Admirable idea that unfortunately fell extremely short of the goal. The original Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte is one of my favorite classic books of all times. My 5th grade English teacher, who was herself British read us from the pages of Jane Eyre every day during recess one spring. While other students ran and screamed and played, we sat under a big tree on scraps of carpet and listed quietly and dreamily to our teacher lilt on page after page of Janes journey. We fell in love with the gruff Mr. Rochester and I fell in love with classic British books. Jane Eyre holds a special place within my heart and that is why an adaptation is both exciting and daunting. Novels of this type based upon the classical literature that we already know and love can go either way. It could be great, creative and accentuating. Or it could be a gross misrepresentation and almost blasphemous to the original text. Although I wanted to love this so desperately, sadly it had a bit too much of latter to have been a success. Charlotte Bronte, these are large slippers to try to slide ones feet into and sadly this was a disappointment. Again, I admire the premise. It sounds great the thought of filling in the blanks with Adele's story but the delivery did not mesh. I at first thought it was just that a lot of author creative liberties were taken. This could be understood the idea is to be "based" on the original and not to clone it. However, there were too many contradictions against the original and this made the story just seem not probable. I think to take the facts and again fill in and around what we already know and creatively accentuate is what makes these types of novels fun. But this was unbelievable and also quite repetitive. I am very annoyed with books that feel the need to constantly recounts facts that have already been made clear again and again. Don't assume you're writing for Alzheimer's patients. (No disrespect but thankfully not there yet! Lol) I feel like I want to say, "Yes I heard you the first time." And this behavior in writing makes me want to skim but I couldn't for fear that I would miss something, which did happen slightly at the end. I don't like that. Don't drag me through repetition and dulldrums and then decide to get interesting in the last chapter. All of the original character personalities were thrown out and changed. Which again could have worked but what they were morphed into was just not appealing. This was supposedly Adele's story but other characters took a chapter as well, rambling on repetitively about facts we'd already been given. From the original we understand Adele is from France. Too much time spent on who Adele's mother was. In this book way too much time is spent in France and to me it was just one of the take aways in this book. The writing style....Sigh. I won't ramble on myself. I'll summarize by saying it was a let down. Two stars. I wanted to like it but it just fell so short. I will recommend it to those who like these types if novels based on classics, if for nothing else but perspective. I don't know if I'd read anything else by this author? Maybe something written after this book. Maybe an editor might help with rounding ideas up, repetition, focus and plausibility. Hey.. None of our talents are beyond growth. Next book.
If you've never read Jane Eyre, this book will make no sense at all; rather like wandering into the wrong class at university and having to stay for the lecture. If you have read Jane Eyre and liked it, this...thing...is just wierd. Contemporary authors who take it upon themselves to write follow-ons, alternate focus versions or "prequels" to established classics a) usually aren't up to the job and b) do the originals a great disservice. Why not create your own characters and story, instead of riding on Miss Bronte's (or whoever's) dresstail? If you must write this sort of fanfic, you might want to treat the original ideas with a modicum of respect!! but they never do.I suppose if you were forced to read Jane Eyre in highschool and hated it, you might treat this as an ironic spoof, along the lines of Pride and Prejudice and Vampires. Unfortunately, it isn't meant to be a satire. It was meant to be...glurge..."serious" writing. Celine Varens has a "sapphic" (Tennant's word) best friend, Rochester is ugly but hung like a horse, and Adele hates Jane. And on and on. If that weren't bad enough, the POV switches are enough to make you feel sick.This screed reminded me of the 1995 movie based oh so loosely on Mansfield Park--by a director and screenwriter who freely and openly admitted that she had never read the book.The sad part is that writers (well, I say "writers") like this have readers who just lurve their stuff. Whose houses are stuffed with "porcelain" figures from QVC, for all I know. Well, I guess there's a place for faux porcelain "limited edition" figures, but they'll never be worth a cent. The manufacturers know this, and know it will escape the punters who buy them.
Do You like book Thornfield Hall (2007)?
Talk about rewriting the ending of a well-loved novel! I won't give anything away, but 'Adele', written from the charge of Mr. Rochester, and the reason Jane Eyre comes to Thornfield, is definitely interesting. I've been on a 'Jane Eyre' kick, with 'Wide Sargasso Sea' and now this novel. The story begins in Paris, with Adele and her mother, describing their life and the mystery of Adele's patronage. Reader, you think you've figured it all out, and you're rooting for the little girl, but then, you realize you haven't figured anything out at all. You still root for Adele, but for far more urgent reasons than before. A very enjoyable read. **I believe this novel has been re-published under another name, 'Thornfield Hall'**
—Allison Long
Jane Eyre's hidden story, this is not, as most of the events in this book are pretty ludicrous and unrealistic and it's highly unlikely this is what happened behind the scenes. Adele says it rightly at one point in the novel when she remarks that Jane is the one who sees things clearly. The novel is not totally from Adele's point of view, though, often a chapter is devoted to Grace, Mr. Rochester's, or Mrs. Fairfax's thoughts, and it was difficult to decide what was really happening with the characters with so many different viewpoints. Mrs. Fairfax for example thinks Mr. Rochester is really in love with Blanche and wanted to marry her instead of Jane, Adele thinks Mr. Rochester still loves Celine and would want her to come back, Mr. Rochester doesn't help by seeming to think about Celine often before and somewhat after he meets Jane. Grace is just in it for herself and is probably the most honest character in this story. This story just felt confusing and all over the place, and although at first I thought it was an interesting idea to tell the story from Adele's viewpoint, reading this story I realized she was really too young and couldn't have known much about what was happening. And her thoughts do not lend any cohesiveness to the story because she vacillates in her feelings so much. The author did have some interesting ideas and changes to the story of what went on behind Jane's back, and I did like how Adele grows as a character and realizes what a positive influence Jane has been on her life. The tone of the characters was also pretty well done - I didn't have too much of a problem with how the author painted them. The ending however kind of ruined the half-regard I was having for this story though. There was a pretty over the top twist that was truly unbelievable and ridiculous and disappointing since the story seemed headed towards a nice conclusion until it made a complete u-turn for crazy town. This is such an uneven story, that I can only think that die-hard Jane Eyre fans that need to read everything related to the original novel (like myself) would find any reason to read it.
—Charlene
Can't say I would recommend this one. There are two many points of view. If the story had been told just from Adele's perspective, it might have been a stronger novel. Rochester's part of the story and then Mrs. Fairfax's are just intrusive. When Adele is telling her story, it isn't easy to follow; it's confusing as to what takes place when, since she starts out telling of one event but then backs up to tell of something that took place before it. The story jumps around too much in place, time and voice. And the ending is just not true to the character's portrayal in the original novel, so that was disappointing as well.
—Maura
