Charlotte Brontë’s Shirley is an underrated book.  Maybe because it opens with a flutter instead of a bang, people never get past the early pages.  But what a read, if you carry on!  She’s all about the imperfections in us…which make us so perfect.  And, come to think of it, that’s like this novel itself: perfect in its imperfections.  (BTW – don’t you love Charlotte’s crooked smile in this 1850 portrait by George Richmond?)