Miss Miles

The close friendship between Charlotte Brontë and Mary Taylor began in boarding school and lasted for the rest of their lives. It was Mary Taylor, in fact, who inspired Brontë to leave her oppressive parsonage home and go to Brussels, the eventual setting for her novel, Villette. Mary herself led a much less restricted life, especially in her later years as a feminist essayist who strongly urged women to consider their "first duty" to be working to support themselves. In Miss Miles, her only novel, Taylor breaks with tradition by creating a profoundly feminist and morally intense work which depicts women's friendships as sustaining life and sanity through all of the vicissitudes of Victorian womanhood. She also introduces an innovative narrative form which Janet Murray (who has written an introduction for this edition) calls a "feminist bildungsroman": the story of the education of several heroines which emphasizes their friendship and economic and mental well-being rather than their love lives. Set in the small Yorkshire village of Repton against the backdrop of starvation in the wool districts and the rise of Chartism in the 1830s, this recovered feminist classic chronicles the lives of four disparate and individually ambitious women as they learn to find their own voices and support one another. The novel's emphasis on the healing power of women's friendships echoes the relationship between Brontë and Taylor herself. Originally published in 1890, Miss Miles has been unavailable for decades. Its reappearance will delight all lovers of fine literature.

Containing full pedigree of all the imported thorough-bred stallions and mares, with their produce.

“Charlotte Brontë and Her Circle” is a 1896 treatise on the Brontë sisters by Clement King Shorter. Dealing with every aspect of their lives, loves, losses, and literary endeavours, it offers the reader a unique and profound insight into this famous literary family. This volume is not to be missed by those with an interest in English literature and the Brontë sisters in particular. Contents include: “A Brontë Chronology”, “Preliminary: Mrs. Gaskell”, “Patrick Brontë And Maria His Wife”, “Childhood, School And Governess Life”, “The Pensionnat Héger, Brussels”, “Patrick Branwell Brontë”, “Emily Jane Brontë”, “Anne Brontë”, “Ellen Nussey”, “Mary Taylor”, “Margaret Woole”, etc. Clement King Shorter (1857 – 1926) was a British literary critic and journalist. Other notable works by this author include: “Immortal Memories” (1907), “The Brontës: Life and Letters” (1908), and “George Borrow and his Circle” (1913). Many vintage books such as this are increasingly scarce and expensive. It is with this in mind that we are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition for the enjoyment of readers now and for years to come.