Review: Hooked on this serial.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 4, 2014
This is the first installment of L.K. Rigel's My Mr. Rochester. The entire series is told in 5 parts and is a retelling of Jane Eyre.Knowing that this was Jane-Eyre-with-a-twist really had me intrigued. To me, Jane Eyre is the most beloved classic novel. I figured that I was going to either adore it or I was going to hate it and be annoyed someone tried to re-create the magic.My Mr. Rochester is set in the near future. When the story begins and Jane is living with her aunt, Mrs. Reed, she is thirteen and it is the year 2081. They live in North America but borders are not the same as they are now. Jane is living in a new country called New Judah where its citizens have reverted to a Victorian-era lifestyle. Technology is shunned and virtues like piety and modesty are ideal. It makes me think of colonies of Amish people--living close to and being exposed to modern culture and even finding it necessary to utilize technology once in a while, but not embracing it. But this is much more Victorian than Amish in that there are class lines that are firmly set and the disparity between the classes is great.I think the sensibilities and the economics of Victorian England are very important to the story of Jane Eyre and to make it a contemporary story would cause it to lose its greatness, so I can understand why the author chose to tell it this way. In some ways if you disregard what is happening outside of New Judah, this could be Jane Eyre--just told in a voice that is more reader-friendly and has the promise of a little more titillating content.Basing my opinion on this first installment, the author is keeping to the core story, but taking some situations and characters to a deeper level. It's as if she were reading between the lines of Jane Eyre and letting us all in on it. ** Come on, when reading Jane Eyre didn't you all think that Mr Brocklehurst was probably a bit of a perv? ** So far I don't think so well of Jane as I did with Bronte's version. But I'm trying not to let my love of the original spoil my experience reading this.Part One ends with Jane discovering that the man on the horse is her employer Mr. Rochester. I'm enjoying this very much and will happily continue on with the other installments.