Before You Begin

Before you begin.

In The Professor, William Crimsworth leaves commercial work behind and travels to Brussels to make a living as a teacher. At its schools and boarding houses, new colleagues and pupils bring him into unfamiliar social worlds, where ambition, trust, and affection are never simple matters.

Charlotte Brontë's first novel follows a narrator determined to earn his independence and judge his own course. Its attention rests on daily work, private thought, class, education, and the different ways people try to understand one another.

This illustrated edition gathers the novel's characters, settings, and defining scenes alongside a short recap at the end of each chapter. The full-page artwork and recaps are companions to the text; the story itself remains in William's own words.

Turn the page to meet the people and places of The Professor, then begin William's account.