Jane Steele

"Jane Steele" by Lyndsay Faye tells the story of Jane Steele, a murderess who resides on the estate of Highgate House in the outskirts of London with her mother, Anne-Laure Steele. After her mother's death, Jane faces mistreatment from her relatives and attends Lowan Bridge School, encountering abuse at every step of her life. She eventually becomes a governess at Highgate House, where she discovers dark secrets about her family's past. As she navigates through the complexities of her heritage, Jane finds herself entangled in a web of intrigue and mystery.

Jane Steele is incredible, both the book and the character, from the mystery to the reveals it was riveting the whole time. The book is formatted like an autobiography, consisting of volumes containing different stages in her life. This gives the book an interesting angle because while you have first-person narration, but not often do you get a whole autobiography. 

As a person and character, Jane Steele is fascinating, she is twisted, charismatic, intelligent, but besides that she is incredibly complex and 3-dimensional. I talk much more about her incredible characterization in the episode, so I highly suggest checking it out. On a separate note, all the residents of the Highgate House, Charles, Sahjara, etc., are so likable and have so much depth. There isn't a single character in this book that is poorly written, whether it be their personality or their motivations. 

Something that I think could have been better is the exposition and context. This is because there were times where the reasoning for something wasn't very well established and that led to some confusion while reading. 

Final thoughts? This book is so unique, especially as a Jane Eyre adaptation and I would love to read Faye's other book Paragon Hotel. If you'd like to hear my official rating and other things I liked or disliked, head over to the podcast and check out Episode 3: Jane Steele. 

See you next time dear customer, and happy reading!