A suspense novel with shades of Jane Eyre. Jane has a business walking dogs in an extremely rich neighborhood when she meets one of residents, Eddie, whose wife Bea had died along with her best friend Blanche in a boating accident a year ago. Jane and Eddie fall in love, become engaged, and Jane is no longer on the outside looking in, but one of the residents herself. But none of the characters in this novel are really who they pretend to be.

I didn't know anything about this book before reading it, so it took me a couple of chapters to realize that this is a retelling of a classic. Knowing that made me want to read it even more (although it took away any unknowns about the story line). I guess the title gave away any mystery, though. I loved seeing how the author incorporated Bronte-esque details!

My reasoning for the 3-star rating was that I just couldn't stand Jane. The original Jane was blunt, self-deprecating, and humble to a fault, which made her rather endearing. Hawkins created a Jane who enjoyed stealing from others, using it as a form of revenge (Pretty Woman style.) She was really kind of despicable. Also, the whole Jane-Eddie romance just did not ever take with me. Reading while feeling unconvinced felt pretty unfulfilling.

This book is the perfect page-turner to pack for a flight or a beach vacation - I couldn't put it down, Well written with thoughtful twists and turns throughout, I was able to easily finish the book in one sitting. While the base concept is one that isn't anything new, the book itself felt fresh as opposed to contrived or derivative. Will definitely be recommending this book to others!

I enjoyed this book very much! The writing style made for a fast read and I finished the book quickly because the style was so enjoyable. The characters were well developed, and I cared about finding out what happened to all of them. The twists were well set up and believable. I thought the retelling of Jane Eyre was well done, and whether you were familiar with that book or not, you could appreciate how interesting this story was. I look forward to reading more from this author and appreciate NetGalley and the publisher giving me the opportunity to read such a wonderful book.

I started reading this book late in the afternoon, I read into the night, could not put it down.
I won’t give away the plot or ending other than to say it was surprising.
This should be high on your reading list if you like to think you know your characters.

A poor man’s Jane Eyre? No, this is an enjoyable read but in a guilty pleasure type of way. I cringed lots (but I also laughed at the references to my old favorite). I believe this sums it up; Charlotte’s famous line is given a face lift in this version. “Reader, I f****d him”.

I’d love to read the book and write an honest review, but unfortunately the file doesn’t work and I couldn’t read the book. If you can send me a mobi or epub file I will be happy 5o read the book.

Great book. I couldn’t put it down. Jane wanted the life she would never have, that is until she met Eddie. She quickly moves in with him and starts living a life of luxury. Little does Jane know Eddies late wife wasn’t dead like she thought. She was the wife upstairs.

I devoured Rachel Hawkins's new take on Jane Eyre. It's hard to keep people guessing when modernizing tales, but she manages to do so. It has a similar feel to a Ruth Ware novel or Paula Hawkins. Recommended.

I LOVED THIS BOOK and it's ties to Jane Eyre. I couldn't put the book down and loved when we would switch perspectives. Bea and Jane were such strong female characters and Eddie, was likeable as well. Will definitely be recommending this book to other!

The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins was a real page turner. I loved how the story was told from the perspective of multiple characters. This kept the reader trying to fit together all the pieces and wanting to keep reading all the way to the end. The only negative is the amount of foul language that I think could have been omitted or toned down.

Rachel Hawkins weaves together an interesting plot told from several perspectives, leaving the reader questioning which one to trust. Jane has run from her troubled upbringing to Birmingham where she becomes a dog walker in a ritzy neighborhood. There she meets Eddie, a recent widower. Jane then joins up with other women in the neighborhood, also her former clients, and learns more about Bea and Blanche who recently died in a mysterious accident on the lake. Jane learns that Bea was Eddie’s wife, and the closer Jane gets to Eddie, the better things seem to be. That is until Jane starts noticing Eddie’s weird reactions to things. Will Jane’s past come back to haunt her? What really happened to Bea and Blanche? Who is giving a truthful account of everything that has happened?

This is a character driven story with a mysterious aspect that keeps one wondering. This is not my type of book, but other readers might find it intriguing. The dog walking protagonist who had the Inclination to do wrong...enjoy

I highly enjoyed this adaptation of Jane Eyre. I enjoyed the different versions of the characters and how well Rachel Hawkins updated them to fit into the 21st century.

This book I could not put down, this story will grab you in the first few pages and not let you go. What a great story and totally did not expect the ending. It will make you realize what is really important in the world, and money does not buy happiness, ever. And it seems that secrets have a way of coming out, no matter how hard you try to keep them close to yourself. Is the biggest compliment really flattery???? Great story!! Will be recommending this to lots of other people.

This is the first Rachel Hawkins book I have read and I was captivated from the first page. So suspenseful - it had me guessing right up until the very end. I loved the characters and the setting and finished the book in two days! I cannot wait to start recommending this book. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

This re-imagining of Jane Eyre was so much fun to read! Everyone has secrets - Jane, the dog walker who meets rich widower, Eddie. And there's Eddie's wife, Bea, who is assumed to have drowned along with her best friend in a tragic boating accident. But Bea's body has never been found, and it turns out that everything is not as it seems in the rich neighborhood of Thornton Estates in Birmingham.

This was an enjoyable mystery!

I am a sucker for a good Gothic novel, so a re-imagining of Jane Eyre was right up my alley. Overall, I liked it and enjoyed that Hawkins was able to deal with some of the aspects of the original novel that haven't really aged well.

Jane is a dog walker in Thornton Estates in Birmingham, Alabama. She walks the dogs of the wealthy and preppy and one day, is nearly hit by a car driven by Eddie Rochester. Eddie and Jane hit it off immediately, and he gets a dog (named Adele, natch) so he can see her regularly. As they start dating, Jane (who has secrets of her own) learns that Eddie's wife Bea died in a boat accident with her friend Blanche. But was it an accident? Or was Blanche's husband Tripp responsible? Or...was it Eddie?

As any reader of Jane Eyre knows, Bea is upstairs locked away (spoilers don't count for a book based on a book published in 1847). She narrates parts of the book to help the reader understand what's going on from her POV. It's a nice twist on a great book. The Wife Upstairs ends with an ending impossible in the 1840s, and good for Hawkins for recognizing the ickiness of the original conclusion.

I gave the book 3 stars because I really struggled with the chemistry between Eddie and Jane, I couldn't quite figure out if Jane was in love with Eddie or just trying to scam him, and I wasn't really connected to any of the characters. The book is a quick and easy read with a familiar storyline and a decent mystery, and I'm delighted I was able to receive an advanced reader copy from netgalley. If you like Gothic novels and recognize the need for an updated Jane Eyre, go and get this one when it comes out.