Jane Eyre is officially in my top two books of all time! This novel had me sitting on the edge of my chair and nothing could take me away from it. I read it in 3 days. There is romance, drama, ghosts, an element of horror and throughout it all, a strong storyline of resilience. The authors’ descriptions are brilliant. I could picture all that was talked about. I also love that the story was set in a time of governesses, servants, horses instead of cars, and so much more, giving us insights into the olden days. 

This amazing novel is written from the point of view of a young orphan girl called Jane Eyre who is abused by her aunt and cousins. She is sent to a charity school where she struggles to make friends and must survive despite the awful conditions. The novel then transforms into a coming of age story with Jane Eyre becoming a teacher of a young French girl at Thornfield Hall, a castle like manor that seems to be haunted. As Jane matures, she is forced to be resilient through love, loss, homelessness and eventually a resolution that shows she can be independent and also love deeply.

"I recommend this book to 10+ because there are some more mature themes like romance, abuse and homelessness that may be difficult for younger readers. However, there are some younger and older readers who will benefit from reading about building resilience".

Reviewed by Clover 

Patrice Lawrence worked in the charity sector for 20 years before becoming a full-time writer for both children and adults. She is best known for her gritty, hard-hitting novels for young adult readers, the first of which, Orangeboy, won the Waterstones Book Prize for Older Children and the YA Book Prize, was shortlisted for the Costa Children's Book Award and nominated for the Carnegie Medal; her second, Indigo Donut, was shortlisted for the YA Book Prize and won the the Crimefest YA Prize. In 2021 Patrice was awarded an MBE for Services to Literature in the Queen's Birthday Honours and won the Jhalak Prize's inaugural children's and young adult category for her book Eight Pieces of Silva. This is Patrice's first book for Walker.