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I was altogether delighted and wonderfully satisfied by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton and Jodi Meadows’ collective efforts to right the tragic history of Lady Jane Grey by writing My Lady Jane. It was just about perfect: light and romantic and funny (laugh-out-loud, even). So I was very eager for the “Lady Janies’” next book, My Plain Jane. This one makes some big changes in the stories of not only Jane Eyre, the beloved fictional character, but of her author, Charlotte Brontë. Whereas My Lady Jane stuck fairly well to the story of Jane Grey (with some obvious changes and additions), My Plain Jane uses just the skeleton(s) of stories of Charlotte Brontë and Jane Eyre and builds a very different creation.
In this book, Charlotte Brontë and Jane Eyre are both students at Lowood School. Charlotte is a keen observer and is always jotting things down in an ever-present notebook. And Jane … well, she can see ghosts. While she’s friends with Charlotte, she’s particularly close friends with the ghost of Helen Burns, and she’s too often observed talking “to herself.”
Then there’s a royal “Ghostbusters” society that takes care of troublesome ghosts. Alexander Blackwood is the star agent, and he runs across both Charlotte and Jane early in the story. He realizes Jane can see ghosts and tries to recruit her for the society, but she refuses. Jane ends up a governess at Thornfield Hall and meets Mr. Rochester.
With those basics, the story is off and running, and it careens all over the place. Tragic events are mostly wiped out and everyone ends up pretty happy: except me. I just didn’t like all the places the story went this time around and wasn’t quite sure I wanted all the changes. I loved Jane Eyre, even with all its tragedy (and I imagine I can’t be the only reader who’s going to feel this way). So this didn’t work as well for me as the first book. There’s still some fun and romance and little jokes from the authors (and still a number of references to The Princess Bride, which is always welcome), so I appreciated those things. But a perfect confection this was not (and not once did I get to laugh out loud…). I’ll forgive the authors, though, and look forward to what they come up with next.
Rated: Mild, for a few instances of mild language, some mild violence and a few references to some sexuality in the context of the times (meaning, generally veiled).
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