Struggling with Villette by Charlotte Bronte – Anyone else find it overly contrived?

So i really love reading classics. I mostly read novels that deal with existential crises, deep psychology, and introspective characters. I’ve read and enjoyed a lot of russian books (tolstoy, dostoevsky, gogol etc) and also other eastern european books and also camus, kafka etc. but i have never really read victorian british novels apart from jane eyre which i read for school back in the day.

Recently i got this craving to read a victorian novel and i picked up Villette by Charlotte Bronte, and I’ve been struggling to get into it. Usually, I’m completely absorbed by what I read, but with this one, I have to drag myself to read. The plot feels dry, and honestly, kind of artificial? There are so many coincidences that just seem highly unlikely and just manipulated.

For example: Lucy goes to France and just so happens to meet a girl on the ship also headed to Villette. She then meets a stranger when she loses her trunk, who later turns out to be the son of her godmother. They conveniently discover this connection after she faints in the street. Then Polly, a character from earlier in the novel, randomly appears again later in the story. It all feels a bit too well-orchestrated, like the author is pulling strings to force everything to connect. Also, i am still halfway through it (chapter xxv: the little countess i am currently in) and does it get any better? should i give up reading this?

I get that it’s a product of its time and that Victorian novels often leaned into melodrama and coincidence, but a novel has never put me this deep into a reading lull before. this time i feel like i ventured into something i normally wouldn’t read.

can anyone relate to my experience? or is it just me? i know i should probably stop reading this and pick something else but just curious to know your opinion.

ps: i know lot of people love and adore victorian literature and my apologies if my rant is totally unreasonable and senseless.