Published in 2016 (first published 1847)
390 pages
19 hours and 10 minutes
audiobook (read by Thandiwe Newton)
Charlotte Brontë (1816-1855) was from an English family that produced three novelists: herself, Emily, and Anne. Besides Jane Eyre, other best known works include Shirley and Villette.
What is this book about?
The novel Jane Eyre is a first-person narrative of the title character. The novel is set somewhere in the north of England, during the reign of George III (1760–1820), and goes through five distinct stages: Jane’s childhood at Gateshead Hall, where she is emotionally and physically abused by her aunt and cousins; her education at Lowood School, where she acquires friends and role models but suffers privations and oppression; her time as governess at Thornfield Hall, where she falls in love with her Byronic employer, Edward Rochester; her time with the Rivers family, during which her earnest but cold clergyman cousin, St. John Rivers, proposes to her; and her reunion with, and marriage to, her beloved Rochester. During these sections the novel provides perspectives on a number of important social issues and ideas, many of which are critical of the status quo.
