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A review by alannaj
Becoming Jane Eyre by Sheila Kohler
1.0
The concept behind the book is interesting, seeing the inspiration for Jane Eyre as a novel come to life in Charlotte Bronte‘s head as she goes about her daily life, with the narrative spanning a 6 year period in three volumes. The author herself says she used the Bronte‘s letters and works by biographers to piece together her fictional story. The book is told from several different viewpoints, switching between Charlotte herself, her ill father, the nurse caring for him, her sister Anne, her sister Emily and the housemaid that bought them all up.
It starts in 1846, with Charlotte looking after her ill father for a season and using that isolated time along with memories of her life to concoct the story of Jane Eyre. Volume 1 is filled with flashbacks of her childhood and memories from her time abroad during adolescence, as well as caring for her father as he recovers from an operation for his sight. Volume 2 sees Charlotte return home with her recovering father to her brother and two sisters and finish her novel by drawing inspiration from those around her. Volume 3 brings success as all three manage to get their work published, with Charlotte seeing the most immediate success.
Overall I found the book moved at a very slow pace, with the focus being mainly on description of surroundings and senses. There were no particular points of interest, in the sense that there was no high excitement at any point and there was no real rise and fall in the narrative. At times I found myself wondering if the story would pick up any time soon, as if there was something waiting on the next page that never seemed to materialise within the plot. This continuing slow tone left me feeling as though the book had been written more as a biography rather than a novel.
The book was written in the second person, which after finishing the story, I’m not sure worked as the best choice. It served as an easy way to become detached from the narrator (whoever they happened to be at the time). It also allowed for further confusion when the narrator changed, which was not clear enough as it was, with an overuse of “she” and “he” proving to be a downfall.
I did enjoy seeing the relationship between the three Bronte sisters. Throughout culture, they are generally accepted to have been very supportive of each other’s works at all times and happy to see each other’s success develop; while I am sure this is true, it was interesting and maybe slightly closer to the truth to see the sisters show a little jealousy at the times when one was more successful than the others. It added a dynamic to the tale that hasn’t been associated with the Bronte sisters until this point. It was also nice to see the relationship of the sisters through the eyes of the housemaid that raised them all; her part of the narrative was brief, but it provided encouragement for me to carry on reading at a point where I was losing interest.
I also felt that the interspersions of Jane Eyre as a story worked well. They were displayed as moments of inspiration, but being written in the same person and tense as the rest of the book helped me as a reader feel that everything flowed. It bought a sense of familiarity to the book that I appreciated.
As a conclusion, Becoming Jane Eyre was a book that I didn’t enjoy as much as I thought I would, but I wouldn’t go as far as to say that it was a bad book. I’d be happy to tell others to give it a go, as I can see how it might have a certain charm – it was just a bit non-eventful for me.
It starts in 1846, with Charlotte looking after her ill father for a season and using that isolated time along with memories of her life to concoct the story of Jane Eyre. Volume 1 is filled with flashbacks of her childhood and memories from her time abroad during adolescence, as well as caring for her father as he recovers from an operation for his sight. Volume 2 sees Charlotte return home with her recovering father to her brother and two sisters and finish her novel by drawing inspiration from those around her. Volume 3 brings success as all three manage to get their work published, with Charlotte seeing the most immediate success.
Overall I found the book moved at a very slow pace, with the focus being mainly on description of surroundings and senses. There were no particular points of interest, in the sense that there was no high excitement at any point and there was no real rise and fall in the narrative. At times I found myself wondering if the story would pick up any time soon, as if there was something waiting on the next page that never seemed to materialise within the plot. This continuing slow tone left me feeling as though the book had been written more as a biography rather than a novel.
The book was written in the second person, which after finishing the story, I’m not sure worked as the best choice. It served as an easy way to become detached from the narrator (whoever they happened to be at the time). It also allowed for further confusion when the narrator changed, which was not clear enough as it was, with an overuse of “she” and “he” proving to be a downfall.
I did enjoy seeing the relationship between the three Bronte sisters. Throughout culture, they are generally accepted to have been very supportive of each other’s works at all times and happy to see each other’s success develop; while I am sure this is true, it was interesting and maybe slightly closer to the truth to see the sisters show a little jealousy at the times when one was more successful than the others. It added a dynamic to the tale that hasn’t been associated with the Bronte sisters until this point. It was also nice to see the relationship of the sisters through the eyes of the housemaid that raised them all; her part of the narrative was brief, but it provided encouragement for me to carry on reading at a point where I was losing interest.
I also felt that the interspersions of Jane Eyre as a story worked well. They were displayed as moments of inspiration, but being written in the same person and tense as the rest of the book helped me as a reader feel that everything flowed. It bought a sense of familiarity to the book that I appreciated.
As a conclusion, Becoming Jane Eyre was a book that I didn’t enjoy as much as I thought I would, but I wouldn’t go as far as to say that it was a bad book. I’d be happy to tell others to give it a go, as I can see how it might have a certain charm – it was just a bit non-eventful for me.