Emma Townsend has always believed in stories—the ones she reads voraciously, and the ones she creates in her head. Perhaps it’s because she feels like an outsider at her exclusive prep school, or because her stepmother doesn’t come close to filling the void left by her mother’s death. And her only romantic prospect—apart from a crush on her English teacher—is Gray Newman, a long-time friend who just adds to Emma’s confusion. But escape soon arrives in an old leather-bound copy of Jane Eyre…
Reading of Jane’s isolation sparks a deep sense of kinship. Then fate takes things a leap further when a lightning storm catapults Emma right into Jane’s body and her nineteenth-century world. As governess at Thornfield, Emma has a sense of belonging she’s never known—and an attraction to the brooding Mr. Rochester. Now, moving between her two realities and uncovering secrets in both, Emma must decide whether her destiny lies in the pages of Jane’s story, or in the unwritten chapters of her own…
I have to say that I adore the possibilities that could come out of doing modern interpretations of classic novels in order to instigate a new fervor for reading said classics. I also like that this gives the modern author a chance to change or critique the way a classic novel was written and what other outcomes were possible.
All that being said, Mont’s A Breath of Eyre still fell a little flat for me. I will admit that Jane Eyre (by Charlotte Bronte) is one of my least favorite novels from the Victorian Era, and that definitely factored into my perception of Emma’s story. (Convenient though, that the main character’s name is Emma…as is one of Jane Austen’s–another penultimate Victorian Romance author– main characters).
I can’t argue with Emma’s fascination with the illustrious Mr. Rochester, because he, much like Mr. Darcy, are considered “dreamy,” based on their intelligence, wealth, social status, and dashing good-looks. What teenage girl wouldn’t be enamored of these men? However, I find Emma’s constant comparison of Rochester and her high school English teacher to be a bit excessive and definitely obsessive.
Mont did an excellent job re-creating the world of Jane Eyre and provided some very vivid descriptions of the the house and the other characters. I did find it odd that Gray–the modern love interest–was no part of the Eyre-ian scenes. I half expected him to arrive at Rochester’s house with the rest of the party that included the Victorian version of modern mean girl, Elise.
The plot became somewhat convoluted with all the different accidents and life threatening situations that Emma is thrown into, and it made the story somewhat unbelievable. How is it possible that someone could get in THAT much physical danger within a year? But I do understand that the author had to have a way to thrust Emma into Jane Eyre–I just think there could have been more ways to do it rather than just putting Emma in harms way.
A Breath of Eyre is definitely what Eyre was in its own time: a romance. The purpose of the story is mostly to unite the two main protaganists, with a little self-discovery on the side. If you are looking for some light reading or just a somewhat suspenseful romance, then Mont’s novel is good for you. Overall, the novel was an average read.
3 Bards.
Moving! 