Today's book talk takes us to northern England, the setting for Jane Eyre.
My daughter took today's photos on a free day from her studies at Cambridge. She graciously loaned them to me when I mentioned you and I would virtually explore the area. I've not been to England although it is very high on my bucket list. Isn't it on yours as well?
So, let's talk about Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte while we walk through English gardens and country roads.
I won't bore you with a summary, the book is short and an easy read. My thoughts drift to Jane who lived a unique Cinderella story.
Typhus is among the first evil characters in this story. It kills Jane's parents leaving her an orphan. The fever, headache, and rash symptoms are a result of overcrowding and unsanitary living conditions.
In Jane's day, as for Cinderella, a person could fall from status in a heartbeat by becoming an orphan. Their intelligence, looks, everything about the individual is not only questioned, but known to be far less than adequate to properly take part in society. These children seemingly have no chance for a good future.
Relatives like Jane's uncle and aunt might take the children in, but in their eyes, these wards have fallen to less than second class citizens. The aunt abuses Jane keeper her own children separate before finally sending her off to a charitable school for girls called Lockwood Institute.
All but the few chosen favorites are mistreated. Remember the birds who friend Cinderella? Well, thanks to an older girl, Jane learns to not rebel when the adults are cruel. She graduates and with nowhere to go, remains at the school as a teacher.
Two years pass before boredom brings the first change in Jane's life. Like the invitation to the ball in Cinderella, Jane dares to do something amazing. She leaves Lockwood and become a tutor for a little girl in the Rochester mansion. A beautiful second chapter unfolds and we turn pages touched with a wonderful love story--until we learn Mr. Rochester is married to the mad woman locked in the attic. Like the clock striking twelve at the ball for Cinderella, there seems no hope for true love.
You will absolutely drink in the twists and turns, and reinventing of a Cinderella story in Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. Add this one to your TBR pile today.
This post has been brought to you by all the Cinderellas who have lived. Perhaps you were one?
Link to Mary's books: https://amzn.to/2Fq4Jbm
Have you read Jane Eyre?
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