Jane Eyre

by Charlotte Bronte

One of my all-time favorites. It's a classic, so you really can't go wrong, although there are some parts where Charlotte Bronte gets a little verbiose in her description of scenery. That's really my only complaint though.

The story begins with Jane Eyre as a young orphan living in her aunt's house, and the emotional abuses she suffers there. After a truly dreadful episode, she is sent away to boarding school, where she grows into an intelligent, austere young woman. Jane decides she wants to see more of the world, and so becomes a governess at Thornfield Hall. The girl Jane tutors is the ward of Mr. Edward Rochester, the owner of Thornfield, a man not handsome, but striking in his personality. Jane falls in love with him, and he with her, but he has a dark secret that stands in the way of their happiness.

There are elements of Pride and Prejudice and Rebecca in here - or maybe elements of Jane Eyre in those two books, I don't know when each came out - which are two of my other favorite books. Jane is a strong heroine, and I love her/Charlotte Bronte's voice (it's written in the first person). Mr. Rochester is also a wonderfully sketched character, and the repartee between them at times is really funny. Like I said, the only complaint I have is that descriptions can get a little wordy and slow down the pace of the book, but it's worth getting through those parts because the plot and characterization are so good.