This book was an interesting retelling of Jane Eyre from the point of view of a child adopted by Lord Rochester. When young Adele is adopted by Lord Rochester, his main goal is to help extricate the French influence that her courtesan mother had on her. She is too "cunning", too "flirtatious" to be a proper English girl and her Frenchness is tantamount to being unclean in the eyes of the British nobility. Adele's mother is dying and as her last wish she asks Lord Rochester to make provisions for her daughter to have a good life.

This is how young Adele meets Lord Rochester and ends up being in his home. From here she meets his first wife Bertha, relegated to live in the attic, and Jane Eyre comes to be Adele's governess.

This slight twist on the story is interesting because it focuses on an alternate perspective of a tale we think we know. What if there was someone in the Rochester house who witnessed the cruelties Rochester put Bertha through? What if there was someone who noticed that he didn't get what he deserved? What if he did?

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for this honest review.

I enjoyed this novel. I am familiar with Jane Eyre (but now think I should re read it). I felt for the characters. Adele was narrator and was protective of women who couldn’t protect themselves..

This book follows the journey of Adele from the Parisian dance halls of her birth and life with her mother to life with her socially elite father in England after her mother's death. We follow her as her father gets a governess, Jane Eyre, he falls in love with even though he is married and eventually marries; to the boarding school she attends to become a true English lady. We see her build a relationship with a cousin through letters that she uses to escape her life and grows attached to. Once in London boarding school she sees more of the evils of men and what they will do to women and works with a friend to train to bring justice to those who may hurt women after killing a man who attacks her friend. She falls in love with her friend, a girl, and must hide her true feelings and find a way to let their relationship blossom. A fast past adventurous read that will keep you on the edge of your seat.