Simona B's Reviews > Jane Steele

“I hope that the epitaph of the human race when the world ends will be: Here perished a species which lived to tell stories.”

•Well, I was certainly not expecting this. This ultimately, absorbingly, fiercely, lusciously phenomenal reimagining of one of the greatest and most influential classics of my life (and, incidentally, of English literature too, of course). The strength of Jane Steele is that it styles itself not as the story of an alternative Jane Eyre, but of a parallel one. In the book, Jane Steele actually reads Jane Eyre, creating a delicious meta-literary situation which only enhanced my literature freak enthusiasm and allowed me to notice the myriad of links, references and parallelisms, all handled so intelligently and sophisticatedly, that connect the two works. For this reason, I think you can very likely enjoy and even love Jane Steele even though you haven't read Jane Eyre, but reading it in the light of its hypotext must be, I believe, a completely different and more thorough experience.

•Many of these read threads are almost too exquisitely subtle and refined for me to be able to nail them down with precision: they are in the characterization, in the plot, in the care and attention and loving admiration the author put in describing a foreign culture –the Sikh culture– to which she then proceeded to assign such a pivotal role in the story.
I was particularly moved by Faye's decision to make of the conflicts between the British and the Sikh a key element in the storyline; it seemed to me as a willingness on the author's part to make some adjustments to the centre of gravity of Jane Eyre, where Bertha's Jamaican (and therefore, foreign) upbringing could be grounds for even a brief discussion about the relationship between motherland and colony, but isn't, resulting in the reader completely forgetting that another part of the British Empire has even be mentioned.
Now, in Jane Eyre I didn't perceive that as a shortcoming at all (basically, because that novel is my life), but kudos to Jane Steele for the astonishing results of its masterful indirect approach to righting this wrong.

•Jane's character gets into your heart and head so quickly, and then it just won't leave. I loved her, this "no bird" who is as soft as she is unbreakable.

“Shadows are curious entities; they are lightless and yet cast a shape into the world, just as I do.”

And of course, Charles Thornfield–

“There have already been multiple moments which cause me to suspect your true self a giant deliberately casting a small shadow.”

Did you hear that? That plop sound? My heart melting, ladies and gentlemen. But also all the others, Sahjara, Sardar, even Clarke –I loved them all. And Sam Quillfeather! Heavens, I adore that man. And the way his character emerges and changes, that is to say through Jane's point of view as she grows up, is so fascinating to watch and very, very clever.

•Lyndsay Faye's writing is the umpteenth surprise this book has in store for its readers. Let's see, how should I describe it–stunning, maybe? Absolutely unbelievable? It was like actually reading another version of Jane Eyre, it made the whole story sound so true and authentic. Just remembering it makes me indescribably happy.

➽ What else can I say, if not that I recommend Jane Steele with my whole heart? After all, you know how picky and generally difficult I am when it comes to retellings and fanfictions and reimaginings, so I think my love for this one should speak volumes. Provided that, as I said, those who already know Jane Eyre have more chances of appreciating it, I know it can appeal to and make fall in love just everyone. And if you choose to read this one first, maybe then you can read Jane Eyre as an anachronistic reimagining of Jane Steele...
And now I want to cry because I never thought I would see the day when a retelling would make me say that. Thank you, Lyndsay Faye.