Mrs Rochester: A Sequel to Jane Eyre

by Hilary Bailey

Have you ever wondered what happened after Jane found Mr Rochester, blinded and crippled by the fire that destroyed Thornfield Hall? After the death of his wife freed him to marry his young love, and the destruction of his home and estate forced the two of them to start life anew?Hilary Bailey answers these questions and brings in a plot of her own with this sequel to the Bronte classic. She builds a new world for the new Mrs Rochester, centred on her husband, whose sight is slowly healing and whose attitude is forever changed by being happy in love, and her young son, the joy of both his parents. For ten years after Thornfield Hall and all it stood for crumbled, Jane and Mr Rochester live in wedded bliss, spending their days in an idyllic family unit at the small manor of Ferndean. But when Mr Rochester decides to rebuild Thornfield Hall, Jane fears the ghosts that might be brought back with it, and her fears are not unfounded.Mrs Rochester rewrites Jane's 'Happily Ever After' as a twisted tale of interrupted bliss, haunting pasts, and frightening vendettas that follow the Rochesters to their newly rebuilt home. Old wounds are re-opened, grudges once thought buried resurface, and accusations abound, resulting in a mysterious, fast-paced re-imagining of a timeless favourite.

288 pages, Paperback

First published May 5, 1997

About the author

Hilary Bailey was a British writer, critic and editor.

Reviews

[Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was fortunate enough to take this books from a library. I would have been more irritated if I had bought it.

So, ten years have passed since Jane Eyre and apparently Jane has changed 180 degrees, I suppose so has Edward. This is not what I would have imagined their lives to turn out. Actually, their lives did not bother me rather than their personalities. Jane became a whiny, weak, self-doubting wife and Edward (even though he is an adult and supposedly become more mature) became angry, jealous, unjust husband.

The Rochesters move back to Thornfield and have to deal with their relationship (which seemed fine for ten years and for whatever reason changed drastically since moving back), Adele and so forth.

Not my cup of tea.

[Alenka of Bohemia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh..... the word "OK" was invented for this book specially.

[Kit · Rating 2 out of 5]

It would have been 3 stars bc the writing wasn't bad but the characters were nothing like themselves and the plot was contrived, unrealistic and ridiculous. Where was the gentle strength of Jane Eyre, the determination to do what is right above all else? This Jane was unstable and overly dependent on her love of her husband. And Mr Rochester, although previously an unreasonable, strong man, but at least sensible before, and his love for Jane seemed to be absent for most of the book.
In short these characters were unlike themselves in every way and the whole story was unnecessary to say the least as it left them where they began and put them through misery after misery, which they stumbled around in unable to act rationally, for no justifiable reason!

[Anni De forest · Rating 3 out of 5]

Järg Jane Eyerile, kuid polnud nii kaasahaarav kui originaalraamat.

[Marsha · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think it is generally best to leave a good story alone and unless you are the original author you should leave your guess of what happens next in your head. While waiting for my daughter I skimmed and read this at the library. It was on the for sale shelf and I can see why. It might have been a good stand alone story but I didnt like where it took characters that I already loved. Not for me!

[Beck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although well written and the fact that it was nice to have a sense of closure... I can't help but feel that maybe the author should have left well alone.

Quite often, she was jumping back to Jane Eyre which meant I had to dig out that book to refer back to in order to better understand the story.

[E.H. Alger · Rating 2 out of 5]

A stupid book - I vowed I'd never read one of these classics' 'sequels' again after wasting my time with 'Pemberley' some years ago... but this was a freebie, so I did... and wish I hadn't. I've given it two stars rather than one because it managed to keep me vaguely entertained.

[Kristina Seleshanko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Naturally this is not as good as the original, "Jane Eyre," but it's still a fun read: How did the infamous fire at Thornfield *really* start? And does Edward still have secrets?

[Katie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I shouldn't torture myself by reading bad sequels to the Bronte canon.