Jane Steele

By: Lyndsay Faye

Narrated by: Susie Riddell

Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

A reimagining of Jane Eyre as a gutsy, heroic serial killer, from the author whose work The New York Times described as "riveting" and The Wall Street Journal called "thrilling".

"Reader, I murdered him."

A sensitive orphan, Jane Steele suffers first at the hands of her spiteful aunt and predatory cousin, then at a grim school where she fights for her very life until escaping to London, leaving the corpses of her tormentors behind her. After years of hiding from the law while penning macabre "last confessions" of the recently hanged, Jane thrills at discovering an advertisement. Her aunt has died, and her childhood home has a new master: Mr. Charles Thornfield, who seeks a governess.

Burning to know whether she is in fact the rightful heir, Jane takes the position incognito and learns that Highgate House is full of marvelously strange new residents - the fascinating but caustic Mr. Thornfield, an army doctor returned from the Sikh Wars; and the gracious Sikh butler, Mr. Sardar Singh, whose history with Mr. Thornfield appears far deeper and darker than they pretend. As Jane catches ominous glimpses of the pair's violent history and falls in love with the gruffly tragic Mr. Thornfield, she faces a terrible dilemma: Can she possess him - body, soul, and secrets - without revealing her own murderous past?

A satirical romance about identity, guilt, goodness, and the nature of lies by a writer who Matthew Pearl calls "superstar-caliber" and whose previous works Gillian Flynn declared "spectacular", Jane Steele is a brilliant and deeply absorbing book inspired by Charlotte Brontë's classic Jane Eyre.

©2016 Lyndsay Faye (P)2016 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“[Jane Steele’s] crimes are wonderfully entertaining.” (The New York Times Book Review)

"An entertaining riff on Jane Eyre...sheer mayhem meets Victorian propriety." (USA Today)

What a Remake Should Be

Oh, there was so much to love about this book! The Jane Eyre analysis, wry humor, engaging characters, adventure, and a dash of romance--nevermind the gorgeous, gleaming prose. I adored it. I enjoyed the very talented narrator as well. Highly, highly recommended.

Great Read, so good I've listened to it many times

I love this story! Humor, wit, sarcasm, clever dialogue, a little bit of history, references to a classic novel, detailed description of fashions of the time - this book has it all. Susie Riddell did an amazing job reading this novel, she really brings the cleaver dialogue to life, every character has a very distinct personality, I will definitely be looking into more books she reads.

Worth a credit! I will be recommending this book to many friends.

Skipped Netflix Binge To Finish This Story

Extremely well read and inventively written. A complex story that could easily have been a trilogy (three acts). Interesting characters frequently making unorthodox choices; equal parts daring-do, romance, mystery and gothic drama. Funny and riveting. I strongly recommend to fans of the time period who sometimes wish the strong heroines (such as they were) had a little more cunning at their disposal.

Stellar Writing and Solid Performance

The writing in this book is stunning. I am a writer myself, and so I often find it difficult to find books that I enjoy. This book is a gem.

Wonderful Book

Not a true retelling of Jane Eyre, but kind of a great spinoff. Susie Riddell was perfection as narrator.

A rollicking Victorian Adventure

I’ve listened to other books by Lindsay Faye and this is my favorite so far. Faye does a nice job with historical English fiction and her characters in this book - while reminiscent of more famous literary figures - stand on their own and are more interesting and less traditional. I’ve never read Jane Eyre so any reference to that book was incidental to this story and I would have enjoyed Jane Steele without the Eyre references at all. Ms. Steele is bold and resourceful and not the traditional heroine of a sappy Victorian romance. While she may fill the role of governess she does so with a knife up her sleeve and the vocabulary of a sailor. My kind of heroine who is not swooning waiting for the master of the house to rescue her! I enjoyed the book even more than I expected to and recommend it as an entertaining adventure.

Hard to read

I liked this story, a lot. But if I'm being honest, I couldn't have read it without the audiobook, the writing style was so dense and hard to read.
Being a dyslexic I struggle sometimes with some books, but, even my none dyslexic friends said the same.
I'm quite ashamed of myself for admitting this but it's the truth. I started reading this book in 2019 the stop then 2020 then stopped and today is February 23, 2021 and I've finally read it.

Great homage to Jane Eyre

If you could sum up Jane Steele in three words, what would they be?

Delightful, Entertaining, Engaging

What was one of the most memorable moments of Jane Steele?

Good through and through!

Have you listened to any of Susie Riddell’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Not sure but she was very good and will check her out in future

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I am recovering from hip replacement so needed something entertaining, my daughter in
law, a Jane Austen expert, recommended this. She was spot on, helped with cabin fever
and took me out of my pain and boredom!

wonderful story!

this book is long but very intriguing. I had a difficult time knowing where to put it down. I will be looking for more books by this author. excellent work!

great book

I very much enjoyed this book, somewhat in spite of myself since I don't usually read fiction but I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the story. It wasn't what I expected it to be either but it was good.