Reader, I Married Him edited by Tracy Chevalier

I mentioned this short story collection in my previous review of Fall of Poppies. Reader, I Married Him: Stories Inspired by Jane Eyre is edited by Tracy Chevalier and features stories written by many of today's popular authors, such as Audrey Niffenegger, Francine Prose, Emma Donoghue, and others. All of the stories are inspired by the British classic Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, specifically by one of the most famous lines in English literature: "reader, I married him." While most of the authors have read Jane Eyre, at least one or two had never read the novel before penning the short story for this collection, which I thought was interesting.

I have also never read Jane Eyre; however, I have seen the 2011 adaptation that starred Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender (you know, because British period drama). I'm not as familiar with the story as I am with Jane Austen's novels (via the film adaptations; we all know I'm a Jane Austen fan), but I thought I would like it because British period drama. But I didn't. I think if the stories had been inspired by Jane Austen or one of her works, I would have been all over it. Many of them just didn't hold my attention--and some I just skipped over.

If you've read and enjoyed Jane Eyre, I think you might enjoy this short story collection. I think you would probably get more out of the collection than I did. Having never read Jane Eyre and only viewed the adaptation once, I wasn't that familiar with the story, and I felt that I may have been missing a lot in the short stories.

--Reviewed by Ms. Angie

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