Jane Eyre: Charlotte Bronte (Penguin Classics)

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Second to that is the uninhibited depiction of the characters, their emotions, and the inner battles they must conquer in the face of temptation. All of this of course is brought to life with Bronte's perfectly chosen words, vivid descriptions and unbridled but elegant prose. There is such a rawness to the writing, although some would say overly dramatic but for me it is another beautiful and remarkable aspect to this book, because it works. A burning question is ‘why do I love this book so much?’ The storyline? the love story? the many themes it embraces? or is it Jane Eyre, the character I love the most? All will be revealed, but first the plot.

Jane Eyre (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) by Charlotte

Like many, I first read this at school. I was captivated from the outset. Jane was wild, and brave, and rebellious - all things we weren't supposed to be, and yet we had to read and write about her. I vaguely knew about the wedding scene, but everything about her time with the Rivers was new and unexpected. For all that I had doubts about Rochester, I felt (in a naive, teenage way) I shared a passion for him. When I thought Jane would end up with St John, I was devastated. The actual ending was a happy relief - all the more so because it had been unexpected. P.S. The Kindle version available for free at Project Gutenberg has wonderful pencil drawing illustrations. And on top of all that, the language in this book is so gorgeous I want the whole manuscript tattooed on me.Gentle reader, may you never feel what I then felt! May your eyes never shed such stormy, scalding, heart-wrung tears as poured from mine. May you never appeal to Heaven in prayers so hopeless and so agised as in that hour left my lips: for never may you, like me, dread to be the instrument of evil to what you wholly love.”

Penguin Books UK The Brontë Sisters (Boxed Set) - Penguin Books UK

An iconic novel dressed in a fierce design by acclaimed fashion illustrator Ruben Toledo. This couture-inspired collection also features The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dracula, The Scarlet Letter, Wuthering Heights and Pride and Prejudice. A novel of intense power and intrigue, Jane Eyrehas dazzled generations of readers with its depiction of a woman’s quest for freedom. Having grown up an orphan in the home of her cruel aunt and at a harsh charity school, Jane Eyre becomes an independent and spirited survivor-qualities that serve her well as governess at Thornfield Hall. But when she finds love with her sardonic employer, Rochester, the discovery of his terrible secret forces her to make a choice. Should she stay with him whatever the consequences or follow her convictions, even if it means leaving her beloved?This updated Penguin Classics edition features a new introduction byBrontë scholar and award-winning novelist Stevie Davies, as well as comprehensive notes, a chronology, further reading, and an appendix. Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong! — I have as much soul as you — and full as much heart”It was published in 19th century England, which is no one’s idea of Progressive Central. But this book is jarringly feminist when the constraints it (and Jane) were working in are taken into account. Jane is an independent woman, and this book from eighteen freakin’ forty-seven tells her story. Or you can view this as an story of formation of a strong and independent female protagonist, a nineteenth-century feminist, light-years ahead of its time. And that's what left my now-closer-to-thirty-than-twenty self very satisfied and, quite frankly, rather impressed.² ¹ The guy kept his wife in the attic. Seriously - no. Just no. You don't get all the way to your SECOND wedding forgetting to mention that your FIRST wife is hidden in the attic. Seriosly, Rochester, what the hell is wrong with you? How can you even attempt to build a marriage on such a lie??? Charlotte Brontë’s moving masterpiece–the novel that has been “teaching true strength of character for generations”( The Guardian). Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read It would do," I affirmed with some disdain, "perfectly well. Oh Jane, you wondrously bold and beautiful gal. At the end we are steeped through and through with the genius, the vehemence, the indignation of Charlotte Brontë."