail from England to find employment in a girls' boarding school in the small town of Villette. There she struggles to retain her self-possession in the face of unruly pupils, an initially suspicious headmaster and her own complex feelings, first for the school's English doctor and then for the dictatorial professor Paul Emmanuel.

Drawing on her own deeply unhappy experiences as a governess in Brussels, Charlotte Bronte's last and most autobiographical novel is a powerfully moving study of isolation and the pain of unrequited love, narrated by a heroine determined to preserve an independent spirit in the face of adverse circumstances.

Do join us for what promises to be an evening of scintillating discussion!

Your ticket includes a glass of wine or soft drink and £3 off the price of next month's book.

Helen MacEwan is a translator and educator who lives in Brussels. The founder of the Brussels Brontë Group, she organises talks and guided literary tours focusing on Charlotte and Emily Brontë’s time in the city. She is also the author of Through Belgian Eyes: Charlotte Brontë’s Troubled Brussels Legacy and Winifred Gérin: Biographer of the Brontës.

Description supplied by the event organiser.