Becoming Jane Eyre: A Bad Review of a Bad Book (Proceed at Your Own Risk)

I just finished reading Becoming Jane Eyre by Sheila Kohler. I must confess that I've been in the process of reading this book for ages. It's been sitting on my nightstand and I would read it at the rate of approximately 1/2 page per week. Or maybe slower. Which was the approximate rate that the plot moved along in the book. Or maybe the plot moved slower.

Until the very end. I kept reading last night because it finally got interesting after the endless character development. But that lasted for about two chapters, and then the book ended with a quick deus ex machina, but I was so relieved to finally be done with the book that I didn't even care.

One of the things that really bothered me about what I'll call the "character development phase," or the first 9/10 of the book, was that suddenly, and without warning, the plot-less-ness would be narrated from a different character's point of view.

I kept thinking that if I had read Jane Eyre more recently, that I would be enjoying this book more.

Oh, by the way, did I mention that Becoming Jane Eyre is a fictional account of Charlotte Bronte's writing of Jane Eyre? Or at least it is mostly about Charlotte and Jane Eyre, as it is also a fictional account of Emily Bronte's writing of Wuthering Heights. Remember the random shifting of the narration? The whole focus of the book shifts randomly at times, too. (Just like this blog post. I need to stop reading bad writing. It affects me thus.)

As my mind wandered (about a million times) while trying to trudge through the fictional backstory of the life of Charlotte, Emily and Anne, I kept trying to remember whether or not I actually had read Jane Eyre. I can say with certainty that I have read Wuthering Heights. And I am fairly certain that I read Jane Eyre either right before or right after that book. But I couldn't find anything on my blog to support this theory, so I'm not entirely sure. (I love how my blog is like an extension of my brain.)

In short, I don't particularly recommend that you read Becoming Jane Eyre, unless you are a devoted fan of Jane Eyre. If you can't remember whether or not you have ever even read Jane Eyre, I'd skip this one.