John Eyre is a school teacher in search of a new job after the death of a close friend. Luckily, he is offered a position as tutor for two boys at Thornfield Hall. There John meets the beautiful widow, Bertha Rochester, a spirited traveler whose strong-willed character surprises and allures him. But, working in Thornfield Hall isn’t proving the sanctuary he thought. Rather, mysteries soon come to light along with dangers that put everyone at risk. Bertha’s past starts to unravel supernatural and deadly secrets hidden deep within the Hall.

Retellings are tricky to do. Often I find they don’t follow the supposed inspired story hardly at all yet relate to it for selling purposes or relate too much to where I would rather just read the original. Thankfully, Mimi Matthew’s fantastically balanced this Jane Eyre retelling with a gender swap, keeping the time period, spooky atmosphere, and gothic Victorian setting while also introducing a supernatural aspect that merged in perfectly with the story line. As a fantasy fan, I greatly enjoyed the supernatural element that appeared, provided by hints and clues from private diary entries throughout the novel, constantly adding new elements to unraveling the secret of Thornfield Hall. I also loved the role reversal of John Eyre being a male and under the position of Mrs. Rochester. Their chemistry versus societal propriety and class stature, mixed in with potential madness, was beautifully done. Matthew’s writing took a beloved story and gave it a fantastical spin as she made it her own endearing tale of intrigue, mayhem, and romance.

I adored this book, much more than I anticipated, and found it very difficult to put down or stop thinking about. If you like gothic retellings and Jane Eyre, I highly recommend adding this book to your list! Thank you NetGalley and Perfectly Proper Press for the review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! This pretty much sums this supernatural gothic up in one word.
I am pretty much a wimp when it comes to scary stories. But I adore Mimi Matthews’s books and I knew this one would be worth the scaries. And it truly was! It is one fantastic ride through other worlds. It is not for the fainthearted but totally worth reading!
Mimi is such a creative writer. Her way with words and the way she weaves her thoughts into my feelings is masterful. And her idea of melding these too classics – brilliant!
I loved reading her Author’s Note of how this book came about, how she came to switch gears during the Pandemic. And I am also relieved to hear that her next novel she will resume” regular programming” with historical romance.
Extraordinary book!
Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book. The opinions are entirely my own.

John Eyre finds himself forced to leave his employ as a schoolmaster to take the one position he's offered in response his advertisement, tutor to a pair of strange boys living in the dank and gloomy Thornfield Hall. The ever present mist and fog that permeate from the moors lead his mind astray to imagine ghosts from his past. He is impressed by his new mistress, Bertha Rochester, whose strength of character is strongly alluring. We slowly discover Bertha's journey by reading her letters and journal entries resulting in a gradual increase in tension until the finale. Mimi Matthews manages to permeate her story with so much gothic atmosphere that I felt a shiver on reading the tale.

I'm moderately embarrassed to admit that I was looking forward to this as a dark little break from reality. I mean, a gender bending Jane Eyre with hints of Dracula? How was this not going to be silly?! Well friends, I was dead wrong. Like, legitimately, completely mistaken, and I'm glad.

John Eyre is a super-fun gender-swapped Jane Eyre + Dracula mashup, taken very seriously. By that we mean this isn't just some word-for-word retelling of Jane Eyre, nor is it Pride & Prejudice with Zombies, but rather a well-constructed, period-perfect novel... that happens to feature Mr. Rochester as a vampire who is chained in the attic to prevent his preying on the good people of Yorkshire.

Perhaps the best part of the book is Bertha Rochester (nee Mason)'s character. She manages to escape from an actual vampire (instead of the emotional vampire of the original Jane Eyre's Mr. Rochester), conceal the identity of a prisoner in her attic, and get her wards' young and handsome tutor to fall in love with her, all without losing an iota of the original Rochester's mercurial temper and contrary dialogue. A true pleasure to read!

I was already a huge fan of Mimi Matthews when I read this book, and although this is a different genre from what she usually writes, I love John Eyre even more than her previous books! (That's probably because I love dark, creepy gothic tales even more than I love romance).

This is a brilliant gender-flipped retelling of Jane Eyre and another classic Victorian novel that I won’t mention because of possible spoilers. Whether you’ve read the classics it’s based on or not, if you love gothic novels, you will love John Eyre. It has a wonderful sinister atmosphere, deliciously creepy characters, and a female character who is a powerful force (a welcome change from the traditional gothics with their fainting heroines). This book is a true homage to the gothic genre without being derivative: as someone who has taught gothic novels at the university level, I know whereof I speak.

I read this when I was supposed to be at work. I kept thinking I’d just read a little and go back to my work, but I couldn’t let it sit very long without picking it up again to find out what happened. I lost sleep and missed a work deadline for this book, but it was worth it!

Highly recommended.

Matthews skillfully transforms a well-known story into a truly original tale. Wasn’t sure I’d enjoy this read but I was drawn in and loved it. Fascinating read.

Wow. This book was not what I expected. I knew going in to it that it would be different than this authors usual books, but I wasn’t expecting the slow pace or feeling of despair that permeated the pages. I was extremely bothered by the continual mention of drug use. I think this author could have found a better way to incorporate certain elements into the story without resorting to using drugs as a plot point. The vibe of this book was weird, and I just had no desire to finish. DNF

I am a huge Mimi Matthews fan but even my love of her writing wasn’t enough to make this outside-my-normal-genre book work for me. I only made it to about 30% before admitting that this wasn’t the book for me. It was well written but I was equal parts disturbed and bored and not interested enough to press on through that. I know this will be a hit with other readers, it just wasn’t for me.

John is a teacher who has taken a tutoring position to two young boys who are the wards of Mrs. Rochester. He left his previous position racked with guilt over a friend’s suicide and takes laudanum. to sleep and for migraines. The two boys do not speak and are emotionally and physically ill. As John settles into his job, he finds joy in his students’ progress while trying to keep his position. Mrs Rochester is a young, beautiful widow who never stays long at Thornfield Hall. She is a strong, direct (when not hiding secrets) woman who is also very troubled.

As the story of John and Mrs Rochester’s relationship develops, there is a parallel story of Mrs Rochester’s meeting her husband on her travels two years before John coming to Thornfield Hall..

This was a suspenseful page turner. The pace, character development (from John as a damaged man to a good, strong person and Mrs Rochester from a cold employer to a friend), and the horror story were all amazingly well done.

The first time I had read ‘Jane Eyre’ was in high school and have reread it over the years. I was both a bit distracted in comparing this story to Jane Eyre but also impressed with the clever retelling.

I highly recommend this book.

First sentence: John Eyre stood over the freshly turned heap of earth, his head bent and his gloved hands clasped behind his back. The sun was breaking over the bleak Surrey Hills, a slowly rising rim of molten gold. It burned at the edges of the morning fog that blanketed the valley, pushing back the darkness, but doing nothing at all to alleviate the bone-numbing chill that had settled into his limbs.

Premise/plot: Mimi Matthews' newest book is a retelling of Jane Eyre. But it isn't your traditional retelling; it isn't a light update or a slight remix.

For one thing she reverses the genders of many of the characters. John Eyre is a tutor advertising for a new job, looking for new pupils. Mr. Fairfax contacts him about tutoring TWO wards of a widow woman, a Bertha (Mason) Rochester: two young lads Stephen and Peter. He makes his way to Yorkshire and Thornfield Hall...but his new job holds some surprises for him.

It keeps the historical setting--Victorian England 1840s. But it turns up the horror and thriller aspects by a thousand degrees. All while managing to hold onto the threads of romance.

My thoughts: John Eyre is the third Jane Eyre retelling I've read in the month of May. It is probably the most successful in my opinion. (I am not talking successful in terms of sales--it's not even releases yet--or even others ratings of it--again not released yet--but successful in terms of working for me personally.)

I loved the narrative. It is told from TWO perspectives. The present story is told from the perspective of John Eyre. (Though it is NOT told in first person--either first person past or first person present). Readers experience events as they unfold. Mystery is added in with the second perspective that of Bertha (Mason) Rochester. We come to know her story through LETTERS AND DIARIES. (A very Victorian way to add mystery and suspense and just plain old tell a good story. I can think of a handful of Victorian novels that use multiple narrators and multiple narrative techniques--including letters, diaries, etc.)

I love how the story is woven together. Trust me TWO stories are woven together--quite brilliantly in my opinion. The two stories are both CLASSIC NOVELS. One being Jane Eyre...the other being equally famous, equally dark (if not more so), both Victorian. I will NOT be the one to name names.

I love how she incorporates some of the best bits of Jane Eyre.
“You examine me, Mr. Eyre. Do you find me beautiful?” “No, ma’am.” The reply passed his lips before he’d fully deliberated on it. A feeling of horror followed. Had he just said…? Good lord. If a hole in the floor had opened up at that moment, he’d have gladly jumped into it. “Upon my word, sir, you’re a man of decided opinions. And you don’t cringe from uttering them, for all that you sit there as quiet and contemplative as a man of God.” “I beg your pardon. I ought to have said that questions about appearances are difficult to answer. Tastes differ so widely.” “I’m not to your taste, is that it?” He inwardly groaned. He was making things worse, but couldn’t seem to stop himself. Why couldn’t he have simply admitted to her beauty? He’d thought her beautiful before, hadn’t he? Strangely beautiful. And oddly forbidding.

I would recommend it to readers who love Victorian literature and are up for a good, solid spin on two of the best.

That was a Gothic Romance:} I love Jane Eyre, like Love. Was I a little worried one of my favorite authors was going to retell this story, not even a little. I knew it would be good. It really was. I enjoyed every second of this book. The dark mystery, the unknown and known of this story being retold, yet remade. John was awesome and Bertha was a Rockstar. So loved how this all came together. So many elements that just made this work so well. Mimi is a great story teller and she is good at making you care about the characters!
This has some frightening scenes, I would say for older teens and adults.

10 stars!

What do you get when you cross Jane Eyre with Dracula? The epitome of Gothic romance, so exquisitely done, I read it in one sitting.

I read the first few chapters when the author shared them on her blog, and I knew it would be amazing. Not only it is a retelling of Jane Eyre and Dracula, but it's also gender reversed and full of mysteries. In every chapter there's a question begging for an answer that won't come until the next chapter, but the clues keep you keep reading, hoping to know the resolution and yarning to slow down the reading at the same time. Everything I love about Jane Eyre is in the story, but the mysteries bring it to the next level.

John is looking for a new beginning after his last position didn't end well. When he meets the boys, he immediately starts taking care of them and makes changes, even disobeying his employer, Mrs. Rochester. When she returns from her travels, she's not happy with those changes and he fears he might lose his job.

Bertha is an imposing woman, whose mistake was falling for a man and now seeing him for who he was right away. As she and John spend more time together, they establish a kind of friendship, uneven as it is due to their positions.

The setting is deliciously Gothic, especially the one that comes from Bertha's letters. And Thornfield Hall is even more mysterious than Charlotte Bronte's.

This is the book-to-movie adaptation I'd like to see, with the kind of cast that will ignite the chemistry on screen as it flames on the page. Who would be the perfect cast for John Eyre and Bertha Rochester? I'll have to think about this.

I can't recommend this enough.

I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.