Like several of the novels by Dostoevsky I have read, this book begins with great promise and ends with a bit of a whimper. That said it is still an excellent novel, incorporating another complex student/teacher relationship - an autobiographical element which links all Charlotte's novels, and seems to have dominated her life. 
 Charlotte's great friend and biographer Elizabeth Gaskell seems to have used many of the themes and characters from 'Shirely' to produce her own great work 'North and South', which excells its predecessor in every element except the minute precision of emotional description which only Charlotte could achieve. Sadly, unlike in 'North and South', the interesting political themes set up at the beginning fall from focus, and the plot rambles towards a sudden and unsatisfying conclusion, with proposals and marriages rushed into a short final chapter. One thing Charlotte adds here which Gaskell does not discuss much, however, is the role of women in society, including their political and legal status, as well as their rights to seek employment and personal fulfillment independent of male guardians. 
 Overall a flawed novel, which nevertheless deserves to be better regarded than it currently is. 
 JM 4/1/17