‘Reader, I married him’
Image by Gill Eastwood, Pixabay
I was very excited to receive this book for Christmas - 21 short stories inspired by ‘Jane Eyre,’ one of my favourite classic novels, in a collection compiled by Tracy Chevalier, my favourite living author.
The A-list contributors include Susan Hill, Helen Dunmore Jane Gardam and Audrey Niffenegger, whose work I’ve enjoyed and other writers new to me. Expectations ran high. Uh-oh.
I devoured the collection in a week. Most of the stories were brilliantly written, absorbing and interesting. Some had clear links to ‘Jane Eyre,’ such as ‘Grace Poole, Her Testimony,’ by Helen Dunmore. Others were more tenuously connected, perhaps just by the phrase, ‘Reader, I married him.’ Salley Vickers’ contribution, ‘Reader, she married me,’ began by inverting the title and continued in the same vein. Though undoubtedly well-written, for me this went too far to belong in a fan-fiction collection.
Overall I felt that few of the stories evoked my sense of the spirit of ‘Jane Eyre.’ Many conveyed a feisty female character facing a restrictive situation or thwarted love. They had a circumstantial correspondence. But the passionate character of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane is both inspired and guided by her values; to me, these were lacking.
This collection opened my eyes to the probability that other readers may interpret the ending of ‘Jane Eyre’ differently. I dusted off my well-thumbed copy of the novel and reread Jane’s ethereal experience of hearing her name called across the moors and her return to Thornfield, to find both the house and its master in ruins.
Do others construe Jane’s flight from St. John back to Rochester as casting off the shackles of religion and embracing love, whatever the barrier? To me, Jane casts off only the sterile, duty-led version of Christianity to which she was in danger of succumbing, under St John’s influence. She embraces the heart and spirit of authentic faith.
I enjoyed reading these compelling and fascinating stories, but I felt let down by a lack of empathy with Jane Eyre herself. ‘Reader, I married him,’ was a great way to dip into the work of a wide range of modern female novelists, some of whom I’ll now follow. First on my list will be Turkish/British writer Elif Shafak whose story, ‘A Migrating Bird,’ set in a modern Turkish university, came closest to conjuring the spirit of ‘Jane Eyre.’
Has anyone read Elif Shafak? Recommendations welcome in the comments below.
