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Book Review of Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre
Jane Eyre
Author: Charlotte Bronte
Genre: Literature & Fiction
Book Type: Paperback
reviewed on + 52 more book reviews


Jane Eyre is a young woman steadfast in her morals who faces hardships with great fortitude in the early years of the 19th century. Raised by Mrs. Reed, a cruel aunt, she is sent to Lowood, a bleak charity school run by the tyrannical Mr. Brocklehurst, where she endures a lonely and sad life. But even these travails do not disturb Jane's moral sensibilities and Christian virtues, for she puts all trust and faith in God's plan for her life.
Jane becomes the governess at Thornfield and falls in love with her employer, Mr. Rochester. For the first time since she was a child Jane is truly loved by another, but Rochester harbors a dark secret that threatens their love. Unwilling to yield to her own desires, a heartbroken Jane flees Thornfield and is taken in by a young pastor, St. John Rivers and his two sisters. They become quit fond of Jane and she learns that they are cousins. Needing a wife for his missionary work in India, Rivers asks Jane to be his wife, but she hears Rochester calling her name on the wind.

JANE EYRE is a great gothic romance that will have readers rooting for the heroine to finally find some much deserved happiness. The novel is clearly a critique of Victorian assumptions about both gender and social class, and was one of the most successful novels of its era, both commercially and critically. Basically, JANE EYRE is a romance told in the compelling structure of a gothic horror novel, and should appeal to readers who love either one of those classic genres.