Which Brontë sister wrote 'Shirley'?

Charlotte Brontë wrote *Shirley*, an 1849 social novel set in Yorkshire during the industrial unrest of the early nineteenth century.

It was Charlotte’s second published novel after *Jane Eyre*, and it appeared under her pen name, Currer Bell. The story follows Shirley Keeldar and Caroline Helstone against a background of mill owners, workers, romance, and the Luddite disturbances.

The novel was shaped by personal tragedy: while Charlotte was writing it, her brother Branwell and sisters Emily and Anne all died. Charlotte later said that Shirley represented what she imagined Emily might have been if she had been born into a wealthy family, although that interpretation remains debated.

A common mix-up is to assign the book to Emily because Emily wrote *Wuthering Heights*, or to Anne because Anne wrote *Agnes Grey* and *The Tenant of Wildfell Hall*. Charlotte’s other major novels include *Villette* and *The Professor*.