#CBR10 Book 56: "My Plain Jane" by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton and Jodi Meadows

Page count: 464 pages
Rating: 4 stars

This review will contain spoilers for Jane Eyre, but that book is more than 170 years old, and therefore, if you don't know the gist of the plot already, that's really not my fault.

In this slightly alternate universe, King George III of England was not actually mad, he just saw ghosts and could talk to them (making others believe he wasn't quite right in the head). He founded a society "for the Relocation of Wayward Spirits", led by none other than the Duke of Wellington himself. By the time of William IV, the Society was no longer receiving proper patronage from the king any longer, and they're down to only a few trusted ghost hunters. Alexander Blackwood is Wellington's trusty favourite, and when he's not hunting down ghosts for the RWS, he's trying to avenge his dead father.

While trying to relocate a ghost near Lowood School, Alexander comes into contact with two young ladies. One is the intriguing Jane Eyre, the other her friend Charlotte Brontë (who wishes to become an author, of course). Alexander discovers that Ms Eyre can see ghosts, and while the RWS in the past did not employ women, Wellington is getting desperate, and insists that Alexander recruit her into the Society post haste. Yet Jane Eyre is terrified that the Society will "relocate" her best friend and ghost companion, Helen Burns, so she wants nothing to do with Alexander. She is adamant that she wants to become a governess above all else. Charlotte cannot understand why her friend would give up a life of excitement and adventure, not to mention a very extravagant salary and tries to persuade Alexander to take her in Jane's stead (her brother Bramwell is Alexander's apprentice, after all).

Jane (and Helen) go off to Thornfield Hall (where very strange things are afoot), while Alexander and the two eldest Brontë siblings accompany him, trying to aid in recruiting Jane into the Society. While at Thornfield Hall, Alexander also begins to suspect that Mr. Rochester may in fact have something to with his father's death. While Jane is strangely smitten with her broody new employer (and he with her), and soon (despite ghostly Helen's warnings and misgivings, not to mention very much alive Charlotte's), they are engaged to be married. The dramatic scene in the church, where it is revealed that Mrs Bertha Rochester isn't dead at all, but has been locked in the attic for years, plays out rather differently here.

The final third of the novel, after the disastrous wedding, plays out rather differently than the source material. The true reason for Mr Rochester's strange behaviour and his imprisonment of his wife is revealed, Alexander eventually discovers the true culprit behind his father's murder, the Brontë siblings discover a new and benevolent relative and Jane (and Helen) look to get their own happy ending too.

This is the second book in The Lady Janies series, where Ms Hand, Ashton and Meadows irreverently play with English history and/or literature to create their own thing. I really enjoyed My Lady Jane back in 2016 and was very excited when I heard that their second book would be a Jane Eyre retelling, as I love that book. I fully understand that it is not for everyone and that from a modern perspective, there are a number of very troubling elements to the grandiose and Gothic romance between poor, plain, yet resilient Miss Jane Eyre and her much older and broody employer, Mr Edward Rochester. The age difference, his strange treatment of her, his mind games and his attempts at manipulation are not cool, but the book is, as I pointed out earlier, 171 years old and it was a different time. Besides, it's not like Charlotte Brontë doesn't make Rochester suffer for his early arrogance and attempts at bigamy. He is thoroughly punished, while unassuming, kind and oh so virtuous Jane Eyre is rewarded (after much suffering and nearly dying on the moors). She may start the book poor and without any kindly relations, but at the end of the novel, she has inherited a fortune, discovered long lost cousins and finally, in a position of power, gets to the man of her choosing, when she is suddenly his social superior.

In this book, due to the presence of ghosts (and their ability to possess people), we get a story that seems similar on the surface, but goes somewhere rather different in places. Both Charlotte Brontë and Jane Eyre get happy romantic endings, with men who are closer to them in age than was often the case in Victorian England. There is danger and intrigue and several dastardly villains along the way, but all comes right in the end. This was a fun enough book, but I think overall, I preferred the first one. I was excited to discover that there will be a third book in the series, out 2020, about Calamity Jane (who I only really know from the Deadwood TV series). With the two books in the series so far, I've been very familiar with both the historical (the Tudor era is my favourite) and literary (see my aforementioned love for the source material) background. With Calamity Jane, I'm more in the dark.

#CBR10Bingo: So shiny

Judging a book by its cover: I'm not sure if the cover model is supposed to be Jane Eyre or Charlotte Brontë (or someone completely different), but while the collar of the blouse/dress may be suitable for a Victorian lady, this girl is wearing way too much makeup (and while her brow game is excellent, it's also anachronistic). Nor do I like the bright yellow or the font used for the title. Not a great cover, guys.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

#CBR8 Book 133: "My Lady Jane" by Cynthia Hand, Jodi Meadows and Brodi Ashton

Page count: 512 pages
Rating: 4 stars

According to history, when King Edward VI, Henry VIII's son died young and childless, certain noblemen who wanted to make sure a ruler of the Protestant faith ruled the country put his young cousin Lady Jane Gray on the throne. She ruled for nine days, before Mary Tudor arrived with her armies, removed the poor girl and had her beheaded. This book bears a vague resemblance to that story.

In the England of this story, the conflict in England isn't between Catholics and Protestants, it's between non-shapeshifters, also known as Verities, and shapeshifters, better known as eðians (pronounced eethians). King Henry VIII himself turned into a great big lion, on occasion, but even so, the eðians are generally hunted and distrusted by the populace in general. Princess Mary is staunchly against them and want them all killed, while young King Edward and his best friend and cousin, Lady Jane Grey read everything they can about them and would like nothing more than to discover eðian abilities of their own.

Sadly, Edward appears to be dying. He has been told by Lord Dudley, his chief adviser and his physicians that he's suffering from "the affliction" and that he is unlikely to have long, certainly not long enough to marry and produce a male heir. Luckily Dudley has a plan to secure a succession that will make sure an eðian-friendly ruler ends up on the English trone. He suggests that Edward change the line of succession to ensure that his cousin Lady Jane's heirs inherit. Of course, Jane needs to be married to produce heirs, but Dudley has just the candidate. His younger son, Gifford. There is the minor difficulty that Gifford Dudley is an eðian and spends every day from sunup to sunset as a magnificent stallion, but any heirs would be conceived at night anyways, so Dudley is sure Jane wouldn't mind too much.

When the extremely intellectual Jane finds out that she's to be married off within a few days, she travels to the Dudley estate (carrying with her a suitable supply of books to entertain her) to meet her intended. Unfortunately, because of some rather shameful nightly pursuits, Gifford (just call him G) has let it be known that he's a rampant womaniser. It's more socially acceptable than what he gets up to. Hence his older brother mistakes Jane for one of his younger brother's many suspected floozies and Jane believes her impending husband is a lecherous libertine (he's not, he's actually a poet). Nor does anyone deem it appropriate to tell her about her husband's eðian status, so she has quite the surprise the morning after her wedding, when the groom turns into a big horse in the middle of her bedroom.

As Edward takes a rapid turn for the worse shortly after the wedding, his sister Elizabeth warns him that he mustn't trust his physicians and he realises that Dudley is up to no good, and that Jane may be in terrible danger as well.

This is a delightful farce of a book, where we follow the points of view of Edward, Jane and G (he never liked the name Gifford) as the story progresses. Since there are three authors, I suspect each of them took one character and wrote their sections. Having loosely based the first half on actual historical events (if you ignore the shapeshifters), the second half is pure fantasy and a lot of fun. The book is clearly inspired by The Princess Bride, with the narrators occasionally interrupting the narrative to address the reader directly. Readers will recognise that most of Gifford's poetry is strikingly similar to that of one William Shakespeare. There is humour reminiscent of Monty Python and Blackadder, while at least one plot development brings to mind the lovely Ladyhawke, one of my favourite eighties movies (I'd love to get a version with a non-synthy soundtrack).

I've seen this book included on several best of 2016 lists, and while I'm not sure I enjoyed it enough to include it in my top ten of the year, it's a very enjoyable romp from start to finish. My one complaint is that the book is a bit long and I think some of the parts in the second half could have been edited a bit more. As a huge fan of Tudor history in general, and having always been sympathetic to poor Lady Jane, the nine days queen, who really didn't have much choice in the matter and was a political pawn her entire life, it was nice to see a story that reimagines a much happier ending for her. Possibly not the book for you if you take your history very seriously, but highly recommended for anyone who wants a fun, creative and irreverent reimagining of history.

Judging a book by its cover: While on first look, this may seem like any old historical novel, with your red-headed girl in Tudor era clothing and a big red font bringing your attention to the title, you need only take a closer look to see that there's more here. In little "hand-written notes" and arrows pointing to the girl on the cover, the writers explain that "Sometimes history gets it all wrong". The other notes say "It's not easy being queen" and "Off with her head".

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.