"The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" by Anne Brontë

If you're like most of us, you're already familiar with Charlotte Brontë (Jane Eyre) and Emily Brontë (Wuthering Heights), but how about Anne Brontë? She also wrote novels (two of them), but she's less famous than her two sisters. Maybe you've never even heard of her and had to look her up in the Brontësaurus! (Sorry, couldn't resist.)

Here's how Wikipedia describes her novel The Tenant of Wildfell Hall:

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is the second and final novel written by the English author Anne Brontë. It was first published in 1848 under the pseudonym Acton Bell. Probably the most shocking of the Brontës' novels, it was an instant success, but after Anne's death, her sister Charlotte prevented its re-publication in England until 1854.

The novel is framed as letters from Gilbert Markham to a friend. In them he describes meeting a mysterious young widow, Helen Graham, who arrives with her young son and a servant to Wildfell Hall, an Elizabethan mansion which has been empty for many years. Contrary to early 19th-century norms, she pursues an artist's career and makes an income by selling her pictures. Her strict seclusion soon gives rise to gossip in the neighboring village, and she becomes a social outcast. Gilbert comes to understand that she has fled with her son from an abusive relationship... The novel is notable for its depiction of marital strife and women's professional work. It also expresses Anne Brontë's belief in universal salvation.

Most critics now consider The Tenant of Wildfell Hall to be one of the first feminist novels. In leaving her husband and taking their child, Helen violates not only social conventions but also early 19th-century English law.

[end quote from Wikipedia]

Jennifer and I look forward to discussing this book with you!