Reader, I confess: I’ve never read Jane Eyre. I had a profoundly bad experience with another Brontë sister in high school that has biased me against the other Brontës. Fair? Nope, but sometimes reading isn’t fair when there are lots of other choices out there.
However, I did recently read Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye about a orphan-turned-governess (with some life experience in between) who keeps coming across the opportunity to murder folks. She picks up a copy of Jane Eyre and is compelled to confess her life story and misdeeds. She’s not arbitrarily murdery, but–shucks–it just keeps happening.
So let’s do this WWR thing–
Title: Jane Steele
Author: Lyndsay Faye
Genre: Historical Fiction (takes place in Victorian England)
Available at the Orange County Campus (PS 3606 .A96 J36 2016)
Read Great Things 2021 Categories: A book that takes place outside the continental United States; A book about family; Choose your own category–A book inspired by another book; A book recommended by Durham Tech Library staff (our favorite category)
Why did you choose to read this book?
I’ve actually picked this book up (and checked it out) several times since we added it to the collection in 2016. The first few chapters never grabbed me, but I’ve been enjoying female-driven historical fiction and murder mysteries lately, so I figured I’d give it a try and it worked– once I got my footing in the story after the first few chapters, I was hooked and finished it in a few days.
Was there anything noteworthy about the book?
Jane is a really compelling character who believes strongly in doing the “wrong” thing for the right reason. I also enjoyed the social critiques of England’s colonial practices in India through the family she later becomes a governess for. I liked it enough that I immediately started thinking about who I wanted to recommend it to, which leads to…
Who would you recommend the book to?
Stylistically, the book imitates some “classic” Victorian literature in terms of description but doesn’t go all-out Dickens or Brontë, so I’d recommend it to someone who doesn’t mind a little fancy writing. I would also recommend it to folks who do like classic literature but want a strong female character who takes control of her surroundings, balking the time period. I’d also recommend it to folks who like books focused around character development and self-discovery and those who like a little bit of a puzzle (thought I found the character-development to be a stronger pull for me).
Oh, and if you’re like me and enjoying some murder books and some historical fiction, this might work for you, too.
For more books inspired by Jane Eyre, check out the following:
Want to check one of these books out? You can either request it yourself through the catalog or contact us and we can get it for you and schedule a time for you to come get it.
The easiest way to read or listen to Dogwood Digital Library books is add it to your Libby app. Sign in using your Durham Tech username and password, like you’d use to login to Sakai or the beginning of your email address. We’ve got some great options there, so check it out.
