An American Heir: A Modern Retelling of Jane Eyre

by Chrissy Breen Keffer

An American A Modern Retelling of Jane Eyre lifts Charlotte Brontë's classic from nineteenth century England and plants it firmly on twenty-first century American soil. Bea Stephens is the modern counterpoint to a smart and independent woman whose intelligence far surpasses her means. Hoping to earn some money so she can finish college, Bea takes a job as a nanny for Ethan Stuart, a mercurial hotel magnate. While Bea and Ethan come from different backgrounds - practically different worlds - the distance between them is ultimately bridged by their love for one another. Read An American Heir, and meet a modern Jane.

Genres: Romance, Retellings, Fiction, Novels

203 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 7, 2011

Reviews

[Katherine Coble · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars.

I tend to steer clear of Jane Eyre retellings, because I know the original book so well that the retellings seem to leave me both disappointed and craving the passions of Bronte's world. This is the first time I've come across a straight retelling that actually does move the Jane Eyre tale lock, stock and barrel into the current era. She hews so closely to the original it almost feels as if she had a spreadsheet set up to make sure that each part of her story fell into the same blocks. For a die-hard fan of Jane Eyre, one who at one time had the book memorised, it's a great deal of fun. Since I knew what was coming I derived no small amount of pleasure trying to figure out how she'd move this or that part of the tale into the 21st century. ("How will she handle the gypsy woman at the party?")

The book loses that half a star for the handling of one element--St. John Rivers. I maintain that the way a modern author handles the Rivers Interlude is the make-or-break of any Eyre pastiche. He is such a difficult character in the original; without his sisters to soften him he's even worse. Chrissy Breen Keffer did a marvelous job of making him both sympathetic and insufferable, the way St. John Rivers (herein called Jonathan Stone) should be. But my problem came at the very end of the Rivers Interlude. After building a very plausible and conflict-filled scenario that moved pompous, pious Rivers into the modern era, Breen Keefer concluded the whole thing in a rush that felt both forced and unrealistic. That didn't matter too much, though, because by that point you know what's coming and you just want her to say her goodbyes to the fellow and get back to Rochester.


If you're at all a fan of Bronte's timeless classic, I suggest you invest the dollar to give this book a bit of your attention. You'll indeed find out just exactly how timeless Bronte's plot and characters truly are.

[Kari · Rating 4 out of 5]

From my blog:

Jane Eyre is one of my all-time favorite classic reads. While I love the classic version, I also enjoy reading modern versions of the story. In this version, Bea Stephens is our modern-day Jane. Alone, but intelligent and independent, Bea makes her way through an elite boarding school and then onto college. But, she soon finds herself unable to afford school and must drop out to find a job. Hoping to save money and return to school someday, Bea takes a job as a nanny for Ethan Stuart, the wealthy and worldly hotel magnate. Though they come from different worlds, they are almost instantly drawn to one another and find themselves falling in love. But, when secrets from Ethan's past come to light, Bea runs away and tries to forget about Ethan. Will their deep bond and love ever bring them back together?

This was a great version of the Jane Eyre story. The author's writing was so effortless and beautiful. Bea was a strong, honest, and likable character. The bond between her and Ethan was believable and romantic. I don't want to give away the details, but a long-lost relative of Bea's shows up later in the story...it's a nice twist.

[Phoebe Jeziel · Rating 4 out of 5]

-Rated a 4.5-

I almost forgot how much I loved Jane Eyre, and reading this re-telling reminded me why I loved her and her story so much. I think I have to say that Jane Eyre is probably my all time favorite romantic story I've ever read. I adore this story.

This retelling of Jane Eyre is exactly what it says it is: a modern retelling. Not at all straying from the book, it rather just modernizes things for us with the kind of language we use today. That's basically it. Of course nothing can beat the real thing. I think the thing that I missed the most was the original beautiful language that made me melt and wish I was part of Jane's world.

But I really did enjoy this retelling of one the classics. Great read for on the get go or you've got a Jane Eyre craving and left your hard copy at home.

[Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not one for long drawn out reviews so I'll just say I SO ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT! I've loved Jane's story since I was a child and I even loved it in this form. Bea's story was just different enough not to mock Jane's but just familiar enough to feel like home. All the settings in the book were very vivid and detailed without the descriptions being multiple paragraphs long..... I just loved the ambiance of it. I wished it was a cold rainy November spent reading this book by the fire instead of a hot August afternoon in Texas. This is one of those special books that makes you feel warm and cozy enough to lose yourself in the story.

I highly recommend this book and am definitely looking forward to more from this author!!

[Sleepyreader · Rating 2 out of 5]

Modern Jane Eyre.

While the author credibly transitioned much of the story into the modern times, some of Jane Eyre's original passion was lost. While the original novel is one of my favorite love stories, with lines and scenes I can read over and over, I felt very little investment in Bea and Ethan' s tale. I felt the philosophical discussions came off as pretentious rather than Jane's honest and unique personality. I also felt the religious trope was laid on pretty thick, with quotes from the bible I simply skimmed.

[E. Davidson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Faithful re-telling.

I am giving 3 stars because, while this is a faithful contemporary re-telling with a little Tom Wolfe thrown in for color, I personally found the Christian overlay intrusive and unnecessary.

[Stella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Look, I love Jane Eyre and I'm trying to read as many retellings as possible. This one was good BUT...it's got SUPER 'God' towards the end. I KNOW, I KNOW, so does the original, but I started to question if I was reading a 'religious' retelling.

Either way, this was still pretty okay.

[Cyndi · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book so much because a friend, whose opinion I value, recommended it to me. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy it. I did not see much chemistry between Bea and Ethan. I didn't believe that, in the 20th/21st century, Ethan would be able to realistically hide a wife. In the same way, when Bea left Ethan I didn't think there would be much conflict because I assumed he would find her quickly and easily. When he didn't I was disappointed. I did, however, enjoy watching Bea interact with the Adele counterpart. That relationship was developed in a lovely way.

I love the story of Jane Eyre and I think, done correctly, it could be interestingly interpreted for modern times. I just don't think Ms. Keffer was successful.

[ElizabethRose · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've seen and read a few attempts to translate Jane Eyre into modern times and it always falls short. If you're reading this, I will assume you have read the original novel so spoiler warning!

I do not see any way to make the "insane wife locked in the attic" time hop to modern times. Not to mention the inability to remove the wife by legal means if necessary. That is usually my biggest beef. In Victorian Times, Jane's character is virtuous and strong whereas in modern times it comes across as a little arrogant.

I love the original novel and have read it at least 15 times but I really think the story needs to stay where it began in the 1800s

[Barbara Haller · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay

An okay read. Misses most of the atmosphere of Jane Eyre. Follows the opening part rather closely, though leaves off the abusive conditions at the religious school. I suspect for a reason. By the time we get to the third part involving St.John it has totally gone off the rails. Writing really gets skimpy and then devolves into a preachy mess about not living your true live..

[Lina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only 3 out of 5 sorry... The book started really good but by the end of the story it was boring and sometimes made no sense at all, though as a huge Jane Eyre fan I don't regret reading this book, it helped me to kill some time on the plane:)

[Kayla Hensley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jane Eyre is my favorite book of all time. This was a fairly faithful adaptation- but it lacked the passion of the original. The characters said the words and went through the motions but I couldn't feel the intensity of their love, which is the best aspect of the original. B-

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite a few really clever turns of phrase in this adaptation, nothing beats the original.

[Kel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very decent adaptation of Jane Eyre. I have to agree with the reviewer that Jane and Ethan lacked the passion of Jane and Rochester, but I was still very caught up in their tale.

[Kathleen Crowell · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were elements to this retelling that I liked, but overall it reminded me too much of another retelling and I kept checking my book list to make sure I hadn't read it before.

[Staciel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice modern 'retelling' of Jane Eyre.

[Reneé Porter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Retelling of Jane Eyre

While a modern retelling of Jane Eyre, the book brings the story firmly into the 21st century. I was very pleased with it.

[Shauna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nice, but...

I felt that what was lacking was any real passion. Not sex, but even the original story showed more intensity of feeling between the hero and heroine.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really really enjoyed this book and wish it was in paper form so I could lend it to people.