Now considered by many to be Charlotte Bronte's best novel, though unlikely to eclipse Jane Eyre in fame and popularity, Villette is largely concerned with the experiences of Lucy Snowe in a girl's boarding school in a fictionalized Belgium. Lucy flees unhappiness in England only to find more abroad. Her love for Dr John unrequited, she slowly realizes that a deeper attachment is growing between her and her irascible domineering mentor and colleague, M. Paul Emanuel.