Charlotte Brontë published three novels during her lifetime: Jane Eyre, Shirley, and Villette. Together, they established her as one of the major English novelists of the nineteenth century.
Jane Eyre appeared in 1847 under Charlotte’s pen name, Currer Bell. Its first-person narrative, emotional intensity, and determined heroine made it an immediate success. Shirley followed in 1849 and explored industrial conflict, class, gender, and the Luddite unrest in Yorkshire. Villette, published in 1853, drew partly on Charlotte’s experiences in Brussels and was her final novel published while she was alive.
The common source of confusion is The Professor. It was Charlotte’s first completed novel, but publishers rejected it during her lifetime. It was eventually published posthumously in 1857. Her unfinished manuscript Emma was also published after her death, so neither belongs in the count of novels published during her lifetime.