Reading Circle 84: ‚Jane Eyre‘ by Charlotte Bronte

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  • Reading Circle 84: 'Jane Eyre' by Charlotte Bronte
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Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

This month we are introducing a classic of English literature, Jane Eyre, An Autobiography by Charlotte Brontë, first published under her pen name of `Currer Bell´, in October 1847.

What‘s the book about?
The publisher’s blurb on the Penguin Classics 1996 edition of the book states:

Orphaned into the household of her Aunt Reed at Gateshead, subject to the cruel regime at Lowood charity schol, Jane Eyre nonetheless emerges unbroken in spirit and integrity. How she takes up the post of governess at Thornfield Hall, meets and loves Mr Rochester ……. are elements in a story that transcends melodrama to portray a woman’s passionate search for a wider and richer life than that traditionally accorded to her sex in Victorian society.

Charlotte Brontë was one of a remarkable family of five sisters and one brother, living in the north of England. Their father was a clergyman and their mother died young.
As children, the siblings had an incredibly rich fantasy life. They were constantly writing adventure stories about imaginary countries. When the plans of the surviving sisters, Charlotte, Emily and Ann, to open a school together came to nothing, the sisters turned to writing. Charlotte’s first novel, The Professor, was turned down for publication, while her sisters‘ novels were accepted. However, in response to an encouraging refusal letter from publisher George Smith, she started another. This novel was Jane Eyre, An Autobiography, which was immediately accepted for publication and was an instant success.

Charlotte believed that art was most convincing when it was based on personal experience. In Jane Eyre she drew both on her personal experience, but also on the romanticism and Gothic elements of her early writings and the naturalism which reflected her life growing up on the edge of the Yorkshire moors. The novel broke new ground as it was written in the first person, with a new truthfulness, realistically portraying the inner life of a woman and reflecting her inner struggles with her natural desires and social condition.

Reading Circle members´ book recommendations

Wackelkontakt by Wolf Haas (2025)(in German): A language version of an Escher painting – two novels writing each other.
Augustus by John Edward Williams (1972 ): A thrilling engrossing epistolary novel of Roman history.
Der Magier im Kreml (2023) (In German) by Giuliano da Empoli : A novel about contemporary Russia, taking the reader into the centre of Russian power and intrigue from the perspective of a spin-doctor in the service of the state.
Zu Dumm für die Demokratie? By Mark Schieritz (2025) (In German): Die Zeit journalist Schieritz asks how we protect democracy when the will of some voters seems to be anti-democratic.
The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki (2022): After the tragic death of his father,13-year-old Benny starts hearing voices that belong to things in this house. He seeks silence and refuge in the public library.
Explosive Modernity by Eva Illouz (2024): The current state of modernity – a profound analysis of our contemporary emotional world.
A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein (1981): A book of poems by an American poet, writer and musician, who was a master of whimsy and light satire, delivered in verse. Originally a children’s book, it was also aimed at adults.
Cinnamon Gardens by Shyam Selvadurai (1998): Sri Lanka – The life of the wealthy in Colombo’s upper classes in the 1920’s. About whether marriage will suit an emancipated young woman, and how a son shrugs off his father’s dominance.
Conclave by Robert Harris (2016): The election of a new Pope -The power of God, the ambition of men.  Timely now, in view of the forthcoming Conclave following the passing of Pope Franciscus.

Do listen next month when the book to be introduced is Bournville by Jonathan Coe (2022). Here’s how The Guardian describes it:
Coe tracks the fortunes of a family through snapshots of communal experiences, from the Queen’s Coronation through the 1966 World Cup to pandemic lockdown, in a moving, compassionate portrait of individual and national change‘.

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