Adele: Jane Eyre's Hidden Story [Hardcover]

Emma Tennant (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 26, 2002

The daughter of the celebrated Parisian actress Celine Varens, Adele is a homesick, forlorn eight-year-old when she is first brought to Thornfield Hall by Edward Fairfax Rochester, her mother's former lover and - though the grand estate's brooding lord refuses to acknowledge it - quite possibly Adele's father. Lonely and ill at ease in the cold, unfamiliar English countryside, the sad, precocious child longs to return to the glitter of Paris...and to the arms of the mother who has been lost to her. But a small ray of sunshine brightens her eternal gloom when a stranger arrives to school and care for her: a mousy and serious yet intensely loving young governess named Jane Eyre. As the years pass, Adele watches with wonder as an unexpected romance blossoms between her governess and her guardian -- even as her curiosity leads her deeper into the shadowy manor, toward the dark and terrible secret that is locked away in a high garret. And on Jane and Rochester's planned wedding day, it is Adele who is instrumental in bringing about the fiery catastrophe that shatters her "family" and sends her fleeing, frightened and alone, back to France. But Paris is no longer the glamorous ideal she remembers. Intent on finding her mother, Adele is soon lost in a world of sham sparkle and ruthless exploiters. Yet her will remains strong as she grows and learns, determined to follow her solitary odyssey to its inevitable conclusion, as she - like Jane Eyre and the tormented Edward Rochester- searches for salvation and love amid the ruins of misfortune. A novel of wondrous imagination and vivid intensity, Emma Tennant's Adele brilliantly captures the nuances and spirit of the cherished classic that inspired it, while being a bold and original literary work that stands firmly and gloriously on its own. Tennant's story works perfectly, creating a genuine modern sequel to Bronte's tale. --Kirkus Reviews

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Seasoned sequel-writer Tennant (Pemberley; Sylvia and Ted; etc.) offers not so much a follow-up to Jane Eyre as a new perspective on its plot. She retells Bronte's romance from the perspective of the pampered but neglected Adele, Rochester's "ward" and Jane's pupil. Only eight years old when the novel opens, Adele is living blissfully in Paris with her mother, the celebrated trapeze artist and actress Celine Varens. Their cozy-if somewhat depraved-life is threatened by the sudden arrival of Rochester, an explosive alcoholic whispered to be her father. Rochester kills Celine's lover in a duel, then flees to England, while Celine flees to Italy, abandoning her daughter. Adele is sent to stay with Rochester at Thornfield Hall, where she is befriended by the witchy "etrangere" Antoinette (also known as Bertha). Soon Jane Eyre arrives, but the bratty Adele, still plotting the marriage of Maman and Papa, rejects her governess's "persistent banality." Adele's narration is an awkward attempt at Victorian prose ("That she had had affection for me, I cannot gainsay; but I had been for her a conduit to the greater profit of her master's love, and little more") sprinkled with occasional, mostly gratuitous French words ("I was dismissed without even trying on the robe of organdy"). But the real problem is Adele herself, whose haughtiness is merely unpleasant; she has none of the charm of Bronte's imp, let alone the charisma to anchor a whole book. Some diehard Jane Eyre fans may enjoy this variation, but purists are warned to stay away.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Why write an alternate version of a novel that is already complex and intriguing? Tennant, who tried to update Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice in Pemberly and An Unequal Marriage, focuses on Adele Varens, the ward of Edward Rochester and pupil of Jane Eyre. Adele's life in Paris and tenancy at Thornfield Hall are revealed in chapters narrated by various characters, most often Adele or Edward. The possibility of a different demise for the unfortunate Bertha constitutes a major part of the plot. Tennant's book is too insubstantial to sustain interest in its plot or characters. If the reader's major concern is trying to recall how Blanche Ingram, Grace Poole, Mrs. Fairfax, and the rest fit together in the original, why not just reread Charlotte Bronte's novel itself? That experience would be more rewarding than slogging through this volume. [Or read Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhys's classic take on Jane Eyre.-Ed.]-Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State Univ. Lib., Mankat.
--Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State Univ. Lib., Mankato
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; 1st edition (November 26, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060004541
• ISBN-13: 978-0060004545
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,875,077 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars don't bother with this hack job, January 23, 2007

By 

Tara Lohman "constant reader" (Knoxville, Tennessee United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Adele: Jane Eyre's Hidden Story (Hardcover)

Ugh, I gave this "book" one star because you can't give no stars, but that does not for one minute mean I think this piece of schlock excuse for a book has any merit whatsoever. Why do people write companion novels to great classics if they are going to change the author's original premise? Or in this case, crap all over it.
Many people compare this novel to "Wide Sargasso Sea" and while I have never liked that either, because I feel that Jean Rhys also misrepresented Charlotte Bronte's original intention, at least that book has the distinction of good writing. This one isn't good, in any way. There is simply not enough room to enumerate the faults of this book, but the other reviews have done an admirable job of listing them: Rochester's brutality, the constant insulting of Jane by Adele, the normality of "Antoinette" (it's always rankled me that Rhys called her that, in the original she is Bertha, why pretty her up by calling her her middle name?) The murderous insanity of Mrs. Fairfax, as kind and benign a creature as was ever invented in fiction, the ludicrous murder mystery later in the book when Bertha's body is found in a shallow grave. And the last hilariously awful plot twist about Celine being pregnant by both the Viscount and Rochester. I mean, maybe, just maybe, a pregnancy by two men is possible if you happen to release two eggs and have sex with two men all at the same time, but really, would you be able to spot the differences in the fraternal twins so exactly as to know who to hit up for child support?????
The whole book is so ridiculous, I can't even believe someone published it. Avoid it, taking a nap would be more productive than reading this.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Please Read All Reviews...., July 6, 2005

By 

Miss T "Indy Girl" (San Francisco) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Adele: Jane Eyre's Hidden Story (Paperback)

Before buying this book. I wish I had. I was disappointed in this book. Jane Eyre is one of my favorite novels, I also loved Wide Sargasso Sea, but this book is nowhere close to being as good. The reason this book failed is that the author tried to write a book that was an extention of Jane Eyre but could also stand alone. The problem with this is that the person most likely to read this book, fans of Jane Eyre, want to read about familiar characters and make connections to the original story, which this book fails to provide. Since this story is written by a different person and at a different time, it is understandable that the feel of the book is different, and I did not expect a book that was exactly like Jane Eyre. However, this book is billed as a companion to Jane Eyre so the author owes it to her readers to make a connection to the original story. Instead the author fails dismally in her attempt to reproduce the original characters. Every character was wrong and did not resemble the originals. The author portrayed Adele as a rebelious, scheming, unhappy girl, whereas in Jane Eyre Adele was happy if not resigned to her lot in life. Even the character of Jane Eyre is not portrayed accurately in this book. Speaking of accuracy, there are a lot of inaccuracies in this book. Like others have mentioned, it's almost as if the writer had never read Jane Eyre. I think the writer chose to ignore certain facts in order to make the original story fit her own. This is a mistake as anyone who has read Jane Eyre will be annoyed by the inconsistencies. The grossest inconsistency being (in my mind) was the supposed murder of Bertha before she fell off the roof. It was made clear in Jane Eyre and earlier in this book that Bertha was seen and heard screaming before she jumped. Finally, I was most disappointed in the cheesy overwrought soap opera ending. Mrs. F as a murdering maniac who is so intent an Ingram/Rochester marriage that she kills the first wife and dangles the current wife over a ledge? Unbelieveable. Even if I had never read Jane Eyre I still could have not enjoyed this book. The dark, garbled plot and all the twists and turns make this a difficult read.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Too, too much melodrama, August 18, 2003

By 

Woodbuckley (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Adele: Jane Eyre's Hidden Story (Hardcover)

Alas, I cannot say anything other regarding this 'hidden' companion to Jane Eyre, than that it is dreadful. Having read several others of Tennant's continuations, I ought to have known better. For once again the author has decided to refocus a well-known book to make it read as she thinks it ought to be seen.
The book is mainly told from Adele's point of view, changing as she ages in tone to reflect her new, less childish perspectives. Then there are also several changes to the narrative of other characters: Rochester, Mrs. Fairfax and Grace Poole (of all people!). These made an already wobbly narrative thread, a jolting one. It was Wuthering Heights and not Jane Eyre that was written in this fashion.
I also could not help but be confused by several background references made in the text to such things as railway fortunes, Parisian boulevardes and Puccini operas. Were these meant to show the narrative was actually coming from the distance of many years? For none of these things were appropriate to the period setting. Odd and irritating.
Then the storyline itself seemed to be trying to out trump Bronte in the melodrama stakes. The whole of the drawn out conclusion with Adele's flight to Paris was too much. Tennant truly did evoke some beautiful, almost lyrical images - but it ill fitted the overall tone of dark melodrama. The whole mystery of Adele's birth being given an extra notch of dark deeds, was far too unbelievable.
I felt slightly insulted and definitely thankful that I had read it courtesy of my local library.