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Charlotte Brontë's 1847 novel 'Jane Eyre' was an instant hit—and many of its themes were taken from the author's real life.

Joy Lanzendorfer


el cajon yacht club, Flickr // CC BY 2.0

The coming-of-age tale about racial injustice in the South was a phenomenal success from the start, and has only become more popular with time.

Joy Lanzendorfer


Colored photograph of Violet Jessop, survivor of the Titanic.

If you survived multiple shipwrecks, including the 'Titanic,' you might start wondering if you were the angel of death—or Violet Constance Jessop.

Stacy Conradt