This is a fun read, and instead of doing the usual analysis as a retelling, I'm going to talk about why I titled it the way I did. The writing is good, the characters work, etc., and the plot is taken from greats. However, in retellings I have certain expectations about how the new version plays with the old one, so my gut take on how to treat this was to look more at that, as expectations play such a big part in whether we like a thing or not.

I know, the book blurb says that it's a retelling of Jane Eyre, but I kept thinking of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca: the setting on the coast with an abandoned cabin was probably the part that kept me thinking of the later novel. Okay, I admit, I've only seen the movie[s] version of Rebecca; I have read Jane Eyre (and seen some movie versions). (More disclosure—I hesitate to say full—I only got around to reading Jane Eyre because of Jasper Fforde's The Eyre Affair. Love that book.) That's not a criticism; I like both Jane Eyre and Rebecca, and this modern gothic has taken bits of both and given a spin on them that works. But for fans of the former, this retelling may be a little different than they expected.

Evan Rochester is hot, not really how I recall feeling after reading the description of Edward Rochester. Another factor toward the Rebecca feel.

However, it's not hard to see similarities between Jane Eyre and Rebecca when you start looking, as they're both Gothic, brooding sorts of novels. Both have the wealthy older man coupled with a naive and poor younger woman, in both the protagonist has no family, and in both, the male hero is stupidly withholding information. Both also have a current potential rival to the protagonist.

But the strongest reason for thinking of Rebecca rather than Jane Eyre is the cursory treatment of this Jane's family and upbringing. The original Jane's childhood in her forbidding orphanage explains much of her adult choices. (Okay, I've got to use some kind of shorthand for the original Jane Eyre character—from here on, she's OJ.) The Jane in LIndsay Marcott's version has only lost her mother relatively recently, and there's nothing to indicate the same kind of hardships that OJ underwent. At the opening of the book, Marcott's Jane has been a successful TV writer, which doesn't parallel OJ at all.

And the other stance that differentiates it from Jane Eyre and makes it more like Rebecca is that Marcott's Jane knows of the existence of Rochester's wife from the outset, whereas OJ doesn't learn of Bertha until Chapter 26. (Hell, OJ didn't even know Rochester existed until after she arrived at Thornfield.) Instead, like the second Mrs. De Winter, Marcott's Jane is obsessed with the first wife, even though she doesn't come to Thornfield because of her marriage.

The strongest reason to discard the Rebecca analysis is the absence of Mrs. Danvers' psychological manipulation. The creepy housekeeper in this one is no Danvers; she barely speaks English (if at all; I don't now recall if she said anything much), so her ability to bewitch Jane with insinuations is limited. On the other hand, she's no Grace Poole, either. Actually, the character that pulls the weight in this category is this Jane's friend, an aspiring chef, who is the one who dragged Jane out to Thornfield to begin with.

Regardless of the Rebecca similarities, it's still got Jane Eyre references. The names, of course, are the most significant, as well as the general plot, although, not surprisingly, there are key differences. The character of the girl Jane is brought to tutor is much more developed in Marcott's story, which I found to be a plus. It's a little more evident why Jane would fall for Rochester than in the original. The brother of the Bertha character is very well done.

So if you're in the mood for a Gothic romance that is reminiscent of both these classics, check out Mrs. Rochester's Ghost.

2.5 Stars

“Lies and secrets are like a cancer in the soul. They eat away what is good and leave only destruction behind…”
--Cassandra Clare

Jane is a writer for a gothic TV series that suddenly becomes cancelled. Finding herself out of work as well as funds, she jumps at the offer to move to the coast of California and live rent free in a cottage. All she has to do is tutor the daughter of mysterious millionaire Evan Rochester…what could possibly go wrong? Too little, too late Jane discovers that Mr. Rochester is currently under a cloud of suspicion for killing his wife. The body of Mrs. Rochester was never discovered, and Jane’s imagination begins working overtime as she starts seeing a ghostly figure outside her window and hears an inhuman screech in the night. As the days pass, Jane starts puzzling together the unexplained fate of the presumed dead Mrs. Rochester…and fears she may soon join her …

Ok, I’m just gonna lay all my cards on the table. I wish this was NEVER marketed as a reboot, retelling, modernizing or whatever you want to call it of the classic Jane Eyre. In my opinion, it totally distracted from what could have been a chilling mystery. I was forever comparing it to the classic romance between Jane and her beloved Mr. Rochester, and Dear Reader, this is NO Jane Eyre.

So, if you are reading the blurb and thinking about giving this story a try, I will leave you with this piece of advice…ignore the premise of this being a modern take on the classic, and just enjoy the story as it unfolds. I wish I could go back and do a re-read taking that into account. I probably would have enjoyed this book so much more. Do I recommend? Yes, but not as it is presented.
Again, that’s just this one reader’s opinion.


**I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book that I received via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. **

Overall I thought this take on Jane Eyre (and her relationship to a somewhat gothic place steeped in history with its own Mr. Rochester) was a good reimagining and modernization of a favorite classic tale. I wish the story had gone a bit further in some aspects to add originality, but it was creepy and immersed you in the scenes well.

This was a really good read and I thoroughly enjoyed the writing style. I agree that it is remenicint of Jane eyre. Very well done xx

Good contemporary rendering of Jane Eyre. Teens will be drawn to the technological theme. as well as, the teen daughter’s story.

First sentence: In my mind, I can picture it clearly. Thorn Bluffs. December 17. Their fourth wedding anniversary.

Premise/plot: Mrs. Rochester's Ghost by Lindsay Marcott is a contemporary retelling of Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. This retelling is set in California. Our heroine, Jane, is down on her luck. She's lost her job and her mother within a short span of time. And she's recently discovered her boyfriend and best friend were having an affair. A quick summer getaway (free) sounds like just what she needs. In exchange for tutoring, Jane can stay in a little guest cottage at a big estate--Evan Rochester's estate. Sophia, his daughter, is a mess--and understandably so. These two have the potential to help one another. But Jane discovers in the weeks following that all may not be as it appears. In particular, her employer, Evan Rochester, is still under investigation for the death and/or disappearance of his wife, Beatrice, a former super model.

Jane will have to decide ultimately who she trusts...

My thoughts: Mrs. Rochester's Ghost alternates between two narrators--Beatrice and Jane. (Occasionally we also get the point of view of Evan Rochester.) As I mentioned earlier, it is a retelling of Jane Eyre. Was it successful??? I'll do my best to share my thoughts.

Is it successful as a mystery? Maybe. Mostly. Though I can't help but think that if it was told solely from Jane's point of view it would have been a better mystery/thriller. I think by having dual narration, readers learn a bit too much before the other characters become aware...thus losing some suspense. Even so, there's plenty of elements that make this one a decent mystery with a few gothic elements thrown in.

Is it successful as a romance? NO. Not really. Here's the problem, readers probably won't like to see the main character, Jane, get gaslighted by Evan Rochester for hundreds of pages. It's hard to believe that readers will cheer on this coupling when Mr. Rochester is clearly all about gaslighting the women in his life! Seriously. I don't have a problem with Jane choosing to have a fling with him--against her better judgment and ours--I can't really say I want this relationship to last long term.

Are the relationships well developed? I will say the relationship between Jane and Evan was more lusty-lust than true love. HOWEVER. I will say this, I really did enjoy the developing relationship between Sophia and Jane. It was a gradual building up of trust. It may appear a bit rushed towards the end of the novel. But I will forgive the novel that because this relationship is really the novel's greatest strength. I wouldn't say the novel was character-driven, far from it, but it has at least a little bit of development.

Is it successful as a retelling? In places I feel it does capture the essence of the original. Not in the romance between Jane and Rochester. There are scenes that I felt were inspired directly by the original that come off decently. (For example, Jane being haunted--feeling haunted--and the strange things she almost sees and definitely hears as she stays on the estate.)

I didn't find Mrs. Rochester's Ghost as compelling and engaging as The Wife Upstairs. However, Mrs. Rochester's Ghost definitely has more likeable characters.

This book has a bit of a gothic feel to it. It reminds me of the old Phylis Whitney books I used to devour.
It has a nice mystery to it. It kept me guessing for the most part. It was rather descriptive book with a bit of romance.
I enjoyed the story.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the early copy

I'm a sucker for Jane Eyre -- and anything based around the story of Jane Eyre -- so this book had me hooked from the concept. I loved the writing, loved the pacing, and quickly became invested in the characters. I'd absolutely recommend this book, and I'd read it again.

Oh, as a bonus, we get the POV from the first Mrs. Rochester, too, so that definitely helped make the novel even more interesting.

What a great mystery read.

The characters seemed real enough with real enough issues and problems in their lives. As I read I would think I had it figured out but as soon as I read another sentence or chapter the mystery went deeper. I was somewhat surprised at the end.

This book was a real page turner and was hard to put down.

I started out knowing the main story but I enjoyed reading this. It had a different take and was interesting.
Many thanks to Thomas & Mercer and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Mrs. Rochester’s Ghost by Lindsay Marcott
Fantastic book. Couldn’t put it down. Full of lies, secrets and ghosts. Took place on the coast of Big Sur. A crazed wife—-had she drowned in the ocean or was she still alive? Husband was being held as a suspect. I recommend this book.

Thank you Net Galley for sending me an advanced reader’s copy for my review..

Retellings are tricky for me. Sometimes they work brilliantly (see Eligible by Curtis Settingfield); other times they fall flat. Unfortunately this didn’t work for me.

Classic Makeover.

It’s been a long time since reading Jane Eyre, so I was a quarter into the book before I realized that this was a modern re-telling. Mr Rochester, Thornfield, Jane… I felt a little dense when I finally connected.

I loved the setting near Carmel by the sea with the Thornfield estate sounding so picturesque. I would have jumped at the chance to live there - except for the ghosts and no curtains on the windows.

I also enjoyed Jane’s relationship with Evan’s teen daughter and Evan and Jane’s romantic development. However, I don’t think a modern woman would marry a man who’d recently cheated on her - especially when infidelity happened in her last relationship. So, that aspect didn’t ring true to me.

This was easy to read and maybe the lovely California beach location blinded me a bit because I may not have enjoyed it as much had it been set in another locale.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for my reading opportunity by providing an electronic ARC.

This is a modern-day interpretation of “Jane Eyre” and the author has several plot points that mirror the classic tale. The gothic atmosphere this time is around foggy coastal Monterey with rugged terrain near the estate of Thorn Bluffs (Thornfield Hall in the original) and the initial meeting between Jane and Mr. Rochester is when he falls off a motorcycle (a horse in the original). There’s the mentally unhinged wife Beatrice, a fire, and an attack on a houseguest.

This time Jane is an out-of-work TV writer who moves to California for a chance of starting over when a friend makes an offer of a cottage for the summer in return for tutoring a young teenager. The young teenager is Evan Rochester’s daughter. Jane arrives at the coastal estate and encounters lots of strange things, ghostly appearances, strange howls, and rough riptides. Evan is still under suspicion for killing his wife a few months ago and Jane doesn’t know what to think about his guilt or innocence.

She does bond with the young girl and I liked their relationship along with the collection of dogs at the estate. Of course, there’s a romance brewing between Jane and Mr. Rochester, but is it doomed? As time passes, Jane decides to get to the bottom of things and events build to a dramatic conclusion.

There are chapters from Mrs. Rochester/Beatrice and they are quite disturbing! This one doesn’t quite measure up to the original, although I really wanted it to be a winner!

This story is described as a modern, retelling of Jane Eyre, a novel penned in 1847 by Charlotte Bronte.

I almost always enjoy retellings.
I have no problem with new books paying homage to a Classic.

But, sadly, this time, it didn’t work for me.

This Jane, has recently lost her Mom, and her job writing for a TV show, and is very much in debt.

Her friend, Otis, is a personal chef for the notorious Evan Rochester at his estate Thorn Bluffs. He reaches out to Jane with an opportunity for the Summer- Come to California, and live in a cottage above the crashing surf of Big Sur, in exchange for tutoring Evan’s daughter, Sophia.

Jane arrives and is immediately spooked by a ghostly presence that seems to be watching her through her windows at night. It doesn’t help that the housekeeper keeps lighting candles, and hanging religious medallions in an attempt to ward off the misfortune that seems to haunt the place.

Or that Beatrice’s persistent brother, Rick McAdams, is trying to convince Jane that his sister was murdered.
Did Beatrice, a top model and wife to Evan really drown?

Unique to this retelling are chapters from Beatrice from December 17, the day of her drowning.
Are these the delusional ramblings of a troubled woman who has stopped taking her medication?
Or is this the truth of what really happened before she disappeared into the crashing waves?

I found these chapters actually detracted rather than enhanced the story.
And, they seemed a bit insensitive as we have learned much about mental illness since 1847.

And after everything that our modern day Jane learned to be true, when all was said and done, I think she would have been better served by a modern day ending.

I didn’t feel like the love of this Jane and this Mr. Rochester felt strong enough to withstand the test of time.

Unfortunately this was a book I couldn’t massively get into, which means it was one I did not finish. I totally understand how it can be some people’s sort of book, but unfortunately it wasn’t mine.

I have never read Jane Eyre before, I'm not big on classical books. But I am all for retellings!

Jane has just lost her mom, her job, and her boyfriend. She gets invited to Big Sur by an old friend to tutor his bosses daughter. Jane starts to love her life at Big Sur but the man that owns the home, Evan Rochester has been accused of murdering his wife. While she is getting close to him and his daughter, she is also trying to find out what actually happened to his wife.

This book was a slow burn for me, but I'm happy I stuck with it! I kind of saw all the twists coming ahead of time, but I was still happy with the ending.

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas&Mercer publishing for allowing me to read this ARC.

Romance. Danger. Mystery. Suspense. A handsome, WEALTHY, brooding gentleman haunted by the ghosts of his past. A young, naïve, woman with no job, no family, and no prospects. It’s literally the definition of a gothic romance novel (also, let’s be honest, the definition of a modern romance novel too).

Mrs. Rochester’s Ghost is a modern spin on Jane Eyre, and while it wasn’t groundbreaking, I’d say it’s a pretty successful adaptation. I confess that it’s been so long since I read Jane Eyre that I had to Google the plot to remind myself of some of the more detailed specifics. It’s also a pretty faithful adaptation of the original novel, and that’s where it falls a little short for me. I’m conscious of not spoiling the novel, but if you’ve read Jane Eyre you know what to expect. I think I went into this novel expecting, or maybe just hoping for, some sort of twist or turn that would take a bit off course from it’s inspiration and make it feel new. It’s difficult to effectively create tension when the reader (assuming they’ve read Jane Eyre) knows what’s ultimately coming their way.

Also, I’m a self-professed lover of the thriller / mystery genre but continue to be SO annoyed by protagonists in these books. WHY must they be so paranoid and suspicious ALL. THE. TIME. I imagine the Unsolved Mysteries theme song in my head while reading because it feels like every tiny little event or interaction is some great mystery to be solved.

All that said, I did enjoy it – it’s an easy read, and I liked it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Check out more of my reviews on my blog: www.mymomsbookshelf.com.

Really hard time getting into this one! I love Jane Eyre which this book is loosely based on but I was kind of disappointed. A better adaptation of Jane eyre was the wife upstairs by Rachel Hawkins. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for review.


2.5/5

Ooohhh....this book was so delightfully creepy.! As a modern retelling of Jane Eyre set on the central California coast, it hits all the right notes....gothic, eerie atmosphere, suspicion everywhere....I felt compelled to keep reading, even though I already knew how the book was generally going to play out. Marcott excels at creating spooky, haunting tension and the Big Sur setting, with all the mist and fog is a perfect stand in for England.

I loved having the chapters from Beatrice's POV intermixed with Jane's narrative. Marcott's writing gave me that edge-of-your-seat feeling even while knowing what was coming (I almost wish I wasn't already familiar with Jane Eyre so I could experience the twistiness for the first time).

Special thanks to NetGalley for giving me an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.