You've heard of ghost stories -- or have you? Because in this case, a beloved classic we thought we knew turns out to be one of the most epic ghost stories of all. When you throw together a ghost hunter, a girl who can command ghosts, and a writer, we finally get the backstory to Jane Eyre we never knew we needed. Narrated by our hilarious group of Lady Janies, Jane Eyre finally gets the story she deserves. You will never look at Jane Eyre the same way again. The authors of this novel fondly call themselves the Lady Janies, and are comprised of writers Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand, and Jodi Meadows. Ashton, author of the Everneath trilogy and Diplomatic Immunity, received a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Utah and a master's degree in international relations from the London School of Economics, and currently lives in Utah. Hand, New York Times bestselling author of the Unearthly trilogy and The Last Time We Say Goodbye, studied literary fiction and earned an MFA and PhD in fiction writing, and currently lives in Idaho. Meadows, author of the Incarnate trilogy and the Orphan Queen duology, currently lives in rural Virginia. These authors met in Texas in 2012, became fast friends, and then New York Times bestselling co-authors. They can be found at ladyjanies.blogspot.com.
You may think you know the story. After a miserable childhood, penniless orphan Jane Eyre embarks on a new life as a governess at Thornfield Hall. There, she meets one dark, brooding Mr. Rochester. Despite their significant age gap (!) and his uneven temper (!!), they fall in love -- and, Reader, she marries him (!!!) Or does she? Prepare for an adventure of Gothic proportions, in which all is not as it seems, a certain gentleman is hiding more than skeletons in his closets, and one orphan Jane Eyre, aspiring author Charlotte Brontë, and supernatural investigator Alexander Blackwood are about to be drawn together on the most epic ghost hunt on this side of Wuthering Heights.
Like its predecessor, My Lady Jane, My Plain Jane has three narrators, all of whom equally share storytelling time. Jane, Charlotte, and Alexander are all super fun characters, so you fall in love with all their chapters. I would be remiss if I didn't first talk about our leading lady, Jane Eyre. If you're familiar with the classic Jane Eyre, you will recognize that the Lady Janies stayed pretty faithful to what we understand of Jane's character: she speaks up for herself, she sticks to her morals, and she's a good friend. Jane also follows the same trajectory, beginning with Lowood school and ending up at Thornfield Hall, even if her motivations have changed because of the supernatural element to this story. In the classic, sometimes Jane Eyre is difficult to understand, or even to root for. Here, the Lady Janies give Jane a better understanding of her background, and more of a purpose to her life. That way, when Jane is making big decisions, we have a better seat in her head to know why, and to what end she makes her decisions for.
Let's not forget about Charlotte and Alexander. In a way, Jane isn't the only one getting a better ending: Charlotte, too, finds romance and inspiration in this story. I thought it was fun that the author of Jane Eyre is actually a character here, which means that the Lady Janies are classifying Jane Eyre as a semi-biographical romance. It's a very fun dynamic. It's interesting how the fictional Charlotte and the classic Jane Eyre are blended together. It's a beautiful commentary on how what we write represents an extension of ourselves, something that could not be achieved without the inclusion of Charlotte's character. Alexander is one of the more fictional characters, most likely inspired in part by Charlotte Brontë's brief husband. Alexander is one of my favorite characters because he's fueled by revenge at the beginning, and over time evolves to see that life isn't and shouldn't be all about revenge. Some things need to be let go, so that one can live life to the fullest. His journey is the most exciting to chart, because it is not constrained by what we know in Jane Eyre or in the real Charlotte Brontë's lifetime. Just like in My Lady Jane, readers are rooting for all three of the leads in this novel, hoping that all mysteries will be solved and wondering how the story turns out.
Let's not forget about Charlotte and Alexander. In a way, Jane isn't the only one getting a better ending: Charlotte, too, finds romance and inspiration in this story. I thought it was fun that the author of Jane Eyre is actually a character here, which means that the Lady Janies are classifying Jane Eyre as a semi-biographical romance. It's a very fun dynamic. It's interesting how the fictional Charlotte and the classic Jane Eyre are blended together. It's a beautiful commentary on how what we write represents an extension of ourselves, something that could not be achieved without the inclusion of Charlotte's character. Alexander is one of the more fictional characters, most likely inspired in part by Charlotte Brontë's brief husband. Alexander is one of my favorite characters because he's fueled by revenge at the beginning, and over time evolves to see that life isn't and shouldn't be all about revenge. Some things need to be let go, so that one can live life to the fullest. His journey is the most exciting to chart, because it is not constrained by what we know in Jane Eyre or in the real Charlotte Brontë's lifetime. Just like in My Lady Jane, readers are rooting for all three of the leads in this novel, hoping that all mysteries will be solved and wondering how the story turns out.
If you've read Jane Eyre, you'll recognize many of the plot elements and side characters the Lady Janies use as pathways that mark the story. The actual story of Jane Eyre is integrated so well into the ghost story that the two are impossible to separate. In fact, Jane Eyre is more fun as this hilarious ghost story (which, of course, was the Lady Janies' goal). The Lady Janies even use text from the original Jane Eyre when referring to things in their novel, and sometimes it's so out of context that it's laugh-out-loud funny. Sometimes, they address the reader directly, like Charlotte Brontë does in one of the best parts of Jane Eyre, as a sort of comedy off of the Gothic nature of the classic. All in all, the play on Jane Eyre was clearly well developed and executed. Fans of Jane Eyre will recognize the nods to the classic, and those who have never read the original before might find they like this version so much they won't even read the classic!
This time around, the characters aren't trying to be funny, but they're so naturally amusing it's hard not to smile or laugh at some parts of the novel. Humor is one of the hardest things to write, and these authors do it again, and they make it look effortless. That can probably be attributed to the group effort nature of the novel: it's easier to write humor when you're bouncing jokes off of one another and working together. Another thing I loved was the nod to My Lady Jane -- did you see it? It was so fun to think that the two worlds would still be combined, somehow (in that the Ethian world and the ghost world might have been one). I think it was a cute and thoughtful way to tie all the novels together, and I'm curious to see if they'll attempt another easter egg with the final book in the series.
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