Jane Eyre Laid Bare: The Classic Novel with an Erotic Twist

Rather than an all-out retelling, Sinclair’s mashup reads more like Victorian erotica with trace elements of Brntë. Sinclair removes the novel’s opening sections about Jane’s family and school life to get immediately to her heroine’s arrival as an 18-year-old governess at Thornfield Hall. Unlike the original’s somber abode, this version of Mr. Rochester’s home is filled with sexually suggestive paintings and lascivious servants and guests. While Sinclair can treat Jane and Rochester’s physical attraction much more frankly than Brontë, it’s at the expense of their emotional chemistry. Sex scenes that rarely rise above the mundane, as well as a prurient sensibility that typically consigns Jane to the passive role of voyeur, means readers may be better served creating their own fan-fic or investigating the similar Jane Eyrotica. Agent: Curtis Brown, Curtis Brown Ltd. (Dec.)