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katykelly's review against another edition
4.0
I love Jane Eyre, a heroine and author ahead of her time, An unforgettable story. Contemporary female writers using Bronte's characters and famous line as a starting point? Hard to say no to.
As a collection, they work I suppose. I've never been a huge fan of short stories, they often end just as I'm starting to get a feel for the characters and plot, but some were excellent. Some authors I knew, some I didn't, so it was nice to experience the work of a range of writers all using the same starting point.
I wasn't sure I could see a connection to Jane Eyre with some of these stories, and don't think I quite understood the point of some (Luxury Hour).
Loved the 'Reader I Married Him' story, where you come to realise you know who the tale is about, 'The Orphan Exchange' and 'Grace Poole: Her Testimony' (reminded me of a recent behind-the-scenes of Jane Eyre).
I don't want to go into detail about each tale, it's a good mix of styles, genres, historical and modern settings, cultures, and happy/sad plots.
Some I would have liked to be full-length novels, and I love the idea of writing pieces based on famous novels. Maybe Austen next?
Review of an Edelweiss advance copy.
As a collection, they work I suppose. I've never been a huge fan of short stories, they often end just as I'm starting to get a feel for the characters and plot, but some were excellent. Some authors I knew, some I didn't, so it was nice to experience the work of a range of writers all using the same starting point.
I wasn't sure I could see a connection to Jane Eyre with some of these stories, and don't think I quite understood the point of some (Luxury Hour).
Loved the 'Reader I Married Him' story, where you come to realise you know who the tale is about, 'The Orphan Exchange' and 'Grace Poole: Her Testimony' (reminded me of a recent behind-the-scenes of Jane Eyre).
I don't want to go into detail about each tale, it's a good mix of styles, genres, historical and modern settings, cultures, and happy/sad plots.
Some I would have liked to be full-length novels, and I love the idea of writing pieces based on famous novels. Maybe Austen next?
Review of an Edelweiss advance copy.
zamakodknjiga's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
larafrances's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
lsparrow's review against another edition
4.0
I was expecting that this collection of stories would be more focused on Jane Eyre and that time period. I was surprised by the variety of cultural, time, location and relational differences in the stories. I was definitely not expecting queer stories.
irreverentreader's review against another edition
3.5
This book of short stories was a true rollercoaster. Had I been the editor, I certainly would have organized this book differently because it didn’t get started on a strong foot. I didn’t enjoy a single short story until I got to the fifth one. And from there, there were a lot more ups and downs.
Half of the time, I couldn’t recognize how the stories were inspired by Jane Eyre—often they felt like they had no connection. My Mother’s Wedding, Luxury Hour, It’s A Man’s Life Ladies, The Mash Up, and Double Men all fell into this category for me. On top of that, I did not find them to be interesting or well done in their own rights.
There were a couple stories that were just ridiculous. Dangerous Dog was one of them. It was completely unbelievable. The main character was dim-witted and self-righteous. I doubted the troublesome boys would have actually taken her serious. The Mirror was another—it was supposed to be a continuation of Jane Eyre, but made all sorts of references that weren’t historical at all: Jane and Mr. Rochester go to couple’s therapy, they talk about films, the words psychosexual and co-parenting are used. There is talk of childhood trauma, which literally was not believed in at the time. And on top of that, the characterization of Jane in it is insulting—her intelligence, stubbornness, and fight is completely taken from her. Transference was another very strange story. It just made me feel uncomfortable, both in topic and in character—of course a story about falling in love with your therapist was written by someone named Freud. Finally, the Orphan Exchange potentially could have been an interesting premise if it had been flushed out more and if it had borrowed less directly from Jane Eyre.
In all of the bad, there was some good to be found. My Top Five:
5-The Self-Seeding Sycamore - a realistic story about grief and mistaken first impressions and second chances. 4 Stars
4-Since I First Saw Your Face - a strong building of characterization and emotionality in a short period of time. Deep yearning and unrequited love. 4 Stars
3-To Hold - I wanted this to be made into a full length novel! There was so many twits and turns to explore—three unhappy marriages and a secret love that was forbidden in it’s time. The writing was gorgeous. 4 Stars
2-A Migrating Bird - The metaphors and writing were beautiful. About forbidden love and misunderstandings. A cruel ending that you could see coming but not so abruptly. I wanted a sequel! 5 Stars
1-Robinson Crusoe at the Waterpark - I felt like I knew the two main characters so well after reading this—rarely am I so completely satisfied by a short story. There was a healthy amount of snark and humor. I loved their contrasting parenting styles and the realness of their relationship. Excellent story to wrap up the book with. 5 Stars
Half of the time, I couldn’t recognize how the stories were inspired by Jane Eyre—often they felt like they had no connection. My Mother’s Wedding, Luxury Hour, It’s A Man’s Life Ladies, The Mash Up, and Double Men all fell into this category for me. On top of that, I did not find them to be interesting or well done in their own rights.
There were a couple stories that were just ridiculous. Dangerous Dog was one of them. It was completely unbelievable. The main character was dim-witted and self-righteous. I doubted the troublesome boys would have actually taken her serious. The Mirror was another—it was supposed to be a continuation of Jane Eyre, but made all sorts of references that weren’t historical at all: Jane and Mr. Rochester go to couple’s therapy, they talk about films, the words psychosexual and co-parenting are used. There is talk of childhood trauma, which literally was not believed in at the time. And on top of that, the characterization of Jane in it is insulting—her intelligence, stubbornness, and fight is completely taken from her. Transference was another very strange story. It just made me feel uncomfortable, both in topic and in character—of course a story about falling in love with your therapist was written by someone named Freud. Finally, the Orphan Exchange potentially could have been an interesting premise if it had been flushed out more and if it had borrowed less directly from Jane Eyre.
In all of the bad, there was some good to be found. My Top Five:
5-The Self-Seeding Sycamore - a realistic story about grief and mistaken first impressions and second chances. 4 Stars
4-Since I First Saw Your Face - a strong building of characterization and emotionality in a short period of time. Deep yearning and unrequited love. 4 Stars
3-To Hold - I wanted this to be made into a full length novel! There was so many twits and turns to explore—three unhappy marriages and a secret love that was forbidden in it’s time. The writing was gorgeous. 4 Stars
2-A Migrating Bird - The metaphors and writing were beautiful. About forbidden love and misunderstandings. A cruel ending that you could see coming but not so abruptly. I wanted a sequel! 5 Stars
1-Robinson Crusoe at the Waterpark - I felt like I knew the two main characters so well after reading this—rarely am I so completely satisfied by a short story. There was a healthy amount of snark and humor. I loved their contrasting parenting styles and the realness of their relationship. Excellent story to wrap up the book with. 5 Stars
kjmil's review against another edition
The premise was good, but I wasn’t a fan of the short stories.
eyreguide's review against another edition
3.0
Although the full title of this book is Reader, I Married Him: Stories Inspired by Jane Eyre, I often found the stories to be more inspired by the idea of marriage and love, than by those themes in Jane Eyre. It was surprising how many of the stories feature bleaker stories of romance when the original novel - despite it’s tragedy and pathos - features a happily ever after for Jane. And I feel that it is this aspect that most soured me on the majority of this book. I enjoyed the writing and the way each story built characters and setting, but ultimately so many stories disappointed me by it’s cynical and dour viewpoints.
The stories that stood out for me are all ones that had more of a positive or uplifting vibe - for instance “Dangerous Dog”, “The Orphan Exchange” (by Audrey Niffenegger) and The Self-Seeding Sycamore. Plenty of stories captured my attention however, and I loved how varied they were in capturing different cultures and viewpoints.
There were a handful of stories that did include references to Jane Eyre, and were meant to be extensions or revisions of the novel. I was most engaged by those stories, but there were some that felt like such a different take on the characters that I could hardly recognized Jane and/or Rochester in the story. It was a strange “homage” to the novel for me.
As a fictional contemporary read, I found this book to be very engaging. As entertainment for people who love Jane Eyre, I found this to be less inspired by Charlotte’s novel, and more just a reason to put all these stories about love and marriage together. My viewpoint is biased because I had certain expectations coming into reading this collection. I had envisioned that the stories would be more reminiscent of Jane. If you are interested in the stories though, I encourage you to pick up this book for yourself.
The stories that stood out for me are all ones that had more of a positive or uplifting vibe - for instance “Dangerous Dog”, “The Orphan Exchange” (by Audrey Niffenegger) and The Self-Seeding Sycamore. Plenty of stories captured my attention however, and I loved how varied they were in capturing different cultures and viewpoints.
There were a handful of stories that did include references to Jane Eyre, and were meant to be extensions or revisions of the novel. I was most engaged by those stories, but there were some that felt like such a different take on the characters that I could hardly recognized Jane and/or Rochester in the story. It was a strange “homage” to the novel for me.
As a fictional contemporary read, I found this book to be very engaging. As entertainment for people who love Jane Eyre, I found this to be less inspired by Charlotte’s novel, and more just a reason to put all these stories about love and marriage together. My viewpoint is biased because I had certain expectations coming into reading this collection. I had envisioned that the stories would be more reminiscent of Jane. If you are interested in the stories though, I encourage you to pick up this book for yourself.
missbryden's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting mix of writing styles, including, perhaps characteristic especially of short stories, which I'm not used to reading, more pithy, short and quick structures, though not always clear to me what they were expressing. They vary in their connection to the Jane Eyre inspiration, but the opening does declare that variation. Some I didn't care for, some were just ok as far as how much I found them interesting or liked them.
A few took the characters from Jane Eyre and gave different views on her story, "Grace Poole Her Testimony" and Mr. Rochester's in "Reader, She Married Me", while I appreciate the creativity of giving their sides, the stories that resulted felt disloyal to the original; and "The Mirror" is another view from Jane herself, but it was different and just odd and unclear to me.
A couple were interesting forays into historical characters covering the marriage subject: "Since First I Saw Your Face" (whose historical figures I hadn't heard of) and "Reader, I Married Him" (I appreciated a notorious figure being able to tell her side of the story).
I enjoyed the more ethnically diverse stories, as departures from what's more familiar to me, even if I didn't care for parts of what happens in the stories: "A Migrating Bird", "The China from Buenos Aires", "Party Girl", "The Mash-Up", and "Double Men".
"Dorset Gap" by collection editor, Chevalier, was the probably the one I most enjoyed, for identifying with the featured girl (who the protagonist boy is following) and how it features Jane Eyre from a reader's perspective.
I also enjoyed "The Self-Seeding Sycamore" for it's dealing with grief and domestic "attacking" of one's garden and dealing with neighbor.
A few took the characters from Jane Eyre and gave different views on her story, "Grace Poole Her Testimony" and Mr. Rochester's in "Reader, She Married Me", while I appreciate the creativity of giving their sides, the stories that resulted felt disloyal to the original; and "The Mirror" is another view from Jane herself, but it was different and just odd and unclear to me.
A couple were interesting forays into historical characters covering the marriage subject: "Since First I Saw Your Face" (whose historical figures I hadn't heard of) and "Reader, I Married Him" (I appreciated a notorious figure being able to tell her side of the story).
I enjoyed the more ethnically diverse stories, as departures from what's more familiar to me, even if I didn't care for parts of what happens in the stories: "A Migrating Bird", "The China from Buenos Aires", "Party Girl", "The Mash-Up", and "Double Men".
"Dorset Gap" by collection editor, Chevalier, was the probably the one I most enjoyed, for identifying with the featured girl (who the protagonist boy is following) and how it features Jane Eyre from a reader's perspective.
I also enjoyed "The Self-Seeding Sycamore" for it's dealing with grief and domestic "attacking" of one's garden and dealing with neighbor.
ridgewaygirl's review against another edition
5.0
With Reader I Married Him, Tracy Chevalier has compiled an excellent selection of short stories, all based on Jane Eyre's final line. The authors represented include Audrey Niffenegger, Francine Prose, Emma Donoghue, Lionel Shriver and Susan Hill, resulting in an anthology that is varied and imaginative. Some of the stories take place in the same time, or share a character with the famous novel, while others are looser interpretations. The variety keeps each story feeling fresh and surprising.
Usually, in a collection of short stories and especially a collection of short stories commissioned around a common theme, there are a few excellent stories, a few that aren't bad and a slew of quickly and carelessly written stories that are not worth the time it takes to read them. This collection avoids that beautifully, having only one story I didn't find to be at least very good, and several that I loved. The variety of authors (and these authors are very different from each other) leads to a refreshing lack of sameness.
This is a book I will be happy to read again in a few years.
Usually, in a collection of short stories and especially a collection of short stories commissioned around a common theme, there are a few excellent stories, a few that aren't bad and a slew of quickly and carelessly written stories that are not worth the time it takes to read them. This collection avoids that beautifully, having only one story I didn't find to be at least very good, and several that I loved. The variety of authors (and these authors are very different from each other) leads to a refreshing lack of sameness.
This is a book I will be happy to read again in a few years.
kdurham2's review against another edition
3.0
Check out the full review at Kritters Ramblings
A collection of short stories with the prompt - Reader, I Married Him. Each author took that line and went with it! I loved the set up in the beginning with the forward by Tracy Chevalier, she describes what these authors were given and kind of a small glimpse of what the authors did with that prompt, I appreciated that little spoiler.
Many of these authors this was my first time reading them and this is one of my favorite parts of reading short story collections. I have a list of authors that I now want to seek out their full works after reading just a small bit of what they can do. In this collection there was only one or two stories that I didn't enjoy and could have skipped over, but this was probably the highest percentage of liking stories out of a collection.
A collection of short stories with the prompt - Reader, I Married Him. Each author took that line and went with it! I loved the set up in the beginning with the forward by Tracy Chevalier, she describes what these authors were given and kind of a small glimpse of what the authors did with that prompt, I appreciated that little spoiler.
Many of these authors this was my first time reading them and this is one of my favorite parts of reading short story collections. I have a list of authors that I now want to seek out their full works after reading just a small bit of what they can do. In this collection there was only one or two stories that I didn't enjoy and could have skipped over, but this was probably the highest percentage of liking stories out of a collection.