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whipsmile 's review for:
Mr. Rochester
by Sarah Shoemaker
Jane Eyre is one of my favorite books ever written. The character of Jane Eyre is my absolute favorite literary character ever. And I consider Mr. Rochester, although far from perfect, to be one of the most swoon worthy literary characters in all of his Byronic hero glory. For better or for worse, questionable choices or not.
So when I came across this book, I thought that it would make for a very interesting backstory to one of my favorite romantic leads. After all, he is so brooding and mysterious, how did he get this way? What was he thinking?
I feel that Shoemaker did the character of Edward Fairfax Rochester justice. But I truly believe this book wouldn’t be as interesting to those who have never read Jane Eyre. Or even those who read it but don’t remember much about it. I kind of feel it is imperative to first read Bronte’s masterpiece in order to get the full of this novel. Shoemaker wrote him exactly how I always understood him from Bronte’s work: more in tuned with his feelings, more wild, and a more poetically romantic soul than Jane herself. (An artist’s soul in a tall, brooding, stoical body). The only drawback that I could find about writing a book about Mr. Rochester, was that one of his defining characteristics was taken away. He was no longer mysterious. The story made his decisions justifiable and heartbreaking, and it was perfectly in line with the original text. But in a weird way, it made this Titan of Romance, well, a little less “romantic”, in its literary meaning.
As a stand-alone book it is “fine”. There are many parts to slough through, but as a character study, it was very astute. Without Jane Eyre, I could see many people finding it boring. But as part of the story, it explains many things that could have been the incidents that created the man. It’s not canon of course, but very well written fan fiction. Which I have no problem with.
4 stars because I just love this character so much. *deep sigh*
So when I came across this book, I thought that it would make for a very interesting backstory to one of my favorite romantic leads. After all, he is so brooding and mysterious, how did he get this way? What was he thinking?
I feel that Shoemaker did the character of Edward Fairfax Rochester justice. But I truly believe this book wouldn’t be as interesting to those who have never read Jane Eyre. Or even those who read it but don’t remember much about it. I kind of feel it is imperative to first read Bronte’s masterpiece in order to get the full of this novel. Shoemaker wrote him exactly how I always understood him from Bronte’s work: more in tuned with his feelings, more wild, and a more poetically romantic soul than Jane herself. (An artist’s soul in a tall, brooding, stoical body). The only drawback that I could find about writing a book about Mr. Rochester, was that one of his defining characteristics was taken away. He was no longer mysterious. The story made his decisions justifiable and heartbreaking, and it was perfectly in line with the original text. But in a weird way, it made this Titan of Romance, well, a little less “romantic”, in its literary meaning.
As a stand-alone book it is “fine”. There are many parts to slough through, but as a character study, it was very astute. Without Jane Eyre, I could see many people finding it boring. But as part of the story, it explains many things that could have been the incidents that created the man. It’s not canon of course, but very well written fan fiction. Which I have no problem with.
4 stars because I just love this character so much. *deep sigh*