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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
Jane Steele is written directly to the reader. It is a story told by Jane Steele for the readers. This is the story that is told of how Jane Steele perceived her life. It is not an easy story. Her life was not easy. There is the loss of loved ones, murder, being homeless, and so much more. The story moved at a good pace with never a boring minute.
There are many recollections of Jane Eyre. I have never read Jane Eyre and was concerned that I would miss some of this story. I did not! I followed the story easily. Some have said that it would be helpful to read Jane Eyre first, but I am fine with not having read it first.
You may wonder why I choose to read Jane Steele if I was not a fan of Jane Eyre. I have to say it is the cover. It is unique and beautiful. It drew me into the story before I even opened the book. They say not to judge a book by its cover but in this case it had to be the reason for me starting the book.
There are many recollections of Jane Eyre. I have never read Jane Eyre and was concerned that I would miss some of this story. I did not! I followed the story easily. Some have said that it would be helpful to read Jane Eyre first, but I am fine with not having read it first.
You may wonder why I choose to read Jane Steele if I was not a fan of Jane Eyre. I have to say it is the cover. It is unique and beautiful. It drew me into the story before I even opened the book. They say not to judge a book by its cover but in this case it had to be the reason for me starting the book.
In Jane Steele, Lyndsay Faye reimagines the classic novel Jane Eyre. But, even readers unfamiliar with Brontë's work will enjoy Jane Steele, because the work amazes and astonishes (sorry, had to slip a Hamilton reference in there) of its own accord.
Jane SteeleJane Steele is the daughter of a widowed French dancer, Anne-Laure Steele. The mother and daughter live in a cottage on the estate of Highgate House, in which her aunt (also a widow) Patience Barbary and cousin Edwin live. Readers witness formative moments in Jane's life as she loses her mother and then chooses to allow her aunt to send her to the dark and foreboding Lowan Bridge School. Ultimately, she moves on to secure a position as a governess in the very house in which her aunt and cousin used to reside. Along the way, Jane happens to help a few less-than-kind gentlemen along to their ends (this is not a spoiler, the jacket copy says as much).
This is no accident—when she was younger, Jane’s mother constantly told her that Highgate House was hers—but almost everything that happens when Jane is a governess at Highgate House is. While she seeks the position of governess in order to bide her time as she determines the validity of her claim to the estate, she discovers a web of intrigue surrounding the new masters of Highgate House, Charles Thornfield and Sardar Singh. As her early precocity never left her, she must of course work that web to its core to discover all the truths at the center of the secrets.
I fell in love with Jane Steele during the novel. My emotions when reading went from pity, to outrage (on her behalf), to pride, to love, and then finally to, admittedly, a slight jealousy. She is such an accomplished woman and character in her own right, and her deductive and planning abilities rival that of Sherlock, I would wager. She knows exactly who she is from an early age. One of my favorite moments of her self-recognition was when she discusses her behavior after being thrown from a horse and injured: “…when I had not been pathetic the night previous, I had been glib, and when I had not been glib, I had been obstreperous, a truly heady concoction of undesirable traits.” Still, despite her admitted recalcitrance, she learns so many things about herself, including that she possesses the capacity to forgive herself and love others, despite knowing herself to be “the victim of blighted hopes and blind circumstances.”
Still, all hopes and circumstances considered, I would love for someone, someday, to call me a “contrary sprite” the way Charles Thornfield does Jane.
I not only enjoyed the development of Jane's character, but Faye’s writing is sharp, witty, and beautiful. I tweeted some of her more moving phrases and sentences as I was reading, but here are some of my favorites:
“Until something has been taken from you, it is difficult to gauge what sort of holes will be left by its absence.”
“Some tragedies bind us, as lies do; they are ropes braided of hurt and bitterness, and you cannot ever fully understand how pinioned you are until the ties are loosened.”
“One is not always directly regarding the full moon, Jane—but should it disappear, the oceans would rot.”
Fans of Deanna Raybourn's Victorian mysteries, and Faye's earlier novels will love this new offering from the author.
Jacket Copy:
A sensitive orphan, Jane Steele suffers first at the hands of her spiteful aunt and predatory cousin, then at a grim school where she fights for her very life until escaping to London, leaving the corpses of her tormentors behind her. After years of hiding from the law while penning macabre “last confessions” of the recently hanged, Jane thrills at discovering an advertisement. Her aunt has died and her childhood home has a new master: Mr. Charles Thornfield, who seeks a governess.
Burning to know whether she is in fact the rightful heir, Jane takes the position incognito, and learns that Highgate House is full of marvelously strange new residents—the fascinating but caustic Mr. Thornfield, an army doctor returned from the Sikh Wars, and the gracious Sikh butler Mr. Sardar Singh, whose history with Mr. Thornfield appears far deeper and darker than they pretend. As Jane catches ominous glimpses of the pair’s violent history and falls in love with the gruffly tragic Mr. Thornfield, she faces a terrible dilemma: can she possess him—body, soul, and secrets—without revealing her own murderous past?
A satirical romance about identity, guilt, goodness, and the nature of lies, by a writer who Matthew Pearl calls “superstar-caliber” and whose previous works Gillian Flynn declared “spectacular,” Jane Steele is a brilliant and deeply absorbing book inspired by Charlotte Brontë’s classic Jane Eyre.
Jane SteeleJane Steele is the daughter of a widowed French dancer, Anne-Laure Steele. The mother and daughter live in a cottage on the estate of Highgate House, in which her aunt (also a widow) Patience Barbary and cousin Edwin live. Readers witness formative moments in Jane's life as she loses her mother and then chooses to allow her aunt to send her to the dark and foreboding Lowan Bridge School. Ultimately, she moves on to secure a position as a governess in the very house in which her aunt and cousin used to reside. Along the way, Jane happens to help a few less-than-kind gentlemen along to their ends (this is not a spoiler, the jacket copy says as much).
This is no accident—when she was younger, Jane’s mother constantly told her that Highgate House was hers—but almost everything that happens when Jane is a governess at Highgate House is. While she seeks the position of governess in order to bide her time as she determines the validity of her claim to the estate, she discovers a web of intrigue surrounding the new masters of Highgate House, Charles Thornfield and Sardar Singh. As her early precocity never left her, she must of course work that web to its core to discover all the truths at the center of the secrets.
I fell in love with Jane Steele during the novel. My emotions when reading went from pity, to outrage (on her behalf), to pride, to love, and then finally to, admittedly, a slight jealousy. She is such an accomplished woman and character in her own right, and her deductive and planning abilities rival that of Sherlock, I would wager. She knows exactly who she is from an early age. One of my favorite moments of her self-recognition was when she discusses her behavior after being thrown from a horse and injured: “…when I had not been pathetic the night previous, I had been glib, and when I had not been glib, I had been obstreperous, a truly heady concoction of undesirable traits.” Still, despite her admitted recalcitrance, she learns so many things about herself, including that she possesses the capacity to forgive herself and love others, despite knowing herself to be “the victim of blighted hopes and blind circumstances.”
Still, all hopes and circumstances considered, I would love for someone, someday, to call me a “contrary sprite” the way Charles Thornfield does Jane.
I not only enjoyed the development of Jane's character, but Faye’s writing is sharp, witty, and beautiful. I tweeted some of her more moving phrases and sentences as I was reading, but here are some of my favorites:
“Until something has been taken from you, it is difficult to gauge what sort of holes will be left by its absence.”
“Some tragedies bind us, as lies do; they are ropes braided of hurt and bitterness, and you cannot ever fully understand how pinioned you are until the ties are loosened.”
“One is not always directly regarding the full moon, Jane—but should it disappear, the oceans would rot.”
Fans of Deanna Raybourn's Victorian mysteries, and Faye's earlier novels will love this new offering from the author.
Jacket Copy:
A sensitive orphan, Jane Steele suffers first at the hands of her spiteful aunt and predatory cousin, then at a grim school where she fights for her very life until escaping to London, leaving the corpses of her tormentors behind her. After years of hiding from the law while penning macabre “last confessions” of the recently hanged, Jane thrills at discovering an advertisement. Her aunt has died and her childhood home has a new master: Mr. Charles Thornfield, who seeks a governess.
Burning to know whether she is in fact the rightful heir, Jane takes the position incognito, and learns that Highgate House is full of marvelously strange new residents—the fascinating but caustic Mr. Thornfield, an army doctor returned from the Sikh Wars, and the gracious Sikh butler Mr. Sardar Singh, whose history with Mr. Thornfield appears far deeper and darker than they pretend. As Jane catches ominous glimpses of the pair’s violent history and falls in love with the gruffly tragic Mr. Thornfield, she faces a terrible dilemma: can she possess him—body, soul, and secrets—without revealing her own murderous past?
A satirical romance about identity, guilt, goodness, and the nature of lies, by a writer who Matthew Pearl calls “superstar-caliber” and whose previous works Gillian Flynn declared “spectacular,” Jane Steele is a brilliant and deeply absorbing book inspired by Charlotte Brontë’s classic Jane Eyre.
Really enjoyed reading this but it wasn't nearly as creepy or thriller-ish as I was hoping. Overall, enjoyed the mix of old-fashioned writing with modern storytelling techniques.
This book makes me want to read Jane Eyre (I KNOW). This was really fun and filled with good information about the East India Trading company and the complicity of the Sikh community in India during the 19th century. It is a cracking story and really enjoyable.
As darkly gothic as Jane Eyre, but more murder-y.
Jane Eyre is one of my favourite books: after reading it first at school aged 16, I then re-read in 2014. This time round, without the need to analyse every little detail, I absolutely fell in love with it. Ever since then, I’ve been looking out for any Jane Eyre inspired books or retellings, which is why I was so eager to accept a copy of Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye.
Jane Steele is not strictly a retelling of Jane Eyre – Jane Eyre is in fact one of the favourite books of the protagonist, and she often references it. Her story mirrors that of Jane Eyre’s, with some differences, and there are many small references to parts of the book. However, the main difference between this Jane and the original? Jane Steele is a killer. It might seem like a rather outlandish and ridiculous idea, but actually it works so well. Jane Eyre is already a Gothic novel – the huge house, a mysterious employer, strange noises at night and of course the goings on in the attic… Lyndsey Faye takes all of this and adds even more.
This Jane is not the one we know – she is not meek, but cool and cunning. And despite being a killer, she is a likeable character. The book describes her as a ‘serial killer’, but I wouldn’t go as far as that. She kills when she has to – for self-defence, or to protect others, rather than just picking targets at random. But despite knowing from the very beginning that Jane is a murderer, when the murders happen they are still shocking and brutal. Jane Steele is practically the opposite of Jane Eyre in every way – she is confident, sexual, more experience with life, not to mention has slight murderous tendencies… yet despite this, I could easily tie the events of this book back to the original.
There are other differences too. Instead of a ward from France, Mr. Thornfield (Rochester) has a ward from India. Mr. Thornfield is also a lot more open and talkative than Mr. Rochester, but still very mysterious. Lyndsey Faye also reverses some events from the book, e.g. Charles Thornfield spooking Jane’s horse as she is riding down the lane, as opposed to the other way round, which was how Jane Eyre met Mr. Rochester for the first time.
Beautifully written, with a tone that truly evokes the original, Lyndsay Faye’s Jane Steele is a truly gripping book, perfect for fans of Jane Eyre who are looking for something a little bit different. I’ve read a faerie version of Jane Eyre (Ironskin), but I never expected to come across something like this! It is incredibly clever and still original enough to stand out, whilst still drawing from the major events of Jane Eyre. I liked that Jane Steele referenced Bronte’s work herself, somehow that grounded it even more. And if my review isn’t enough to convince you, know that this also comes highly recommended by the Jane Eyre expert herself, Charlene!
I received a copy of this book for free from the publisher, in exchange for an honest review. Originally posted on my former blog, Rinn Reads.
Jane Steele is not strictly a retelling of Jane Eyre – Jane Eyre is in fact one of the favourite books of the protagonist, and she often references it. Her story mirrors that of Jane Eyre’s, with some differences, and there are many small references to parts of the book. However, the main difference between this Jane and the original? Jane Steele is a killer. It might seem like a rather outlandish and ridiculous idea, but actually it works so well. Jane Eyre is already a Gothic novel – the huge house, a mysterious employer, strange noises at night and of course the goings on in the attic… Lyndsey Faye takes all of this and adds even more.
This Jane is not the one we know – she is not meek, but cool and cunning. And despite being a killer, she is a likeable character. The book describes her as a ‘serial killer’, but I wouldn’t go as far as that. She kills when she has to – for self-defence, or to protect others, rather than just picking targets at random. But despite knowing from the very beginning that Jane is a murderer, when the murders happen they are still shocking and brutal. Jane Steele is practically the opposite of Jane Eyre in every way – she is confident, sexual, more experience with life, not to mention has slight murderous tendencies… yet despite this, I could easily tie the events of this book back to the original.
There are other differences too. Instead of a ward from France, Mr. Thornfield (Rochester) has a ward from India. Mr. Thornfield is also a lot more open and talkative than Mr. Rochester, but still very mysterious. Lyndsey Faye also reverses some events from the book, e.g. Charles Thornfield spooking Jane’s horse as she is riding down the lane, as opposed to the other way round, which was how Jane Eyre met Mr. Rochester for the first time.
Beautifully written, with a tone that truly evokes the original, Lyndsay Faye’s Jane Steele is a truly gripping book, perfect for fans of Jane Eyre who are looking for something a little bit different. I’ve read a faerie version of Jane Eyre (Ironskin), but I never expected to come across something like this! It is incredibly clever and still original enough to stand out, whilst still drawing from the major events of Jane Eyre. I liked that Jane Steele referenced Bronte’s work herself, somehow that grounded it even more. And if my review isn’t enough to convince you, know that this also comes highly recommended by the Jane Eyre expert herself, Charlene!
I received a copy of this book for free from the publisher, in exchange for an honest review. Originally posted on my former blog, Rinn Reads.
This was a corking good read! What a wonderful cast of characters.
Reader, I enjoyed it. Perhaps surprisingly so. It was a deliciously fun read with more than a wink and a nod to Jane Eyre.
So have you ever wondered how Jane Eyre would have differed if she had been a murderess? I mean how many of us wanted her to kill her aunt and cousins because they were terrible and who really didn't like how her school treated her while she was there? So this book was really up my alley. The only reason why I gave it four stars was that it did drag a bit in places, and the totally out of the blue of Jane falling for Mr. Thornfield really didn't work for me at all. I could see her fascination with the guy, but I needed more scenes to show me why she fell for him as she did.
Told in the first person, we have a woman named Jane Steele writing her biography because she has become enamored with the tale of "Jane Eyre" and is thinking of the similarities between herself and this fictional character.
Jane as a young child is raised with in a small cottage at Highgate House with her French mother. Jane is told often by her mother that one day she will inherit Highgate House and that they (her mother and her) are doing the right thing by being respectful to Aunt Patience who now resides at the estate with her awful son Edwin. Jane we realize is being forced to deal with a lot at a young age. Her mother's constant drugging of herself and the attention that her cousin Edwin keeps paying to her. I liked that Ms. Faye doesn't hold back with how Jane sees herself throughout the book. She doesn't try to justify anything that she does. But as a reader, I was sympathetic to her at every turn (which probably says more about me than it does about her).
We get introduced to a lot of characters in this book, but it is very easy to keep everyone straight. I think my favorite part of the book was actually when Jane decides to leave Highgate House for a children's home. And I loved Jane's cynical approach to the home and to the teachers and the awful headmaster that runs the place. What came alive for me during this part was all of the children that we are introduced to in that section. I wanted them all to escape and get the hell out of there. When we are introduced to the character of Becky Clarke I was hoping that we would see more of a development of the friendship between Jane and Becky just because that was where it seemed to be heading before the book all of a sudden zig-zagged elsewhere.
I thought the writing was very good, but what really grabbed my attention was the inclusion of the Sikh Empire and the British East India Company into the background of the story. It definitely shows that Ms. Faye really did some research on the Sikh Empire and the era in which the story is taking place. Heck I would have been happy to read a prologue starring Mr. Thornfield and his life long friend now butler Mr. Sardar Singh.
The flow does start to get wonky by the time we move things to Highgate House. I think it's because now Jane is trying to find out what secrets are Mr. Thornfield and Mr. Singh hiding from her and then we get to read about Mr. Thornfield's past. I did scoff at Jane leaving Highgate House though. That was when the book really slowed down for me.
The setting of England during this time shows it to be a hard and brutal place. When Jane returns to Highgate House as an adult, the whole estate to me felt like a fairytale. Everything had been changed here and there to make it more of a home rather than the flat and colorless place that Jane had left.
I did think that the ending reveal did not make a lot of sense though. I know we had to have a truly mad character included in here, but I think since Ms. Faye made such departures here and there from "Jane Eyre" it would have been better to have a slightly different reveal. It just didn't work for me, and having someone have to info dump another person to explain all never works for me in books. I kept waiting for Hercule Poirot to show up and to make everyone sit down while he explained what happened.
Told in the first person, we have a woman named Jane Steele writing her biography because she has become enamored with the tale of "Jane Eyre" and is thinking of the similarities between herself and this fictional character.
Jane as a young child is raised with in a small cottage at Highgate House with her French mother. Jane is told often by her mother that one day she will inherit Highgate House and that they (her mother and her) are doing the right thing by being respectful to Aunt Patience who now resides at the estate with her awful son Edwin. Jane we realize is being forced to deal with a lot at a young age. Her mother's constant drugging of herself and the attention that her cousin Edwin keeps paying to her. I liked that Ms. Faye doesn't hold back with how Jane sees herself throughout the book. She doesn't try to justify anything that she does. But as a reader, I was sympathetic to her at every turn (which probably says more about me than it does about her).
We get introduced to a lot of characters in this book, but it is very easy to keep everyone straight. I think my favorite part of the book was actually when Jane decides to leave Highgate House for a children's home. And I loved Jane's cynical approach to the home and to the teachers and the awful headmaster that runs the place. What came alive for me during this part was all of the children that we are introduced to in that section. I wanted them all to escape and get the hell out of there. When we are introduced to the character of Becky Clarke I was hoping that we would see more of a development of the friendship between Jane and Becky just because that was where it seemed to be heading before the book all of a sudden zig-zagged elsewhere.
I thought the writing was very good, but what really grabbed my attention was the inclusion of the Sikh Empire and the British East India Company into the background of the story. It definitely shows that Ms. Faye really did some research on the Sikh Empire and the era in which the story is taking place. Heck I would have been happy to read a prologue starring Mr. Thornfield and his life long friend now butler Mr. Sardar Singh.
The flow does start to get wonky by the time we move things to Highgate House. I think it's because now Jane is trying to find out what secrets are Mr. Thornfield and Mr. Singh hiding from her and then we get to read about Mr. Thornfield's past. I did scoff at Jane leaving Highgate House though. That was when the book really slowed down for me.
The setting of England during this time shows it to be a hard and brutal place. When Jane returns to Highgate House as an adult, the whole estate to me felt like a fairytale. Everything had been changed here and there to make it more of a home rather than the flat and colorless place that Jane had left.
I did think that the ending reveal did not make a lot of sense though. I know we had to have a truly mad character included in here, but I think since Ms. Faye made such departures here and there from "Jane Eyre" it would have been better to have a slightly different reveal. It just didn't work for me, and having someone have to info dump another person to explain all never works for me in books. I kept waiting for Hercule Poirot to show up and to make everyone sit down while he explained what happened.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A