This book explores many forms of desire, including homoerotic and heterosexual desire, in Charlotte Brontë's works. It focuses on the importance of Brontë's heroines' relationships with substitute mothers and the significance of the emotional bond that these women maintain while engaging in heterosexual relationships. Charlotte Brontë and Female Desire also offers theoretical views of mothers, mothering, and female homoerotic desire through an examination of the works of Sigmund Freud, Melanie Klein, and Nancy Chodorow.