John Eyre
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- £3.99
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- £3.99
Publisher Description
One of BookBub's "25 of the Best Books Arriving in 2021"
One of Book Riot's "9 of the Best Recent Vampire Reads"
From USA Today bestselling author Mimi Matthews comes a supernatural Victorian gothic retelling of Charlotte Brontë's timeless classic.
Yorkshire, 1843. When disgraced former schoolmaster John Eyre arrives at Thornfield Hall to take up a position as tutor to two peculiar young boys, he enters a world unlike any he's ever known. Darkness abounds, punctuated by odd bumps in the night, strange creatures on the moor, and a sinister silver mist that never seems to dissipate. And at the center of it all, John's new employer—a widow as alluring as she is mysterious.
Sixteen months earlier, heiress Bertha Mason embarked on the journey of a lifetime. Marriage wasn't on her itinerary, but on meeting the enigmatic Edward Rochester, she's powerless to resist his preternatural charm. In letters and journal entries, she records the story of their rapidly-disintegrating life together, and of her gradual realization that Mr. Rochester isn't quite the man he appears to be. In fact, he may not be a man at all.
From a cliff-top fortress on the Black Sea coast to an isolated estate in rural England, John and Bertha contend with secrets, danger, and the eternal struggle between light and darkness. Can they help each other vanquish the demons of the past? Or are some evils simply too powerful to conquer?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In an author's note, Matthews (Gentleman Jim) cites her inspiration for this inventive but uneven gender-swapped mash-up of Jane Eyre and Dracula as the "strong women" of both original texts. Which makes it all the more peculiar that the opening scene takes place over "Lady Helen Burns's newly dug grave." It's not Helen's death that will disturb fans of Brontë's original—it's that she died by suicide, unrequitedly in love with John Eyre and described as a "clinging vine of femininity." It's a sour start: if this is the reimagined fate of one of the strongest women in the original tale, there seems little hope for the rest. Ultimately, however, the exercise finds its stride, braiding John's present tutoring of the sons of widowed Mrs. Rochester and stumbling onto the supernatural with flashbacks to Mrs. Rochester's tumultuous courtship with her late husband. John makes a rather bland hero, stripped of history and passion, but Bertha Mason Rochester shines, dominating her scenes with vitality and strength. The style, too, is spot-on, reprising the spirit of 19th-century Gothic prose without descending into mimicry. Still, the best literary reimaginings expand a universe or flesh out a nuance; Matthews accomplishes neither. But, like many practitioners of pastiches, she succeeds in capturing enough flavor to create an enjoyable if lightweight outing. (Self-published)
