Villette: Charlotte Brontë’s Enchanting Weaving of Words

Send us Fan MailGood evening As I read this chapter this evening in the quietness of my accommodation by the sea, I felt that dark, unvisited corners within my heart were being quietly crept into and opened up a crack. With her words sparingly used, Charlotte Brontë yet manages to prise open these closed, private, tender parts within us, tears surprising us as they prick our blinking eyes.  A trick has been played, it feels.  As when with just a few notes Mozart can do something that feels very similar.  These feelings are such an important part of living a rich life and it’s why I’m convinced that literature, music and all of the arts are so important for an enriched life and a mind satisfied by a vast Naniaesque hinterland.  And we have all the books, art and music we could want.  Let’s feast on the unlimited banquet of all things bright and beautiful.Thank you for your kindness and support, Love Gretel Support the showGretel le Maître likes to look for the beauty and curiosities in life, one day at a time.  She shares with you snippets from books about history, art and literature and regularly takes you on adventures to new locations, to explore churches, cathedrals and architecture.  We’ve reached 66,000 downloads.  Thank you!! Historian Tom Holland is the Honorary Patron of this podcast.  Thank you Tom🙏 Gretel invites you to accompany her as she navigates the world a day at a time;  the podcast is unscripted, it’s ad-free.Gretel loves the world and history, architecture, literature and people. And so is determined to walk this path with light footsteps and with humour and warmth.  Let’s gather up the beautiful things and ponder them in our hearts.Top 10 in Global Rankings according to Listen Notes.  I would be so grateful if you would spare the time to give me a kind review and possibly 5 stars (for effort as I realise it’s not deserved for achievement)🥴Previous guests include  historian Tom Holland; Sir Richard Eyre; Actors Guy Henry and Enzo Cilenti; Art historian Philip Mould; Writer David Willem; Composer Matthew Coleridge; Vicar Angela Tilby; Aerial photographer Hedley Thorne; Author Bijan Omrani; Journalist and Historian Sir Simon Jenkins; Dorset garden hedgehog family, the Venerable Bede and other guests.  Future guests (all being well) are Tom Holland again, John Simpson, Kevin Stroud, Philippa Langley again, David Crowther, ...