The Foundling: A Tale of our Own Times by Captain Tree

by Charlotte Brontë

Written when she was 17, The Foundling is a classic fairy tale set in the imagined kingdom of Verdopolis which will delight fans of Charlotte Brontë’s later work. Abandoned as a baby, Edward Sydney finds a “protector” in Mr. Hasleden, a rich local landowner who declares an interest in the child and claims him as his own. The boy grows up believing Hasleden to be his father, but after his death, Edward discovers evidence of his real name and the circumstances of his birth. Full of curiosity about his true origins, he sets off on a journey to the mythical kingdom of Verdopolis. There, after several adventures, Edward meets and falls in love with the noble Lady Julia, only to find that she is betrothed to another. Charlotte Brontë is best remembered for her perennially popular novel, Jane Eyre.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Fantasy, Classic Literature, Victorian, 19th Century, British Literature

120 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1830

About the author

Charlotte Brontë was an English novelist, the eldest out of the three famous Brontë sisters whose novels have become standards of English literature. See also Emily Brontë and Anne Brontë.

Charlotte Brontë was born in Thornton, Yorkshire, England, the third of six children, to Patrick Brontë (formerly "Patrick Brunty"), an Irish Anglican clergyman, and his wife, Maria Branwell. In April 1820 the family moved a few miles to Haworth, a remote town on the Yorkshire moors, where Patrick had been appointed Perpetual Curate. This is where the Brontë children would spend most of their lives. Maria Branwell Brontë died from what was thought to be cancer on 15 September 1821, leaving five daughters and a son to the care of her spinster sister Elizabeth Branwell, who moved to Yorkshire to help the family.

In August 1824 Charlotte, along with her sisters Emily, Maria, and Elizabeth, was sent to the Clergy Daughters' School at Cowan Bridge in Lancashire, a new school for the daughters of poor clergyman (which she would describe as Lowood School in Jane Eyre). The school was a horrific experience for the girls and conditions were appalling. They were regularly deprived of food, beaten by teachers and humiliated for the slightest error. The school was unheated and the pupils slept two to a bed for warmth. Seven pupils died in a typhus epidemic that swept the school and all four of the Brontë girls became very ill - Maria and Elizabeth dying of tuberculosis in 1825. Her experiences at the school deeply affected Brontë - her health never recovered and she immortalised the cruel and brutal treatment in her novel, Jane Eyre. Following the tragedy, their father withdrew his daughters from the school.

At home in Haworth Parsonage, Charlotte and the other surviving children — Branwell, Emily, and Anne — continued their ad-hoc education. In 1826 her father returned home with a box of toy soldiers for Branwell. They would prove the catalyst for the sisters' extraordinary creative development as they immediately set to creating lives and characters for the soldiers, inventing a world for them which the siblings called 'Angria'. The siblings became addicted to writing, creating stories, poetry and plays. Brontë later said that the reason for this burst of creativity was that:

'We were wholly dependent on ourselves and each other, on books and study, for the enjoyments and occupations of life. The highest stimulus, as well as the liveliest pleasure we had known from childhood upwards, lay in attempts at literary composition.'

After her father began to suffer from a lung disorder, Charlotte was again sent to school to complete her education at Roe Head school in Mirfield from 1831 to 1832, where she met her lifelong friends and correspondents, Ellen Nussey and Mary Taylor. During this period (1833), she wrote her novella The Green Dwarf under the name of Wellesley. The school was extremely small with only ten pupils meaning the top floor was completely unused and believed to be supposedly haunted by the ghost of a young lady dressed in silk. This story fascinated Brontë and inspired the figure of Mrs Rochester in Jane Eyre.

Brontë left the school after a few years, however she swiftly returned in 1835 to take up a position as a teacher, and used her wages to pay for Emily and Anne to be taught at the school. Teaching did not appeal to Brontë and in 1838 she left Roe Head to become a governess to the Sidgewick family -- partly from a sense of adventure and a desire to see the world, and partly from financial necessity.

Charlotte became pregnant soon after her wedding, but her health declined rapidly and, according to biographer Elizabeth Gaskell, she was attacked by "sensations of perpetual nausea and ever-recurring faintness." She died, with her unborn child, on 31 March 1855.

Reviews

[Jordan Bailey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to remember this was written by a 17 y/o Charlotte Bronte and a novella. It was slightly disjointed and probably deserves another read but at a young age Charlotte clearly knew how to write.

[Smiley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading “The Foundling: A Tale of our Own Times by Captain Tree” by Charlotte Bronte is, I think, arguably agreeable if its readers are familiar with her famous longer novels including Jane Eyre, Shirley and Villette. Having never read her works before, I fairly enjoyed reading this short novel with respect since it has been “Written when Charlotte Bronte was just seventeen. The Foundling is a classic fairy tale, rich in detail, and displaying her prodigious, lively imagination to the full.” (inner front cover)

[rhea · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book reminded me of reading a well written paper by a peer and because of that I wavered between a 2 and a 3. It was fun to read immediately after reading The Return of the Twelves, but it was still hard to get into at some points.

[naomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

well she certainly has a vivid imagination

[Ashley Blake · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novella is part of Charlotte Bronte's juvenilia. She wrote this book when she was 17 and it's part of several other novellas and short stories about the Bronte's fictional kingdom, Verdopolis. Charlotte, Emily, Anne, and their brother, Branwell, engaged in creating literature in their childhood--it was their succor as they were raised by a stoic aunt and busy father and lost their mother and two older siblings when they were younger. All they had were each other. I love this little work because it is a great fairy tale and shows the unsurpassed imagination of one of the world's greatest writers. Though it lacks the sophistication of her later works, as one would expect, it hints at the greatness that Charlotte would become and indeed, already was.

[Pige · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just finished this one the other day. It was a fairy tale set in England and Africa. The characters were British royalty and conqueror types. Classic good versus evil with the happy ending of the hero winning the hand of his true love in the end. Sorry to spoil the ending, but how else could it have gone? I was a bit disappointed in the lack of the 'fantastic' and day to day magical feel of a fairy tale. But, it was an enjoyable read on the train up to Edinburgh (now I need to find another book for the trip home). I especially enjoyed her gramatical structuring and word choice when describing the characters.

[Lorna]

A fascinating example of the Bronte juvenilia, this short novel was written by Charlotte while she was still in her teens. It's a fairy story, following the journey of young Edward Sydney - the foundling of the title - as he seeks his parentage in Africa; not the Africa of real life, but the Africa of the Brontes' shared imagination and fantasy. There's much of the childish in this book, not least in the names of many of the characters, but it's well crafted and very readable.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

The beginning was good and quite interesting, but in the last chapter it suddenly went crazy--magic and gods and fairies and genies and all sorts of weird stuff that didn't match the rest of the story. It was okay overall, but thank God she got better at wrapping up plot lines without magic spells and resurrection.

[Kate Zurcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was recommended to me by my sister because she wrote it when she was only 17. It is only about 100 pages, and is pretty good. It is kind of like a fairytale and true to that genre it has a happily ever after. I can't believe she wrote something like this at such a young age!

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this novel better than The Spell only because it was easier to follow. I enjoyed reading both early works. Neither one is a great work of literature, but I liked peeking into the childhood world of the imaginative Bronte siblings.

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

The big surprise I had from this book was that the Brontës, Anne, Charlotte, Emily and Bramwell all wrote fantasy novellas. They did this for their amusement and Charlotte penned this story when she was seventeen. An amazing writer even as a teenager.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice rainy day book.
Reading this made me feel like I was at a sleepover with a very creative story telling friend.

[Brittney · Rating 3 out of 5]

short and sweet. it was a nice quick read with tons of imagination. i can't believe she was so young when she wrote this.

[Sofi · Rating 4 out of 5]

It should be 3 stars actually but it's Charlotte Bronte, so you know, I'll read and celebrate everything she wrote even if it was a shopping list, sorry not sorry at all.
So first thing first, imagine waking up nowadays discovering you're a foundling after the death of your supposed father to then discover that you're the son of the Duke of York, like please let me get back to my previous life and pretend we don't have that info, LOL! That would be a shock honestly!
OK, seriously this was really caothic, I didn't understand some passages, but I know that Charlotte wrote this at 17 as a game with her brother and sisters so you know, at 17 I was still playing with Barbies and makeup so who am I to say that this is not an incredibly great job. Nonetheless Jane Austen wrote Northanger Abbey, not to mention her Juvenilia, at approximately the same age so... Yeah, I think this is not a masterpiece but, again, CHARLOTTE BRONTE, so whatever...
ALSO, let's face the fact that I HATE short stories, which is pretty lame from me considering I'm a scholar and I write and study about short stories, especially fantasy genre like this one, but you know, a girl gotta have struggles to feel validated and I decided to take that challenge so booh me.
ALSO 2: I think the mother of Edward and the setting of the story may have been the model for the character of Bertha in Jane Eyre, VERY INTERESTING, I will dig in to find out more!

NOW here's the plot for those of you who want to dig in:
The Foundling is one of a series of stories set in the fictional world of Verdopolis (or Glass Town). Sub-titled ‘A Tale of Our Own Times’, the story has magical elements but also touches on themes relevant to Victorian society, such as child cruelty, social class, orphans and inheritance. 

The story opens in England, where an abandoned baby by the name of Edward Sydney is found and brought up as the son of a Derbyshire gentleman, Mr Hasleden. On Hasleden’s death, Edward is astonished to learn that he was a foundling. Grieving, but full of ambition, he sets sail for the colony of Verdopolis.

SPOILER:

There he is befriended by Zamorna, Marquis of Douro, who not long afterwards is declared missing. Meanwhile, Edward is approached by a mysterious stranger, who promises to unveil the secret of his birth. The stranger takes him on a voyage to Philosopher’s Island, and reveals himself to be Zamorna’s father, the Duke of Wellington. On reaching the island they learn that Zamorna has been killed by his arch-enemy, the Duke of Northangerland. Brontë then uses the Genii (the god-like characters based on the four Brontë children) for the last time in her fiction, as they intervene to resurrect Zamorna. 
The Duke of Wellington reveals that Edward’s father is the late King of Angria, Frederick of Guelph. Wellington recounts the story of Edward’s birth and his kidnap by the fairy Maimoune, who whisked him away from Angria to protect him from the evil god Danasch. On Maimoune’s instructions they perform a ritual to protect Edward from the forces of Danasch forever. Edward arrives back in Verdopolis just in time to prevent Julia, the woman he loves, from being forced into marriage. The tale closes with Edward receiving his birth-right (inheritance) and marrying Julia. 

A C. BRONTE WITH AN HAPPY ENDING WHERE PEOPLE ARE NOT MUTILATED! HUUHUUU 🙏

[James Allen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The situation in which I found myself reading this short novella is one that I was not expecting, but I am glad it occurred nonetheless.

During the work of that day, and a plentiful discussion on that of the Brontë Parsonage Museum, I realised that if we were to travel to such a place, it would be of good manners to read the works of the Brontë sisters and so I made my way over the B section of our classics shelf (I work in a library) and took ownership of four, only to put 3 back later in the day and take this one, The Foundling, home with me.

After getting home, much earlier than I anticipated upon leaving this morning, mind you, I found the place empty and in a bid to avoid the internet due to fear of Doctor Who spoilers (for it was available to watch at 8 am on that day, but I wanted to wait until it aired) I took the The Foundling off my desk, opened it up and started reading.

What I found inside was quite an odd tale, seeped in a fantasy world that isn't witches and wizards, trolls and ogres, magic and spells, but Africa. An Africa very different to our own, but named as such. Now, this novella was written in 1833, I believe, and whilst my African—nor British—history isn't quite up to snuff, I would hazard a guess that a 17-year-old in 1833 wouldn't exactly know what Africa is like, at least to the extent of setting a story within it.

What this makes for is a story that feels so earnest, innocent, and naive in its depictions of life and love, whilst through the text, I can see or sense that Charlotte Brontë was very much thrust into adulthood long before her childhood was set to have ended. I don't know much about her or her family, but from what I've gathered over the day I read this—Charlotte being the eldest sister, for instance and her motherless youth, I feel I'm very much correct in that statement.

She's an interesting writer, I'll give her that much, though I don't know whether I'm going to take the plunge into Jane Eyre or any of her other works for the time being. I've got an Albert Campion novel I want to get back to.

[Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’d actually give this 4.5 so I’m rounding up-

Anyways, this book was actually not that bad. I mean considering a 17 year old wrote it (what?!) and for the majority of it it feels like a lower quality Jane Austen novel?!? Charlotte had some crazy writing skills.
The only bummer was the ending, which I still feel like she wrapped up nicely, I just felt it was a little rushed. I mean she tried to cram in the entire point of the book into the last chapter, but personally I think it ended up working really nicely.

In essence it’s the story of an orphan feeling a “calling” to go to a new land and begin his life there. Little does he know what he’s gonna find out about his life and this new land.

It was rather lovely and well thought out. Nothing compared to Jane Eyre but still a lot better than most of what we get nowadays.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written by Charlotte, presumably with the help of the other Brontes, this tale takes place within a larger fictional ecosystem centered around the fictional city of Verdopolis. The world feels well fleshed out, and integrates some light mysticism skillfully. Charlotte was 17 when she wrote this, and I'm now convinced we are getting dumber as a species. The writing is frequently stunning, even if the plot feels slightly loose at times. My biggest gripe is that I largely dislike our British imperalist 'hero' and his deeply misguided inner circle. Still highly recommended, particularly for Bronte fans.

[Donal Gallagher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this novella , almost like a gothic fairy-tale. Such a beautiful writer, i think 'The secret' is the only story from Charlotte Bronte that I wasn't mad about. Love all of her Later major works and am now indulging in her earlier juvenilia. I would also recommend 'The Spell', 'The Islanders, ' The green dwarf ' and everything from the outstanding 'Tales Of Angria'.

[Paulo Maua · Rating 3 out of 5]

Iniciar a leitura por um texto de Charlotte escrito aos 17 anos deixa duas impressões: a escritora inglesa realmente estava "ensaiando" passos maiores devido à inconstância do texto e excesso de personagens desnecessários e a ousadia do texto em tenra idade. O passo seguinte de ler uma Brontë fica adiado...

[Gabriela Villarinho · Rating 2 out of 5]

Não gostei, mas levando em consideração que ela era muito nova quando escreveu... dá para ler.

[Mauro Silva · Rating 2 out of 5]

fiquei meio sem enjeito pra ler esse aqui

[Olga · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interessante a história do órfão que vai em busca da sua ascendência e encontra uma ilha mágica, além de cair em disputas políticas desta ilha

[marcieroseday · Rating 3 out of 5]

so imaginative, a great insight into charlotte’s mind. though this was brilliant, the writing style wasn’t for me personally

[Rosa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rather sweet; but it's no Jane Eyre. A remarkable effort at the age of seventeen though, although the occasionally over-egged description reveal the naive enthusiasm. Fairly quick read, too.

[The_Full_Brontë · Rating 2 out of 5]

Haiku:

Eh, she was young then,
What more could I thus expect?
The plot, I forgot.

[Phil Syphe · Rating 3 out of 5]

It would be unfair to criticize this for content or style when considering that it was never meant to be shared with the reading world.

When Charlotte wrote this aged 17 she'd never have dreamed that anyone other than siblings Branwell, Emily, or Anne would lay eyes on it, never mind it being published for readers worldwide over 100 years after her death.

Therefore, taking this into account, the only fair negative comments are the likes of, "It's not to my taste." That said, I wouldn't have rated this 3 stars if it had left me totally bored or vexed. Every so often I came across a page or so that proved entertaining, but overall I found this unappealing.

I suspected this would be the case having read much of Charlotte's other juvenilia, but being a fan of the "adult" Brontë works I still felt the need to check out all and everything the famous three sisters have written. Unlike their more famous works, however, I wouldn't read any of their juvenilia twice.

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd recommend reading this only if you're a Charlotte Bronte fan and want to be a "completist" about reading all of her work, which is why I read it. It's melodramatic, full of cliches, and often overwritten -- just as any 17-year-old's writing would be. As long as you recognize that this is juvenalia, you'll get through it.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who knew? First off that the Bronte sisters juvenilia was so readily available, and secondly, that they would contain at least one fantasy? I feel like I did when I discovered the murder mysteries that Louisa May Alcott wrote; delightfully surprised. I now plan on reading all of the Bronte's teenage works.

[Manda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice read if you like books where the hero and heronie of the story fall in love but obstacles stop them from being happy together. This is Charlotte Bronte of course so expect a happy ending and frustration with the notes at the back which sometimes stop a person from reading, because that person has to look up what some of the words mean in the back of the book.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

Charlotte Bronte was only 17 when she wrote this, which excuses some of it. Read the character summaries/notes in the back before starting in on the book and you'll save yourself some headaches. It's a simple fairy tale - if you want to escape from logic for an afternoon, here's your chance.