Book Of The Month November, 2007
Jane EyreCharlotte Bronte
As an orphan, Jane s childhood is not an easy one but her independence and strength of character keep her going through the miseries inflicted by cruel relatives and a brutal school. However, her biggest challenge is yet to come. Taking a job as a governess in a house full of secrets, for a passionate man she grows more and more attracted to, ultimately forces Jane to call on all her resources in order to hold on to her beliefs.
What We Think
Rowan Coleman, author of After Ever After on Jane Eyre:
My best book of all time is Jane Eyre. I first read it when I was about eleven and I was captivated by the first part of the book and Jane’s terrible childhood. I wept buckets at the cruelty and humiliation Jane suffered as a child and related to her utterly even though at that stage the worse thing had ever happened to me was having to wear pink NHS glasses. It was only on my second reading at eighteen that I got swept away by the romantic story line and fell head over heels for Mr Rochester which I compared to my own unrequited obsession with my then English Teacher. By my third reading at university I realised what true revolutionaries both Charlotte Bronte and Jane Eyre were. Jane may be one of English Literature’s first heroines to take control of her own destiny and Charlotte was one of the greatest and bravest writers of all time, male or female. I think I read Jane Eyre about once every year or so because for me its the perfect example of what a novel should be.