Jane & Edward
by Melodie Edwards
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"This powerful retelling of Jane Eyre, set in a modern-day law firm, is full of romance and hope as it follows the echoing heartbeats of the classic story. A former foster kid, Jane has led a quiet, solitary life as a waitress in the Toronto suburbs, working hard to get by. Tired of years of barely scraping a living, Jane takes night classes to become a legal assistant, and soon accepts a job offer at a distinguished law firm in Toronto. Everyone at the firm thinks she is destined for show more failure because her boss is the notoriously difficult Edward Rosen, majority stakeholder at Rosen, Haythe & Thornfield LLP. But, Jane has known far worse trials and refuses to back down when economic freedom is so close at hand. Edward has never been able to keep an assistant-he's too loud, too messy, too ill-tempered. But there's something about the quietly competent, delightfully sharp-witted Jane that intrigues him. As their orbits overlap, their feelings begin to develop-first comes fondness, and then something more. But when Edward's secrets put Jane's independence in jeopardy, she must face long-ignored ghosts of her past and decide if opening her heart to true love is a risk worth taking"-- show lessTags
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Member Reviews
This modern retelling of Jane Eyre caught my eye the last time I went to the library. After years of waitressing, twenty-something year old Jane gets her first job as a legal secretary at a prestigious Toronto firm, Rosen, Haythe & Thornfield. Her boss, Mr Rosen, is brash and eccentric, with a reputation for losing his assistants.
I really enjoyed this, both as a retelling and as a story in its own right. Edwards has cleverly translated lots of elements from Jane Eyre into a 21st century Toronto law firm, but characters and scenes often don’t play exactly the same role they do in the original, so while I could often anticipate that some event or revelation was imminent, I couldn’t predict exactly what form it would take or when and show more how it would unfold. That made the story surprisingly gripping.
And in Mr Rosen, Ewards has captured one of my favourite things about Bronte’s Mr Rochester -- his interactions with Jane are funny! And the way she’s uncowed by his blunt honesty and his eccentricity, and holds him to account when he needs that, is great.
I liked the way they are mindful, as intelligent people in a workplace with a modern code of conduct, of the power imbalance in their professional relationship -- (“It was the dance, wasn’t it? I made you uncomfortable… Shit. Jane, you can always say no to me, you know that right?” His tone was a little desperate. “I promise, there will never be repercussions for saying no.”) -- and of the consequential issues inherent in pursuing a personal relationship, and yet there are still very believable reasons why the narrative takes a similar path to Jane Eyre.
The narrative is also thoughtful, and believable, about the effect having spent her teenage years in foster care has had on Jane. Jane herself is thoughtful and self-aware about it, and yet recognising why she struggles to trust doesn’t make it simple to change ingrained inclinations.
Finally, I liked the story’s strong sense of place, both in terms of the physical location and the emotional atmosphere.
Jane & Edward is probably not absolutely everything I personally want from a Jane Eyre retelling but I suspect I capable of being more open-minded about retellings of my favouritest book ever than I was when I was younger.
I want to reread it but it’s already overdue at the library!
I really enjoyed this, both as a retelling and as a story in its own right. Edwards has cleverly translated lots of elements from Jane Eyre into a 21st century Toronto law firm, but characters and scenes often don’t play exactly the same role they do in the original, so while I could often anticipate that some event or revelation was imminent, I couldn’t predict exactly what form it would take or when and show more how it would unfold. That made the story surprisingly gripping.
And in Mr Rosen, Ewards has captured one of my favourite things about Bronte’s Mr Rochester -- his interactions with Jane are funny! And the way she’s uncowed by his blunt honesty and his eccentricity, and holds him to account when he needs that, is great.
The corner of his mouth kicked up in a small smile. “First time I’ve had an accomplice on this.” Jane raised her eyebrows. “Figuratively speaking, of course; you know I’d never involve you in anything that wasn’t aboveboard.”
“If it wasn’t aboveboard, I don’t think anyone will incriminate me for booking a boardroom and delivering notes to firm members, when I have complete deniability as to the note’s contents.”
He grinned. “I would have preferred an answer somewhere along the lines of ‘Yes, Mr Rosen, because I trust you completely.’”
“Oh, would you? Well, beggars can’t be choosers. Do you want me to do your evil bidding or not?”
“Yes, you fiend. Go.”
I liked the way they are mindful, as intelligent people in a workplace with a modern code of conduct, of the power imbalance in their professional relationship -- (“It was the dance, wasn’t it? I made you uncomfortable… Shit. Jane, you can always say no to me, you know that right?” His tone was a little desperate. “I promise, there will never be repercussions for saying no.”) -- and of the consequential issues inherent in pursuing a personal relationship, and yet there are still very believable reasons why the narrative takes a similar path to Jane Eyre.
The narrative is also thoughtful, and believable, about the effect having spent her teenage years in foster care has had on Jane. Jane herself is thoughtful and self-aware about it, and yet recognising why she struggles to trust doesn’t make it simple to change ingrained inclinations.
Finally, I liked the story’s strong sense of place, both in terms of the physical location and the emotional atmosphere.
Jane & Edward is probably not absolutely everything I personally want from a Jane Eyre retelling but I suspect I capable of being more open-minded about retellings of my favouritest book ever than I was when I was younger.
I want to reread it but it’s already overdue at the library!
Inside the kitchenette a man was… doing something to the expensive, gleaming silver coffee machine Jane had immediately come to revere.show less
[...] “For fuck’s sake. Coffee! Give me coffee!”
It beeped innocently back at him, and an error message blinked across the screen. The man paused and pulled back, as if affronted, then growled, eyes narrowed.
“Think you’re R2-D2, do you? Don’t you dare beep at me! I will destroy you and replace you with a real coffee machine.”
The machine beeped again, as if questioning the threat.
First sentence: She hated burgers. Hated the smell of them, the sight of them, the over-puffed buns and leaky meat grease that dripped out of them, hated the sticky condiment bottles that shuffled from table to table to accompany them, and the ever-present customer complaints of overcooked/undercooked.
Premise/plot: Jane Raine, our protagonist, is a waitress who absolutely hates her job. She goes to school to become a legal assistant. After finishing school, she is hired to become the assistant to a difficult-to-work-for lawyer, Edward Rosen. Few assistants stick with the job long. He goes through a LOT of assistants. But Jane Raine is determined to make this job work. Over several months, these two adjust to each other and even come to show more enjoy one another's company. Yes, he isn't quite like the other lawyers at the law firm. But she comes to appreciate his eccentricities (or most of them). They even begin to fall in love and date...secretly. (Not coming out to HR). But his secret(s) may doom the relationship...
My thoughts: The setting for this contemporary Jane Eyre retelling is Canada. (Toronto, to be exact. Though the characters do move around a bit through the novel. So not exclusively Toronto).
Retellings can be tough. This one keeps some of the original story/details. But it also changes plenty. Don't expect a literal 'crazy' wife kept in an attic. Don't expect his brother-in-law to be stabbed. Definitely don't expect Edward to dress up as a fortune teller. And probably it's best if you don't expect literal fires--though there is a fire drill. The romance keeps obstacles, but just switches things up a bit.
As with the original novel, I found myself loving the first half more than the second half. It's just really hard to stay (as) engaged once Jane runs away.
All things considered, I enjoyed it for the most part. I am definitely glad I gave it a chance. It may not be better than the original, but it is enjoyable.
(For those that are curious, this one mainly fades to gray when it comes to intimate scenes. (Not completely clean by a long shot. But not horribly graphic either.) show less
Premise/plot: Jane Raine, our protagonist, is a waitress who absolutely hates her job. She goes to school to become a legal assistant. After finishing school, she is hired to become the assistant to a difficult-to-work-for lawyer, Edward Rosen. Few assistants stick with the job long. He goes through a LOT of assistants. But Jane Raine is determined to make this job work. Over several months, these two adjust to each other and even come to show more enjoy one another's company. Yes, he isn't quite like the other lawyers at the law firm. But she comes to appreciate his eccentricities (or most of them). They even begin to fall in love and date...secretly. (Not coming out to HR). But his secret(s) may doom the relationship...
My thoughts: The setting for this contemporary Jane Eyre retelling is Canada. (Toronto, to be exact. Though the characters do move around a bit through the novel. So not exclusively Toronto).
Retellings can be tough. This one keeps some of the original story/details. But it also changes plenty. Don't expect a literal 'crazy' wife kept in an attic. Don't expect his brother-in-law to be stabbed. Definitely don't expect Edward to dress up as a fortune teller. And probably it's best if you don't expect literal fires--though there is a fire drill. The romance keeps obstacles, but just switches things up a bit.
As with the original novel, I found myself loving the first half more than the second half. It's just really hard to stay (as) engaged once Jane runs away.
All things considered, I enjoyed it for the most part. I am definitely glad I gave it a chance. It may not be better than the original, but it is enjoyable.
(For those that are curious, this one mainly fades to gray when it comes to intimate scenes. (Not completely clean by a long shot. But not horribly graphic either.) show less
I received a copy of this book for free for promotional purposes.
Jane Eyre is one of my all time favorite books so naturally I was eager to read this. It did not disappoint!
The author did a fantastic job adapting the classic story to fit modern times. It was evident that the author really understood and appreciated the source material. The author did the original story justice and really captured the spirit of Jane Eyre. For those familiar with Jane Eyre, there are some aspects of the story that are problematic. However, the the book handled those parts well. I liked that the author included a note in the beginning directly addressing this.
As for the characters, I loved the dynamic between Jane and Edward, which was key in making show more this retelling work. It was developed so well. I also enjoyed seeing how some of the characters from the original story were translated into modern times (e.g. Adele is Jane’s coworker instead of a child).
Lastly, I loved that the story took place in Toronto, Canada. I’m from the US and have never been to Canada, so I found the setting to be very refreshing.
Overall, I highly recommend this book for Jane Eyre fans! It’s also a great read for romance fans. show less
Jane Eyre is one of my all time favorite books so naturally I was eager to read this. It did not disappoint!
The author did a fantastic job adapting the classic story to fit modern times. It was evident that the author really understood and appreciated the source material. The author did the original story justice and really captured the spirit of Jane Eyre. For those familiar with Jane Eyre, there are some aspects of the story that are problematic. However, the the book handled those parts well. I liked that the author included a note in the beginning directly addressing this.
As for the characters, I loved the dynamic between Jane and Edward, which was key in making show more this retelling work. It was developed so well. I also enjoyed seeing how some of the characters from the original story were translated into modern times (e.g. Adele is Jane’s coworker instead of a child).
Lastly, I loved that the story took place in Toronto, Canada. I’m from the US and have never been to Canada, so I found the setting to be very refreshing.
Overall, I highly recommend this book for Jane Eyre fans! It’s also a great read for romance fans. show less
Excellent romance with lovely characters and interesting story line. Well written and a very easy read.
A competent modern retelling written by someone who, most obviously, loves the original book, especially, the main character.
Good adaptation and reimagining. Kept most of the essential elements of Jane Eyre.
An enjoyable and original retelling of “Jane Eyre.”
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