Jane Steele

I loved it. It is creative, well written and entertaining. A must read.

Jane Steele is an homage to Jane Eyre (not a retelling-- despite what the official summary will tell you), an original story with a few broad plot parallels to Jane Eyre. The aforementioned novel actually exists within the world of Jane Steele, and our protagonists comments on the similarities between their stories.I was also under a somewhat false impression - my own fault I think - that Jane Steele was a serial killer Jane Eyre, what with the description like "leaving a trail of corpses of her tormentors"-- instead Jane Steele is more of vigilante who doesn't mind getting her hands bloody. She kills mostly out of self-defense or to defend those who she loves from abuse. At first I was a bit disappointed that Jane didn't end up being a heartless sociopath (I mean come on, what a fascinating concept), but in the end, I liked the story for what it was instead.Jane Steele is a story of redemption. Jane herself is a fantastic character, who undergoes lots of growth as the story progresses. Her path starts off in a very dark place, abused by her extended family after her mother dies, and then she faces even more abuse at the boarding school. But at the school, Jane also finds people she cares about, and I think that's what helps her escape darkness entirely, but her past enables her to do whatever it takes - including murder- to protect those she loves. Jane's arc of redemption begins early, but it doesn't really start until she becomes entirely surrounded by people she cares about-- and who care about her. It was very touching to see Jane realize that she may not be as awful and condemned as she had thought.The plot itself is meandering, we follow Jane to many places, her childhood home, her school, the criminal London, and then a rich man's house. Faye’s description of the various settings are rather vivid and it’s not hard to picture yourself, traveling along side of. This is a story of a survival, growth, redemption, mystery, and even romance.I liked most of the supporting characters, but the main focus is always on Jane. I'm not entirely sure I liked the romance, but then I again, I rarely do.Overall, I really liked the novel, it didn't turn out to be what I thought it would be, but it turned out to be great for what it was.P.S. The pages of my book were damaged, ten pages were bent - though thankfully not torn. Hopefully, will even out after it sits under some weight.

First of all, JANE STEELE is not a rewrite of JANE EYRE. Jane Steele, the character, is not a new version of Bronte's Jane. Faye's Jane does live in Victorian times, is orphaned, is sent to a girls' school with a sadistic headmaster, does become a governess, does meet up with a brooding hero, but that's where the similarities end. Faye's Jane is, however, a big fan of Bronte's book and has her own second-edition copy which she reads and rereads and muses upon and is inspired by to write down her own story, which I as a reader found clever and entertaining.Another thing this is *not* is a book about a "serial killer". While Jane Steele does commit multiple homicides during her first 24 years of life, she does not, by any stretch of the imagination, fit the serial killer definition of a person who commits multiple murders "usually in service of abnormal psychological gratification." (Wikipedia definition.) Our Jane here is no psychopath. Or if she is, then so am I, because I cheered her on with every murder she committed.Bronte's Jane is told at every opportunity by various characters of the book that she is "evil". Faye's Jane is not told that. Faye's Jane, however, believes herself to be evil and that is perhaps more devastating to her identity than being accused by others of evilness. But this is not a book to describe. This is a book to read and feel. I loved spending time with this protagonist. Every moment of her life, from a young girl losing her mother, to her time spent at Lowan Bridge School, to her escape from said school to spend years surviving on the "mean streets" of London, to her move to Highgate House (her old home) as governess to the ward of brooding ex-soldier/medical doctor in India Charles Thornfield. At Highgate House she is embroiled in a mystery involving the East India Company and a missing treasure and is surrounded by a household of fascinating Sikh characters who had moved from India along with Thornfield.This is a very complete and entertaining read. Part psychological study, part romance, part mystery, with excellent, well-developed characters. Some of the secondary and incidental ones are quite unsavory. Some quite exemplary. All add to the richness of the read. I had not expected to like this when I read descriptions of the book such as "Jane Eyre meets Dexter" or "Jane Eyre reimagined as a serial killer" but those descriptions do not reflect the book's content at all, IMO. Well, just read it and decide for yourself.

This book is a crowd-pleaser. The pacing is just right; the plot is continuously interesting. Jane Steele is a book character who keeps the readers happy and satisfied with the choices she makes (although there's a question of moral justification). I feel like she does all the things a reader would want her to in the circumstances she is in.

I love Jane Eyre. Love it. One of the best classics of all time really. So I was a bit apprehensive to read this. Having said that I had read Lyndsay Faye’s other novels and was blown away so I had faith that this was not going to be a Jane Eyre with attitude novel. I was not disappointed as this was so much more. SO much more.Lyndsay not only evokes and alludes to the time of Jane Eyre and to the story but fully immerses you inside that world and in the minds of both Janes - Eyre and Steele. The novel follows the story of Jane Eyre in as much as the move from school to governess but the real link is how Steele uses the novel as some sort of spiritual guidance. Whilst drinking gin and killing people of course. Although not always on purpose.The writing is quite genius and I don’t use the world lightly. She only does what she needs to do in order to survive. Life of the two Janes may have parallels but this is no Jane Eyre mark 2. This Jane’s life goes off on one tangent after another.Reader I murdered him’ may be the best line ever in a novel. It not only reminds you of the original novel but shows the wit and satire of this story. It’s a romance, a victorian satirical romance, evocative in tone, nature and language and the way it changes from Jane’s story to one immerses in Sikh history and intrigue was nothing short of genius.I really can’t say too much more without giving some of the plot away but cast your doubts aside and welcome Jane Steele into your home - steele by name and steele by nature.

When I read in reviews that this novel was a version of 'Jane Eyre' in which the heroine is a serial killer, I thought I was going to hate it, and indeed after Jane Steele's first declaration of 'Reader, I murdered him' I nearly gave up, only persevering because I've made something of a study of Bronte 'spin-offs'. The perseverance, however, was well rewarded, since this is a richly-imagined, inventive, and wryly comical book, with just enough of a parallel with 'Jane Eyre' to make it thought-provoking. The author takes some well-known quotations from 'Jane Eyre', which are used as epigraphs to each chapter - such as 'like any rebel slave, I resolved to go all lengths' - and pushes their interpretation to the limit, with startling results. There is also, however, a lot of well-researched contextual material derived from the history of the Punjab and its relation with the British Empire, and the sources for this are explained in an author's 'Afterword'. The author also confesses in this Afterowed that this is 'rather a ridiculous' book, and I found this rather endearing. I would recommend the book as a thoroughly good read - I found it difficult to put down - once you get over the reluctance to see Jane Eyre as a potential killer.

This book started really well; volume one was a great introduction to the story with some well paced chapters and wonderfully snarky sentences. But it’s almost as if a different author wrote volumes two and three which were rather drawn out and lacking the spiky humour of the first volume. Not a bad read by any means, just a little disappointing towards the end.

Interesting to read something a little different. A good idea, well thought out.