Hurrah, I cannot hide my joy at having read this delight of a book. It's Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte, which I read as an audio book with the glorious Juliet Stephenson narrating! What an absolute pleasure it has been to have this book worm its way into my mind through the dulcet tones of this great actress. Our heroine is a strong willed, plain girl who becomes orphaned at an early age and is taken in by her unwilling aunt. The outcome is not good, and she gets shipped to a girls school which is at first harsh, but after a scandal involving the deaths of many of the girls, improves and Jane finds peace there. When it comes time to leave, she applies for a job as a governess in a large house in the country. Jane settles in and eventually meets her employer - Mr Rochester - a strange, unhappy and unattractive man. Over time, they talk and spar and despite her best efforts to resist, Jane develops an affection for this man. However, he is destined to marry a beautiful society lady and Jane concentrates on teaching her young student. But why is it that whenever he gets into trouble (which is quite often), it is Jane he always turns to? And what is at the centre of his sadness and ill temper? Jane is stunned, but overjoyed when he suddenly asks her to marry him. However, disaster strikes on their wedding day ... and she runs away and starts a new life. Will she ever find happiness? You can't help root for Jane who is one of the strongest female characters I think I have ever found in a book. The interplay between her and Mr Rochester sparkles and the book is full of life and twists and turns. It's a joy to read from start to finish and if you can get hold of this particular audio edition you will not be disappointed. Wish I was starting it again!
My STAR rating: FIVE.
Length: 404 print pages.
Price I paid: £3.99.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio download; abridged audio CD; multimedia CD; ebook.
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