Carrie reviewed this title and really enjoyed the new take on the typical Jane Eyre story:
This book is bloodthirsty and exciting. It’s hard-boiled and tender. It’s funny and full of gothic melodrama. I enjoyed every bit of it. Above all, I loved that Jane Steele, who in most ways resembles me not a whit, shares with me a deep affection for Jane Eyre and a sense that Jane Eyre inspires us to value our own lives and our own stories.
We also have a cocktail that went along with Jane Steele‘s initial release. It contains chai, honey, lemon, and cognac!
We have six (6) copies to give away to readers, three (3) paperback copies and (3) digital copies.
To enter, tell us your favorite Jane Eyre reading experience! Did you love it when you first read it? Hate it? If you haven’t read Jane Eyre yet, tell us about another classic you remember reading. Comments will close Friday, March 3, 2017 at noon, EST, and winners will be announced shortly after!
Standard disclaimers apply. We are not being compensated for this giveaway. Void where prohibited. Open to international residents where permitted by applicable law. Must be over 18. A love of literary retellings is not a must, though strongly encouraged. Brooding men in need of a governess should probably look elsewhere.
Best of luck to everyone!
WINNER UPDATE!
Paperback copy winners:
Digital copy winners:
I’ve never been a huge Bronte reader, but my little sister loves Jane Eyre. When I drove her to college for freshman year, we listened to Jane Eyre on audiobook and I gave her a new hardcover copy before leaving her at the dorms. It was one of those really special experiences where you share someone else’s favorite book with them.
A friend gave me a copy when I was twelve. It’s sitting on a shelf about three feet away from me right now. I couldn’t put it down and it gets reread at least once a year. Almost every time there’s a discussion here where it’s mentioned I seem to need to pull it off the shelf. My husband gave me a fancy leather-bound hardback edition for Christmas several years ago.
I remember reading “Jane Eyre” over a fall week when I was about 15. My mother had made this delicious pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting. Everyday I would come home from school, cut myself a huge slice of cake and pour a glass of milk. Then I’d sit in front of a picture window with a view of misty, rainy hills and escape into Jane’s England. It’s one of the strongest memories I have of reading a book.
I bought the book a while back but just could not get started, so now I’m currently reading Jane Eyre (finally!) on my phone with an app that sends me a short section to read everyday.
I did finish The Flight of Gemma Hardy a while back, before reading reviews that said it was basically a (relatively) modern rewrite of Jane Eyre. I remember being uncertain whether the brooding Mr. Sinclair/Mr. Rochester was going to turn out to be a murderer or a romantic lead then, ha.
I read Jane Eyre for the first time when I was 8 – my mom sent it with me to summer camp, and I have vivid memories of reading it lying on my stomach on the beach and also tucked into my bunkbed in the cabin. I ADORED it and still do. Jane Steele sounds like a fabulous homage! Thank you for the giveaway.
I love Jane Eyre. My aunt gave it to me for Christmas when I was 12 and I have loved it ever since that first reading. That original paperback is now individual pages held together by an elastic band – I bought myself another copy several years ago, read it once, and then went back to re-reading my original copy! When I moved to Tanzania for 3 years with only 20kg of luggage allowed, Jane Eyre was one of 4 books that I brought with me because I knew that it would stand up to frequent re-reading (this was in the days before e-books).
Haven’t read Jane Eyre yet. (It’s been on my tbr pile for a while, but it has lots of company.)
I guess discovering Edgar Allan Poe was my most memorable experience with classic literature. I was poking through my parents books, at about seven, and found a short story about a kitty! So I read it. Somehow “The Black Cat” did not give me nightmares, but sparked a love of horror stories.
I first read Jane Eyre when I was 13: loved it then, love it now. I love it so much, in fact, that I wrote a (loose) adaptation of it with Mr. Rochester as a rock star, because a rock star would be a perfect Byronic hero.
I didn’t read Jane Eyre until I was an adult. I wish I had read this book as a teenager!
I’ve read it twice and loved it both times. Rochester is a dick, but I still get swept up in it.
I first tried to read Jane Eyre when I was 12 but grew bored with it when she left Lowood but before Pilot and Mr. Rochester showed up at Thornfield Hall. I picked it up again two years later and have loved it ever since. It is one of my favorite novels and I re-read it about every 12 to 18 months.
I encountered Jane Eyre when I was still young enough to be intimidated by writing styles from the 19th century and earlier. I loved to read, but I was no prodigy when it came to the classics. Yet I not only soldiered through to the end of Jane Eyre, but reread it multiple times over the years. In the end Jane’s story was just tremendously compelling to me, though probably not for all the subversive reasons younger readers mention. (I really loved Rochester.)
Confession: I’ve never read Jane Eyre all the way through.
Even more shameful confession: I’ve watched a movie adaptation with William Hurt (who is normally an accomplished actor, but whose Rochester came out more like an angsty elderly uncle that Jane would be saddled with, as opposed to a romantic companion.)
So my favorite Jane Eyre moment was reading Jasper Fforde’s The Eyre Affair, and the supposed “original” ending for Jane Eyre. I won’t say more so I don’t spoil it too much.
My Mum gave me Jane Eyre to read when I was about 12 – I loved it and have reread it many times
My favorite Jane Eyre moment was reading Wide Sargasso Sea in college! I’m not sure it sounds right to say I “loved” seeing how his wife ended up (um, spoiler, I guess?) insane and in the attic, but I remember really loving that book. The movie made a few years later, not so much.
I honestly couldn’t get into Jane Eyre (tried to read it multiple times, along with Jane Austen books–and silly me always mixed up “Jane Eyre” and “Jane Austen”) until I saw the TV adaptation with Ruth Wilson and Toby Stevens. I was in high school, so seeing how the plot played out helped get me into it, especially through all of the childhood trauma into the juicy romantic stuff 🙂
I also read Jasper Fforde’s The Eyre Affair in high school, though I *think* that was after I had finally gotten into the book.
But actually my favorite memory is listening to Jane Eyre: The Musical and being entranced by it (I have a very strong audiovisual memory of first listening to it while sitting on the porch of a lovely B&B in Vermont on a family vacation). I know it’s poorly reviewed (one of my earliest comments on this site, I think, was gushing about the musical and getting shut down by another commentor, haha) but the music just makes me so happy.
I read Jane Eyre over Christmas vacation when I was in eighth grade. I was sick and miserable. We were staying at my grandparents’ house and I had to stay in my room. All I had was a couple of books. I zipped through JE and then went back to re-read sections. I loved the book. It’s still one of my favorite books.
Jane Eyre is one of my classic winter reads. Fireplace, storm outside, Jane Eyre.
I haven’t read Jane Eyre in a long time, but I love Lyndsay Faye’s books. So this one’s on my list no matter what.
I first read Jane Eyre in fourth grade, and even though bits of it went over my head, I absolutely loved it. Decades later it is still one of my favorites — I own multiple copies — and is one of several go-to comfort re-reads. And I thought Jane Steele was GLORIOUS. I’ve been eagerly waiting for it to come out in paperback so I could add it to my collection, but if I can save my pennies for other books, I certainly wouldn’t cry about it. Thanks for doing the giveaway!
I read it first at age 10 and loved Jane’s independent thinking and strength of character. She was everything I wanted to be when I grew up. I read it repeatedly throughout my teens and well into my twenties. I last reread it somewhere in my forties and loved it still, or again, even though I had less patience with her saintliness.
I thought Jane Steele was a really fun way of approaching the story. I was tickled all the way through.
I read Jane Eyre for the first time in 4th grade and I LOVED it. It is one of the few classics I return to. Pride and Prejudice just doesn’t do it for me, but reading about Jane’s story and strength has always reasonated.
I resisted Jane Eyre for a long time (ok, like 2 years in high school) because one of my least favorite teachers (and I usually love my teachers, so this was a big thing) told the class it was her favorite book. Then, senior year of high school, one of my absolute favorite teachers of all time she it was one of her favorites. Am I a teacher’s pet? Yes, unashamedly. And now it’s one of my favorite books to reread.
Oddly, I didn’t read Jane Eyre until college. I came late to Jane Austen’s books too. My high school was a little odd in that freshman and sophomore English classes were “teacher’s choice” (lots of contemporary or 20th century with a few classics mixed in), junior year did American literature, and senior year was world literature. So I didn’t get a lot of the famous British books until I got to college English classes. I liked it OK at the time, but it didn’t grab me the way it does some people.
Reading it, like many books, when I was a preteen and too young to understand what I was reading. And I managed to forget most of the details, so when I reread it in my 30s it was quite a shock.
Is my favourite Jane Eyre moment allowed to be in the movie version when Michael Fassbender is leaning out the window calling her name after she runs away and his butt is the most glorious thing ever? Because that is definitely my favourite Jane Eyre moment. And as a result one of my fave movies.
I was an advanced reader for my age, so when I was 12 I had just finished Gone With the Wind (leading to some interesting conversations with my mother), and wanted something similar, so my dear mother handed me Jane Eyre. I loved it IMMEDIATELY. I didn’t read it again until I had to read it for AP literature my senior year of high school, and I fell in love with it all over again. I love the epilogue. I also was its staunchest defender in my lit class, when people tried to tell me it wasn’t feminist because Jane chooses to be with Mr. Rochester rather than go off and be a teacher. But in my view, she does what makes her happy and what could be more feminist?? So that was probably my favorite read. Being able to analyze it but also get into a very heated argument with people I didn;t like in my lit class.
Not sure when I first read it, but I do remember watching the version starring Zelah Clark & Timothy Dalton. Just checked IMDb and their listing is for a TV mini-series but when I saw it, it was aired at once.
Mr Dalton has had a lasting effect on my partner preferences. Now if only I could get a British accent to accompany the tall, dark & handsome part, I’d be set.
I’ve read and enjoyed the book on multiple occasions, though I’ve never read Charlotte’s other works.
I came across a link on another site (The Bloggess, I believe) some time ago and laughed so hard I had to share it here. Hope anyone who clicks on it enjoys it just as much.
http://sarahtales.livejournal.com/193457.html
Edward “Crazypants” Rochester, indeed.
I have yet to read Jane Eyre, but in a modern lit class in college, I read Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys, which is the prequel to Jane Eyre, telling the story of the first Mrs. Rochester.
It was around this time that the movie adaptation was released. I still remember feeling a little disappointed that the book wasn’t nearly as explicit as the film, which was given an NC-17 rating.
I’m not a Bronte fan, but I read it when my daughter, who was an English major and a fan of Bronte and Austin, was raving about it. It was fun and interesting to share our different perspectives. I am sure that she would love a copy of Jane of Jane Steele. She now writes for The Young and the Restless.
I loved it in high school. I loved it in college and my middle-aged self still loves it.
It’s been a few years (ahem decades) since high school, but it’s the ONLY book I can vividly remember reading and loving in high school! I made my daughter read it and she loved it as well. We now have our “house copy” of Jane Eyre!
I read it first in college, and the great discussion that went along with the lecture enhanced the experience so much that it became one of my favorite books. I wish I still had a professor nearby to discuss literature with when I have questions!
I loved Jane Eyre when I first read it and Jane Steele absolutely blew me away.
I loved Jane Eyre from the first time I read it in high school. I read it twice in college for two different English classes. I’ve seen various movies, too.
The strangest thing I learned was from my first English class in college. The junior professor taught me one theory on the Red Room where Jane was locked up. The red was symbolic of her first menstrual cycle. I wrote a short paper on that with her blessing, er, really it was her strong suggestion I write it. I received an A. I wish I had a copy. I went to college in the 80s and didn’t think to make a photocopy of the paper until I had already turned it in. Remember, this was before personal printers, I typed this on an actual typewriter, and photocopies were five cents per page at the library.
You’d really love the theory I learned in college about the Fall of the House of Usher. Blew everything I learned from middle school, high school, and Vincent Price movies out of the water.
The first read of Jane Eyre was a Classics Illustrated Comic Book
which had me checking the book out of the library.
Jane Eyre is my favorite of all the romantic classics. I wanted the house, the lands, the windswept drama of it all (first reading it when I was 12 may have affected that desire).
I borrowed a copy from my grandmother. It took me two years to finish it.
Mary, I would argue that Jane Eyre is feminist because she rejects Rochester until the marriage is on her terms and she enters it from a place of power.
My mom gave me a copy of Jane Eyre for Christmas one year when I was in my early teens (maybe 14?, I can’t remember exactly). I enjoyed it but I remember being very worried that there wasn’t going to be a HEA!
I’ve always been fascinated by Jane Eyre, especially because it’s so clearly patterned after Bluebeard, which is one of my favorite fairy tales. But the truth is that the first time I read it when I about 15, I remember being SO bored for about the first hundred or so pages (before Rochester appears, naturally). Wuthering Heights is my preferred Bronte-sisters novel. Emily was much less moralizing than Charlotte.