I now blog over at The Eyre Guide! This blog is an archive of my past posts.


Saturday, May 26, 2012

A Look Ahead: Different Takes on Jane Eyre

I like nothing more than to read some book that reminds me of, or references my favorite novel Jane Eyre.  I keep lists of books that are derivative of it in some way and I am steadily making my way through them.  There are a few that are coming out this year that I've been eagerly waiting for, and I wanted to get some of my giddy impatience out by blogging about why I CAN'T WAIT for another chance to relive aspects of Jane Eyre.

Out of my list of books for this year, Dark Companion by Marta Acosta is the first to be released (July 3rd) and I was happily able to obtain a galley for review from NetGalley and really enjoyed the gothic, atmospheric writing.  A proper review will be posted in the coming weeks, but I just wanted to acknowledge this book in my post as I am also eager to read other blogger's reviews and thoughts on it.  The Jane Eyre aspect is not as blatant as I was expecting which was a surprise, but this was not the disappointment I would have thought, because the story is such a page-turner.




Death of a Schoolgirl by Joanna Campbell Slan is probably the one book I am MOST looking forward to, and luckily it is being released relatively soon (August 7th).  The premise sounds like so much fun, and different from the derivatives of Jane Eyre that I am used to.  Jane Rochester investigating a mysterious death at Adele's new school?  And then Jane goes undercover!!  Yes please!  I hope this book will be fun and the mystery well written.  And I especially hope the characters are true to their source.  And maybe Mr. Rochester will turn up at the school in an exciting climax to save Jane from some dangerous mad person.  And this time it won't be Bertha. ... or will it??!! (I mean if Sherlock - as played by Benedict Cumberbatch - can jump to his "death" off a building and survive...)


Wish You Were Eyre by Heather Vogel Frederick looks to be a fun, short read in a similar vein to It All Began With Jane Eyre by Sheila Greenwald, where the story of Jane Eyre comes up at useful times to illustrate what is going on in the characters personal lives.  I actually really don't know, as I haven't been able to find too much information about the plot and can only judge from the previous books in the series (which all seem to be based around a different novel).  This book comes out September 11th, and I'll be eagerly waiting for more information on it to turn up.




This one sounds very promising!  Ironskin by Tina Connolly - similar to Dark Companion perhaps with it's paranormal twist on Jane Eyre, but I think this one might follow the plot of Jane Eyre much more closely, as the two main characters are named Jane Eliot (I see what you did there!) and Edward Rochart. (I see what you did there again!)  And the cover is fantastic - gothic and a lovely, ethereal monochromatic color scheme.  For the hero's secret, I hope that the nature of it will be sufficiently major enough to break up the couple as I am always disappointed when I don't understand the motivation of the Jane character to leave her Rochester.  The Flight of Gemma Hardy (although a well-done book) had a particularly weak "secret" I felt.  Ironskin is set to release on October 2nd.


Well that's it for now.  These are the the books I would drop everything to read!  If any readers of this blog are Jane Eyre fans like woah, let me know so I can enthuse with you! :)  

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6 comments:

  1. Hi there!

    Jane Eyre is one of my favourite books as well! I simply don't understand how anyone couldn't follow in love with Eyre and Rochester!!!! Have you seen the most recent film adaptation with Michael Fassbender? Did you like it? To be honest, I loved it! I know that it veered away from the plotline a bit my mixing up its order but I thought it was done in a really creative way.

    Death of a School Girl looks really good, I can't wait to read it now! Its sounds a bit like Sherlock Holmes meets Jane Eyre which sounds like something I would love to read!

    If you're interested, I just started up my own blog and would really love it if you checked it out! I'm already following your blog, you had me hooked at Jane Eyre :) If you decide to follow me let me know and I'll make sure to add your blog to my blogroll.

    Thanks!

    Sarah
    www.laceandlavenderhints.blogspot.ca

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  2. Hi Sarah! Thanks for commenting! I absolutely loved the 2011 film which I was not expecting as most film versions of Jane Eyre leave alot to be desired. The 2011 film isn't perfect, but they captured the spirt of the novel I felt, and the acting was stellar. And it made me a big fan of Michael Fassbender. :) Even with the rearrangement of the plot, I thought it worked well for the film. The cinematography and soundtrack was amazing too- all parts of the movie worked for me!

    I'm glad to get you interested in Death of a School Girl - I hope it lives up to expectations!

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  3. Hi! You should read Jane by April Lindner. It was pretty good! Check out my review of it on my blog Books Ahoy (www.books-ahoy.blogspot.com) Returning the follow :)

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  4. Thank you Books Ahoy! I will check out your review! I have read Jane but it was before I started blogging, so I never reviewed it.

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  5. Hello--

    Thank you so much for the kind mention of "Death of a Schoolgirl," the first book in a new series called The Jane Eyre Chronicles. I have tried to stay as close to the source as possible, because I, too, love Jane just the way she is. As for a daring rescue by Edward, let me say this: You must have read my mind!

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  6. Wow thanks for the comment Joanna! It has done nothing to ease my anticipation though! :) I am looking forward to it even more!

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