Reader, I…
…can’t believe we spoke for more than an hour about Jane Eyre and yet I still feel like we barely scratched the surface of Charlotte Brontë’s masterpiece.
It will be clear to anyone who listened to this week’s podcast just how much Dominic and I loved Jane Eyre, with both of us declaring it one of the best books in the English language.
After weeks spent with some unreliable narrators (Lolita, Rebecca), and one who was emotionally guarded (A Month in the Country) it was a relief to be in the direct and reflective hands of Jane, one of my top literary heroines.
Much of the joy of Jane Eyre comes from the connection the narrator builds with the reader, addressing us directly with an immediacy and intimacy that means we experience Jane’s story almost viscerally, in a way that had rarely been done before in literature.
As William Makepeace Thackeray said of Brontë's narrative: "Which of her readers has not been her friend?”
But not everyone is a fan, as this character from the Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry sketch we mentioned in the episode beautifully sums up.
Nearly 200 years after being published, this remains a real page turner, with a story that is at times darkly gothic, meltingly romantic, revolutionary and also highly introspective.
Both Dominic and I found so much to dive into when re-reading and I urge you to do the same. As always, you can use our Book Notes, from Rhiannon, to explore some of those themes.
We were delighted by the response to A Month in the Country, especially the correspondence (shared below) from those who met or were influenced by Carr.
Keep writing in to [email protected]. We love to hear from you all – even if it is to correct our pronunciation of places in Yorkshire!
I’ll end on a question… Away from Jane Eyre, who are your literary heroines and why?
Until next time,
If you enjoyed Jane Eyre
Some more recommendations for your list
📚 The Life of Charlotte Brontë by Elizabeth Gaskell – “Single-handedly responsible for creating the Brontë myth,” this biography of the author by her close friend has itself become a classic read.
📚 Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys – This postcolonial take on the story of Bertha Rochester, before the timeline of Jane Eyre, is a book that once read, can colour your reading of Brontë’s novel for good.
📚 The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins – This New York Times bestseller is one of many retellings of Jane Eyre, this time taking place in the modern day and recasting Jane as a “broke dog walker newly arrived in town”.
📚 Villette by Charlotte Brontë – Virginia Woolf described this as “Brontë’s finest novel”. It draws on the author’s experience as a governess to tell the story of Lucy Snowe, who struggles to contain her complex feelings about a dark headmaster where she teaches.
🏰 Plan a day trip in the autumn sunshine to North Lees Hall, believed to be the inspiration for Thornfield Hall after Brontë visited it numerous times in 1845.
📽 Jane Eyre (2011) - Michael Fassbender makes a good Rochester in this adaptation of the book, which stars Mia Wasikowska as Jane.
We need your vote
As Dominic noted, there’s always lots of discussion about the nature of spoilers and how far into discussing a novel our presenters should go. So tell us, how do you feel about them?
Click to vote – Please LEAVE YOUR NAME at the end of any comment, so we can share your thoughts in next week's newsletter.
Notes on… Jane Eyre
It’s likely that most in your book group have already read Jane Eyre. But as ever, the classics bear rereading because the chances often are that if you read a novel when you were at school, there’s a lot you missed and might come to reassess. That’s what you regularly tell us in your letters too. So, if you’ve been inspired to pick up Charlotte Brontë’s masterpiece, here are some conversation starters…
The draw of the Brontë sisters’ upbringing on the moors, with their strange habits, tortured lives and incredible intellect means “the complexity and the sophistication” of their writing can sometimes get lost, Dominic argues.
Dominic described the novel as “endlessly fascinating”. “We could do 100 podcasts about it and we still wouldn’t exhaust all the nuances and ambiguities,” he said. What elements of Jane Eyre gripped you most?
How can the mythology built around great authors distract from their writing? Is this the case with the Brontës?
George Henry Lewes said: “Reality – deep significant reality – is the great characteristic of the book.”
The presenters explored how the writing is rooted in 19th century realism. What were the strengths of telling Jane’s story in this way?
“This is, in many ways, a realistic novel grounded in objective reality in [its] painstaking descriptions of people and places and things, [but] the line between the natural and the supernatural is a little bit thin, and that's what gives it the kind of gothic quality.” Discuss how and where you saw elements of gothic writing.
“She’s a very reflective and thoughtful narrator,” said Dominic. However, some readers and critics have questioned whether, particularly when it comes to descriptions of Mr Rochester, she is always completely reliable. Especially because of the added complexity of an older Jane recalling the story. Where did you land on this debate?
The presenters quoted a scathing review by Elizabeth Rigby (read the whole thing here) who chastised the novel as “anti-Christian”. Yet Tabby countered that, especially given Brontë’s strict, religious upbringing, she found it “a very Godly book”.
How do you feel this novel treats religion and the sense of moral purpose? Is, as some critics argued at the time, Jane being “un-Christian” by rejecting St John Rivers’ offer to become a missionary’s wife and instead choosing to go with her “earthly passion” for (an already married) Rochester?
Some read the text as politically subversive. Rigby further claimed: “The tone of mind and thought which has overthrown authority and violated every code human and divine abroad, and fostered Chartism and rebellion at home, is the same which has also written Jane Eyre.” The presenters agreed that “determined revolt” was the essence of Jane’s personality, with the character refusing to be pigeonholed. In the context of the Victorian period, how is this novel revolutionary? Is that why its popularity has sustained?
As a governess, Jane (and Brontë herself) holds a strange position in the household, “not quite that of a servant, but not really a member of the house or either,” said Dominic. How does Jane’s class define her and allow the author to explore issues around this topic?
“Bertha Antoinette Mason is a character who contains volumes,” said Dominic. “People have written, not just academic books, but they have written novels about her. You can see her as the representation of sexuality run amok, alcoholism in some takes, she's a gothic vampire because she bites people in the neck.”
As Dominic added, critics even asked: “Is she the dark secrets of Britain's involvement in slavery? And the racism of the British Empire? Is she the violence and the evil of the Empire that has returned to haunts and native land.” Some even read her as Jane’s id. What is the truth about Bertha? Why is she a character who, all these years on, still inspires debate and fascination?
The book has become a favourite of feminist critics that was ahead of its time in the portrayal of Jane as a self-autonomous woman. And yet there are elements that defy that characterisation, such as the portrayal of Bertha Mason. Did you find Jane Eyre to be a feminist text?
“I can't just try to think of examples in English literature before this of a relationship between Jane and Mr Rochester. That is so nicely judged,” said Dominic. “There's lots of sexy relationships… but not one where there is a playfulness and a wryness.”
“You absolutely feel she has power over him,” he added. Rochester and Jane’s relationship has been viewed as everything from a great romance to problematically controlling. How did you view the dynamic?
“There is a slight hint of the sadomasochism we see in Wuthering Heights,” says Tabby. Jane Eyre is often read through this lens, with many critics noting how sexuality runs throughout. Was this something you analysed? How does Mr Rochester compare to Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights?
The quote that says it all
“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! And if God had gifted me with some beauty and much wealth, I should have made it as hard for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you. I am not talking to you now through the medium of custom, conventionalities, nor even of mortal flesh: it is my spirit that addresses your spirit; just as if both had passed through the grave, and we stood at God's feet, equal — as we are!”
The quote that, to many, encapsulates the sense of self that has seen Jane remain a favourite literary heroine. What quote stayed with you after you finished the book? Email us and let us know.
Who should you give this to?
Anyone wanting to debate the definition of feminism? A person you suspect has some (metaphorical) skeletons in their attic? Someone tired of dating apps and looking for an arresting romance?
Tell us, who would you share this book with?
Recommended reads
We’re taking recommendations here to share with the Book Notes community. Tell us what book fellow members should pick up by sending two or three sentences about your choice and we’ll feature as many as we can in future weeks… Email [email protected].
Christine suggests reading The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, “a book that exhilarated me as a child and still does as an adult. Shape-shifters and wizards and two children fighting alone in a complex maze of tunnels and trees to keep the weirdstone from the evil ones. A brilliant story and one that has stayed with me all my life.”
William calls on you to pick up The Disappearers by Marlon James. He writes that it is a “a darkly humorous narrative” which “intensely describes the constant fears and ultimate manifestation of homophobic violence.” “Described as possibly the best book of the century (so far) by the NYT,” he adds.
Pauline says The Blue Flower by Penelope Fitzgerald is “a mesmeric read full of exquisite writing [and] transports the reader to a different place in a different time with different characters.”
Reviewers’ corner
We can’t wait to see your responses to Jane Eyre. Write to [email protected] with ‘review’ in the subject line and tell us…
Are Jane and Rochester one of literature’s great couples? If so, why?
Is this one of the greatest works of English literature?
But first, your thoughts and feelings about J. L. Carr’s A Month in the Country.
Your polls
Given the bucolic writing about Yorkshire in Carr’s novel, we wondered if you preferred to read about places you have been, or to be transported to new worlds. You were almost split 50/50. In the end, 50.4% of you said you like to be taken elsewhere.
Firmly in the “explore new worlds” camp is Rosie, who wrote: “I am nearly at the end of a project reading a book from every country of the world. Currently in the Cook Islands! It has been a lovely way to experience many countries I will probably never get to myself, and I have found so much great fiction I would never have otherwise discovered.”
And we enjoyed this perspective from Aleksandra, who said: “I find there’s a particular thrill to immersing yourself in a place entirely alien to you, only to discover that the more specific the story, the place, the characters, the more you start to recognise elements of your own world in them.”
Of those who liked to read closer to home, Nora said, “It is so interesting to see a place through someone else's eyes, especially a place you know so well or is connected to a treasured memory. I am from Vienna and through its prescriptions it seems to be a hundred different cities in one.”
And Wendie, who agreed, told us: “I grew up in the south Cotswolds, in a tiny village with so many interesting, weird and wonderful inhabitants. It was quiet, the birds sang, the baker brought the bread in his pony and trap, we bought huge jars of thick jersey cream from the farm up the hill. It was heaven on earth, and was not far from Laurie Lee’s home in Slad. My dearest friend’s dad used to drink with Laurie in The Woolpack. My heart aches when I think of those days, which seemed endless and full of promise.”
When it came to marks, the majority of you agreed with Dominic’s 9/10.
Jill, who awarded it 10/10 said: “It's about life and art, about love and war, about the natural world and religion... It touches profoundly on so many things and is beautifully written. The other love story, that you didn't mention, is that of young Kathy Ellerbeck for Birkin! Her attention to him is very touching. And all in 100 pages! The perfect proof that 'less is more' in art.”
Esther also loved the novel and added: “I'm reminded of a Japanese genre called iyashikei (lit. 'healing type'). Iyashikei-type works often portray characters just going about their lives in a peaceful environment with no big baddies, sometimes hinting at a gloomier reality. My Neighbour Totoro being one prime example of an iyashikei-type work… I went to a rural boarding school in England a long time ago and this book really brings back lovely memories of the misty mornings, teas, cheese with hunks of bread, even the hobbit-y mannerisms of some teachers! Thank you for introducing this book, I'll reread it whenever I miss England again.”
Tea with Carr
Ross wrote in with this wonderful story. “In 1982, before the days of print on demand, when books could easily go out of print, J. L. Carr placed a small ad in The Bookseller advising that he had stock of his comic novella, The Harpole Report, which had been recently read on Radio 4. He listed his address as Mill Road in Kettering. I wanted a copy of Harpole, but also of How Steeple Sinderby Wanderers Won the FA Cup (which had also been read on Radio 4). So I faked a work visit to Kettering and knocked on his door.
“Carr answered and said that sadly he no longer had copies of either and castigated the inefficiencies of the publishing industry. Even so, he invited me in for a cup of tea and a chat about writing, publishing, churches and cricket.
“Carr admitted not one of his characters was entirely fictional; they were all real people he knew. You can assume that Tom Birkin is Carr himself. He spent the years immediately before writing A Month in the Country restoring a wall painting in a church in Northampton. The lead characters in the Harpole novels and Steeple Sinderby are also Carr himself I suspect. But I challenged him about Fangfoss, the chairman of Steeple Sinderby Wanderers, who lived with two sisters, was married to one but had children by the other. Surely, he was fictional? A farmer he knew in North Yorkshire was the reply.”
A wonderful Carr coincidence
Kai, a bellhanger, wrote in to say: “A friend, hearing my stories of trips to small parish churches this summer recommended the book as he felt the life that it presented to be similar to my own! I greatly enjoyed the book, and connected with the tales of village life and appreciation of our beautiful churches. Reading it often lent against gravestones on lunch breaks after a morning up in the belfry.
“I was on maintenance recently at Radnage's St. Mary's church, a beautiful Saxon church in the Chilterns. A tiny thing of beauty, its walls replete with 13th century wall paintings and wonderfully intricate wooden ceilings. Seemingly some eccentric vicar in the 1930s had uncovered the wall paintings while conducting experiments of some sort in the vestry that he had turned into a laboratory. He wasn't well liked by the congregation.
“In talking to the sacristan, I found out that the film of A Month in the Country had been primarily shot at this church back in the 80s. They hadn't taken care of the wall paintings during the filming she was keen to point out.”
A lovely surprise
Diana recently read A Month in the Country and says “One thing I was surprised didn’t come up was the novel’s lovely, gentle humour. There’s obviously so much melancholy in it — the aftermath of war, lost opportunities, the sense of looking back on a perfect summer that can never be recovered — but I found Birkin’s observations of the people around him wonderfully dry and funny. It was one of the things that made the book feel so warm and alive to me, rather than simply sad. I wondered if anyone else found it much funnier than they were expecting?”
Church-side reading
“What better place to reread this fabulous book than sitting on the bench in my village church yard in the autumnal sun,” wrote Maggie this week. She also sent in the below pictures. “We have a beautiful 12th century church with faded medieval paintings on the walls and in the chancel there is a recent memorial to those who died in the Great War. There’s even a bell tower – the only thing missing was scaffolding and Birkin.
“As for my favourite quote, the one that stayed with me is right at the very end: ‘We can ask and ask but we can’t have again what once seemed ours forever’.”
Endless summer
Martha reads A Month in the Country every year and sent us her favourite quote in answer to our call-out.
“But one thing is sure - I had a feeling of immense content and, if I thought at all, it was that I'd like this to go on, no-one going, no-one coming, autumn and winter always loitering around the corner, summer's ripeness lasting for ever, nothing disturbing the even tenor of my way.”
Martha writes: “That feeling of wanting summer to last...and nothing changing and life being as sweet as this always...and nostalgic for it before it leaves. It reminds me also of the Edward Thomas poem, Adlestrop, which to me is pure summer.”
Holiday reading
Thank you to Louise and family, who have encouraged us to force holiday book clubs on nearest and dearest!
“I wanted to tell you that I took a few copies for a book club on a large family holiday,” she says. “EVERYONE loved it ages ranged from early 80s, 50s and early 20s. Thank you both, it was a beautiful book to read and discuss and added another dimension to our time away together.”
Scoreboard
Book | Dominic’s Verdict | Tabby’s Verdict |
|---|---|---|
Jane Eyre | 10/10 | 10/10 |
A Month in the Country | 9/10 | 8.5/10 |
Lord of the Flies | 9/10 | 7/10 |
Lolita | 10/10 | 10/10 |
Rebecca | 9/10 | 9/10 |
Next on The Book Club
Here’s what’s coming up on the podcast over the next few weeks…
September 29: American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
October 6: Goldfinger by Ian Fleming
October 13: The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
October 20: White Nights by Fyodor Dostoevsky
October 27: The Shining by Stephen King
November 3: The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
November 10: Master and Commander by Patrick O’Brian
Keeping score
This week, both presenters gave Jane Eyre 10 shaggy-haired bigamists ⛪ out of 10. But what do you think?
See you next week for American Psycho.
The Book Club Team
