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Dreams collide with reality, modernity with antiquity, and myth with identity in the twelve arresting stories of A House Is a Body. In “Earthly Pleasures,” a young painter living alone in San Francisco begins a secret romance with one of India’s biggest celebrities— the Hindu god Krishna— and desire and ego are laid bare. And in the title story, an exhausted mother watches, hypnotized by fear, as a California wildfire approaches her home. Set in the United States and India, they reveal small but intense moments of beauty, pain, and power that contain the world.
Welcome to Read This Book, a weekly newsletter where I recommend one book that I think you absolutely must read. The books will vary across genre and age category to include new releases, backlist titles, and classics. If you’re ready to explode your TBR, buckle up!
This week’s pick is a classic with a killer twist–Jane Steele by Lindsay Faye.
Content warning: murder, violence, attempted sexual assault
The quick pitch of this book is Jane Eyre, but Jane is an accidental serial killer. If that doesn’t hook you…well, keep reading.
While this is not a direct retelling, the titular character Jane Steele has a life that looks remarkably like Jane Eyre’s. She grows up on her family estate, under the reign of her vindictive aunt. When Jane’s awful cousin attempts to hurt her, she accidentally causes his death and lies about it. She’s sent to school where she makes a true friend, but when the cruel headmaster gets to be too much, Jane again commits murder to protect herself and her friend. From there, they flee to London and eke out a living the best they can, until news of Jane’s aunt’s death reaches her and she returns home under the guise of a governess in order to meet the new master of her home, Mr. Thornfield, who is not at all who he appears at first. But then again, neither is Jane.
If you’re a fan of super smart writing and sly, deadly humor, then this book is absolutely for you. As a Jane Eyre fan (it’s my problematic fave), I appreciate the clever parallels to the classic and Jane Steele’s awareness of her own life choices and how they’re perceived (she is inspired to write her confessions after reading a copy of Jane Eyre). I also loved that this retelling showed readers a wider view of life in Victorian England, particularly what it was like to be a poor woman alone in London who didn’t want to turn to prostitution, and it also provided some diversity in race and religion that was definitely present during this time period, but not reflected in classic literature.
I also am always impressed with a novel that stars a sympathetic antihero who you genuinely want to see get away with their crimes. Jane is followed throughout the story by a dogged detective who hovers in the background but always seems on the verge of discovering her, which amps up the stakes nicely, and makes for an exciting climax. If you want an unapologetically murderous book that stars a resourceful young woman always operating on the edge of the law with a dark sense of humor, then this is a must-read!
Happy reading!
Tirzah
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