Date of publication: 1849
Shirley was Brontë's second published novel after Jane Eyre (originally published under Brontë's pseudonym Currer Bell). The novel is set in Yorkshire in the period 1811–1812, during the industrial depression resulting from the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812. The novel is set against a backdrop of the Luddite uprisings in the Yorkshire textile industry.
Plot
Shirley begins as Belgian-born mill operator Robert Moore awaits a shipment of machinery – which arrives in pieces, smashed by angry Luddite workers protesting against the loss of jobs to mechanisation.
Although he is determined to become successful in order to restore his family's honor and fortune, Robert's business difficulties continue, due to the Napoleonic Wars and the accompanying Orders in Council, which ban British merchants from trading in American markets.
(From Wikipedia, description text under GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL))
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