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|date=December 2014
|isbn=978-1782395249
|cover=1782395245
|aznuk=1782395245
|aznus=1782395245
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I can't say that I'm a fan of reworkings of classic books: [[Emma by Alexander McCall Smith|some]] suck the life out of the original, [[Jane Eyrotica by Charlotte Bronte and Karena Rose|others]] fail to add anything - and why would you want to read an inferior version when you can read the real thing? Generally, I try to avoid them - and I'm still not certain why I made an exception for ''Thornfield Hall'' - it certainly wasn't the headless woman (sigh...) on the cover - but I added it to my reading pile. I'm glad that I did.
Think again.
I'm not even going to ''hint'' about what happens, but other scenarios are offered, explanations tendered which fit in perfectly with the book we know and love but which put a different slant on the years during which Bertha Mason lived on the third floor of Thornfield Hall and what eventually happened there. At the end , I cheered.
And on the way to that brilliant ending we have a superb picture of life at Thornfield Hall as the servants knew it - and we see how the estate is run. Jane Eyre plays a relatively small part in the story - it really is only incidentally about her - as Bertha had been on the third floor for many years before Jane left Lowood and came to the Hall as Adele's governess. The rather unassuming star of the book is our narrator, Alice Fairfax, along with the woman we've always thought of as 'the mad wife' and her nurse, Grace Poole. They come to life completely.
What I really liked about this book is that is it shines a new light on the original story (and takes nothing away from it) and if both books are taken together you have one version from an innocent and naive narrator and another from someone who is more worldly -wise. ''Thornfield Hall'' makes you think more carefully about the original. It was a great read and I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.
If this book appeals then we think that you'll enjoy [[Longbourn by Jo Baker]]. And you mustn't miss one the great reworkings: [[Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys]].
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