Jane Steele

Lyndsay Faye's reworking of JANE EYRE is exceedingly well crafted, with impeccable narration to match from Susie Riddell. Faye's main character, Jane Steele, is aware of the Bront‘ novel and conscious about the ways in which her story follows Jane's. These details make for some interesting musings on her situation and remind the listener of the connection in a way that feels natural. Riddell's narration is a wonderful match for Jane's prickly but empathetic personality. Riddell expertly conveys Jane's fears and ambitions, while also breathing life and individuality into a host of other characters with whom Jane interacts. Lovers of JANE EYRE or any of Faye's other works will be captivated by this engaging listen. J.L.K. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

February 15, 2016
Set in Victorian England, this intriguing tribute to Jane Eyre from Edgar-finalist Faye (The Gods of Gotham), reimagines Charlotte Brontë’s heroine as a killer. “Of all my many murders, committed for love and for better reasons, the first was the most important,” the eponymous narrator notes in the captivating opening. That killing was in self-defense, Jane explains after admitting she has ambivalent feelings about Jane Eyre, which she has read over and over again. At age nine, Jane fights off the advances of her creepy 13-year-old cousin, Edwin Barbary, who winds up at the bottom of a ravine with a broken spine. She succeeds in selling Edwin’s subsequent death as an accident, but her aunt ships her off to a Dickensian boarding school, run by a sadistic headmaster who puts his charges through a daily reckoning that ends with most of them going without food. The arresting narrative voice is coupled with a plot that Wilkie Collins fans will relish. Author tour. Agent: Erin Malone, William Morris Endeavor.