"Jane Eyre"--a Book Club Discussion and more

This month for book club we read the classic, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. In case you somehow missed reading the book in school or seeing the many movies that have been made from it, here's a brief summary. Jane is a headstrong girl who was orphaned as an infant. She lives a difficult life with her aunt and three cousins until she was sent to boarding school for orphans when she was ten. The school was another difficult experience, but she becomes well enough educated to become a governess. During this job, she meets Mr. Rochester and love follows. However, as with any good story, the relationship is fraught with trouble and there are many difficult decisions to be made.

What my club thought:
My club all enjoyed reading or rereading Jane Eyre. We had a lively discussion that involved the actual story and characters, Charlotte Bronte and her sisters, the difficulties of being a published female author at that time, how much of the novel was autobiographical, and the influence of being a rector's daughter on Charlotte Bronte's writing. We concluded that we appreciated the complicated writing structure of the book compared to what is written today and found the moral dilemmas that were set up for Jane throughout the story an interesting study.

What I thought:
I got a lot more from reading Jane Eyre as an adult than as a student. It's an enjoyable read that I recommend.
_______________________________________________________________________________

But wait, there's more--A thought from Wally and Theodore:

Speaking of Jane Eyre, there's another book that involves her--The Eyre Affair: a Thursday Next Novel by Jasper Fforde.

The book involves time travel, a police state, and the plucking of Jane Eyre from the novel--a little different from the style of the original Jane Eyre, but a lot of fun. It mixes humor with an exciting plot. Give it a try. If you like it, there are more in the series waiting for you.


For a more extensive review of the Tuesday Next novels-- aplacetoreside.blogspot.com/2011/04/one-of-our-thursdays-is-missing-book.html