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christinel 's review for:
Mr. Rochester
by Sarah Shoemaker
While I think you could enjoy Mr. Rochester without having read Jane Eyre, I assume that most people who read it will have done so because they have positive feelings about the Bronte classic. This book tells the story of Mr. Rochester's life before he met Jane, and continues through the events portrayed in Jane Eyre, from his point of view.
I read Jane Eyre at about 13 and it made a big impression on me, and I think I re-read it in my 20s. As an adult, I later wrote an essay explaining why it was regressive to prefer Jane Eyre to Pride and Prejudice, and felt mildly offended. While I don't really agree with this, because you can love the book for the character of Jane, the chemistry between the lonely hero and heroine, and the way the book admires her unyielding moral stance, it's true that Mr. Rochester makes some choices that are hard to justify - pretending to be about to marry someone else to make Jane jealous, and, oh, bigamy, although under great duress. I enjoyed reading Shoemaker's Mr. Rochester, particularly in the early chapters where the author creates a piercing sense of loneliness completely the equal of Jane's in early life. I was fascinated by the machinations that led Mr. Rochester to marry Bertha. However, when he began to fall in love with Jane in the last third of the book, I was uncomfortably aware of how hard the author was working to make his behaviour seem more likable. This book sort of a felt like "Here, have your problematic cake and eat it too," and I felt like this function was more of a guilty pleasure than the original. When the book got to the really iconic scenes, I forgave it, and just enjoyed.
I read Jane Eyre at about 13 and it made a big impression on me, and I think I re-read it in my 20s. As an adult, I later wrote an essay explaining why it was regressive to prefer Jane Eyre to Pride and Prejudice, and felt mildly offended. While I don't really agree with this, because you can love the book for the character of Jane, the chemistry between the lonely hero and heroine, and the way the book admires her unyielding moral stance, it's true that Mr. Rochester makes some choices that are hard to justify - pretending to be about to marry someone else to make Jane jealous, and, oh, bigamy, although under great duress. I enjoyed reading Shoemaker's Mr. Rochester, particularly in the early chapters where the author creates a piercing sense of loneliness completely the equal of Jane's in early life. I was fascinated by the machinations that led Mr. Rochester to marry Bertha. However, when he began to fall in love with Jane in the last third of the book, I was uncomfortably aware of how hard the author was working to make his behaviour seem more likable. This book sort of a felt like "Here, have your problematic cake and eat it too," and I felt like this function was more of a guilty pleasure than the original. When the book got to the really iconic scenes, I forgave it, and just enjoyed.