The BrontëS in Brussels

In 1842, five years before they would become bestselling authors, Charlotte Brontë and her sister Emily arrived in Brussels. They were there to improve their French and German, but the years they spent in a pensionnat being taught by the charismatic Constantin Heger would do much more than polish their languages. It was a crucial turning point for both their writing and their personal lives. Each came away from Brussels a more mature and capable artist; Charlotte, having fallen lastingly in love with Heger, left with a broken heart and the inspiration for two novels, ‘The Professor’ and ‘Villette’. Based on the Brontë’s letters, diaries and essays, as well as research into the Brussels of the time, this is a fascinating look at a formative period in the lives of two great writers.