Welcome to Litsy!

This book, a prequel to Jane Eyre, was fascinating. And so very sad. Unfortunately, I now see Mr. Rochester in a new, and unflattering light. He has been crossed off my #bookboyfriend list.

I really enjoyed reading this with the #hashtagbrigade , excellently hosted (as always) by @BarkingMadRead

#LitsyLoveBingo #FlowersOnTheCover #LitsyLove
#192025 #1966 @Librarybelle
#ReadYourTBR @melissajayne
#ISpyBingo @TheAromaofBooks

This was a very challenging read for me! I might have enjoyed it more if I had read Jane Eyre shortly beforehand. My murky memories of Jane Eyre from 40 years ago really didn‘t help me out. I was grateful for the detailed notes in this volume though. Even so—just not for me.

This is touted as a background story to Rochester‘s wife in the attic from Jane Eyre ( not officially a retell of a classic)
It‘s a tiny book, almost a novella, but what a wild haunting story. The POV changes, narrators are unreliable- I feel like I‘m the crazy one. What is real? What is happening 🤯

I‘m traveling today for my daughter‘s baby shower, and I don‘t want to forget to post again!! Not posting daily is really throwing me off!

Part 3: whoa #backtoAasnarrator #sheisinthornfield #gracepoole #Adreamsthereisafire 🔥#hashtagbrigade

I feel bad for not liking this one as much as other fellow #PemberLittens did. The second part was so confusing - I‘m not the strongest reader of stream of consciousness understanding, let alone from two perspectives. One has to feel sad for Antoinette whose life did not seem pleasant.

This had been on my to read list for a very long time, so at least I can check it off. #HashtagBrigade #192025 #1966

4/5 ⭐️s. In looking around, reviews are all over the place on this one. The writing was difficult to comprehend at times because of (I believe) the stream of consciousness POV shifts between Rochester and Antoinette, but I loved the challenge. I got lost inside Antoinette's mind and truly felt for her and her impossible situation. I now understand Rochester better, but that doesn't mean I like Mr. Byronic Badman anymore than I did in JANE EYRE. ⬇️

I found this opened up even more with a second read. I get why this isn‘t a popular book on Litsy, but I like experimental fiction & poetic writing & I‘m so impressed by what Rhys was able to do with Antoinette & Rochester‘s characters. The way she was able to open up their backstories, make them each both sympathetic & callous, and leave you in sync with the source story but also have things still feel ambiguous. #hashtagbrigade @BarkingMadRead

Part 1 very clearly demonstrated the hardships her family faced. The rest? I found to be incredibly disjointed &alternate POVs should add more dimension, no reason to do it to add more misery, we know he is terrible from Antoinette. I didn‘t find that it made sense as a contained story. The background for this book is longer than the book in this edition& I needed to look up the history. It might be art but I didn‘t think it was good.

Part 2: Rochester takes over the tale #becauseAistotallycrazy #rochesterwaspaidtomarryher #theytrickedhimforsure #thatsicknessofhismakesmewonder #Granboiscreepsmeout #AshalfbrowritesRaletter #heconfirmsthatRwastricked #yikes #RGetslost #obeah #voodoo #funtimes And now it‘s back to A narrating! #shevisitsChristophine #sheasksforsomevoodoomagic #RcallsherBerthanow #WTF #allhermoneybelongstoRnow #shestrapped #hashtagbrigade ⬇️⬇️⬇️

I guess I expected more out of this book—something surprising, different from what Bertha‘s life obviously would have been like before the events of Jane Eyre. And why did we need the Rochester POV sections? To establish him as a huge jerk? We‘re told in those sections that Antoinette is in love with him and I really would have liked to see her fall in love. But I don‘t understand what either of them or Richard got from the marriage. 🤷🏻‍♀️