Review: Becoming Jane Eyre

Becoming Jane Eyre by Sheila Kohler is a work of fiction imagining the writing life of Charlotte Bronte. The writing was good and I enjoyed the story, though it made me wish I knew more of the facts to be able to separate fact from fiction better.

The only downside I see to this novel (and this may be my editor/publisher education talking) is that there is a limited audience for such books. Apparently it was Sheila Kohler's tenth novel and she's won a bunch of awards, so she was probably a pretty sure bet though.

I suppose you could read this book without first having read Jane Eyre, but you would certainly be missing out even if you weren't confused. It also helps to have read Wuthering Heights. And I felt guilty for never having read anything written by Anne Bronte (has anyone read anything of hers? any recommendations?). But the good thing is that it made me want to reread those books again.

If you like historical fiction and like any of the Bronte sisters, then you'll enjoy this book.

Review: Wide Sargasso Sea

Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys explores the character of the mad woman in the attic from Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre.

I love Jane Eyre and mostly enjoyed Wide Sargasso Sea. The book helps you sympathize with the mad woman that was Rochester's first wife rather than just seeing her as an obstacle to Jane's happiness. It's also an interesting look at what it means to be crazy and almost, but not quite, asks the question of whether or not being treated like you're crazy can eventually make you crazy.

My one issue with this books was that I was occasionally confused about the point of view. The first section was easy enough to follow, but after that we get a few different characters' points of view, but at times, I wasn't sure who we were following.

You could probably read this book even if you haven't read Jane Eyre. But really, if you're going to read one of these books for the first time, you ought to be choosing Jane Eyre.

By the way, I love the 1996 movie version of Jane Eyre, and while I was looking up that link I found out that they are making another version to be released in 2011. Not sure how I feel about that. I will end of watching it I'm sure, but I'm skeptical. One of the appeals about the 1996 movie was that the actress who played Jane was actually plain; the actress for the upcoming version is far too pretty to be Jane.