Behind the Mountain

A short story by Evie Wyld from the collection Reader, I Married Him: Stories inspired by Jane Eyre.

In ‘Behind The Mountain’, an English wife struggles with the loneliness of a new life in Canada and finds herself drawn to the town’s outsider.

Edited by Tracy Chevalier, the full collection, Reader, I Married Him, brings together some of the finest and most creative voices in fiction today, to celebrate and salute the strength and lasting relevance of Charlotte Brontë’s game-changing novel and its beloved narrator.

Reviews

Praise for the full collection, READER, I MARRIED HIM:

‘Dazzling’ DAILY MAIL

‘The success of this book owes much to [Chevalier’s] enthusiasm … it’s quite amazing to see the quality of work on show’ EVENING STANDARD

‘A terrific set of stories by some of our leading novelists, each of whom engages with a chosen aspect of Jane Eyre’ THE NEW STATESMAN

‘A clever idea well-executed; a treat for fans of short fiction and for Brontë's many ardent fans’ KIRKUS REVIEWS

‘Exemplary…written by some of today's best female writers’ THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE

‘These pieces create a beguiling picture of women and men and desire, in which everyone is searching, like Jane, for happiness and wondering whether marriage is really an answer. The book acts as a prism spreading all kinds of literary and historical refractions, and it’s a reminder that Charlotte Brontë, too, has many sides’ GLOBE AND MAIL

About the author

Evie Wyld is a prize-winning author living in south London.
Included in Granta’s 2013 list of Best of Young British
Novelists as well as the Daily Telegraph’s Best Writers
Under 40, Evie was the winner of the 2014 EU Prize for
Literature. Her first novel After the Fire, A Still Small
Voice won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and a Betty Trask Award. Her second, All the Birds, Singing, won the Encore
Award, Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Award and Miles
Franklin Award. It was also shortlisted for the Costa Novel
Award and longlisted for the Baileys Women’s Prize. Evie’s
graphic memoir about her childhood obsession with sharks,
Everything Is Teeth, was published in August 2015 and illustrated by London artist Joe Sumner.