Jane Eyre, the story of a young girl and her passage into adulthood, was an immediate commercial success at the time of its original publication in 1847. Its representation of the underside of domestic life and the hypocrisy behind religious enthusiasm drew both praise and bitter criticism, while Charlotte Brontë's striking exposé of poor living conditions for children in charity schools as well as her poignant portrayal of the limitations faced by women who worked as governesses sparked great controversy and social debate. Jane Eyre, Brontë's best-known novel, remains an extraordinary coming-of-age narrative and one of the great classics of literature.

The second edition has been updated throughout to reflect recent scholarship and includes new appendices on violence against women in Victorian fiction and madness and disability in the Victorian era.

Richard Nemesvari is Professor in the Department of English and Film Studies and former Dean of Arts at Wilfrid Laurier University. He is General Editor of the Cambridge University Press edition of the novels and stories of Thomas Hardy and has published widely on Victorian fiction. He also co-edited Mary Elizabeth Braddon's Aurora Floyd for this series.