Jane [Hardcover]

April Lindner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 11, 2010

Forced to drop out of an esteemed East Coast college after the sudden death of her parents, Jane Moore takes a nanny job at Thornfield Park, the estate of Nico Rathburn, a world-famous rock star on the brink of a huge comeback. Practical and independent, Jane reluctantly becomes entranced by her magnetic and brooding employer and finds herself in the midst of a forbidden romance.

But there's a mystery at Thornfield, and Jane's much-envied relationship with Nico is soon tested by an agonizing secret from his past. Torn between her feelings for Nico and his fateful secret, Jane must decide: Does being true to herself mean giving up on true love?

An irresistible romance interwoven with a darkly engrossing mystery, this contemporary retelling of the beloved classic Jane Eyre promises to enchant a new generation of readers.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 10 Up—In this modern take on Charlotte Brontë's classic romance, Jane Moore has just withdrawn from Sarah Lawrence as her parents have passed on without leaving any money. She accepts a job as a nanny, working for Nico Rathburn, a famous rock star, at his home, Thornfield Park. She plans on earning enough money to finish her schooling. Despite being incredibly practical and emotionally reserved, Jane falls for the bad-boy celebrity, and he for her. After she accepts his marriage proposal, the little oddities at Thornfield Park are pieced together to form a big problem for their new love. Jane flees from her fiancé and must decide for herself whether she can accept the problem or live without Mr. Rathburn's love. The relationship builds almost out of nowhere but emerges as a passionate romance. Lindner's love story delivers an entrancing star-crossed relationship, and it is not necessary to be familiar with the original to enjoy it. A few plot elements seem a little unnecessary to readers not familiar with Jane Eyre, but exist to satisfy those who expect them. In any event, this is a great "gateway read" to interest teens in the original novel and other classics by the Brontë sisters or Jane Austen.—Emily Chornomaz, West Orange Public Library, NJ
(c) Copyright 2011.  Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

From Booklist

After her parents die, 19-year-old Jane Moore is forced to leave college to work until she has saved enough money to finish her degree. Taking a position as a nanny, she begins to care for Maddy, the daughter of Nico Rathburn, an aging rock star attempting a comeback. Her quiet personality is at odds with her new life, with its luxurious estate, glamorous groupies, and late-night screams and terrifying wanderings from the mysterious inhabitants of a spooky third floor. Even without its parallels to Jane Eyre, Lindner’s debut offers a fascinating, fantastical story line of secrets and star-crossed love. Along with a clear sense of Charlotte Brontë’s classic, Lindner demonstrates an organic understanding of rock culture, and with sensitivity and nuanced detail, she portrays its over-the-top lifestyle, even as she presents its inhabitants as likable and sympathetic. Set against a vivid, well-drawn, contemporary world, this is a compelling adaptation of an ageless romance that remains one of the great classics of high-school literature. Grades 8-12. --Frances Bradburn

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Poppy; 1 edition (October 11, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316084204
• ISBN-13: 978-0316084208
• Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 1.3 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (130 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #789,891 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Hello, readers, and welcome to my profile. My first novel, JANE, a modernization of JANE EYRE, was published by Poppy in 2010. JANE has been published in the Czech and Slovak Republics, and is forthcoming in Korea. CATHERINE, a modernization of WUTHERING HEIGHTS was just published by Poppy in January 2013, and is due out in the Czech Republic.

I'm also a poet. My poetry collection, SKIN, received the Walt McDonald First-Book Prize in Poetry, and my poems have been featured in many anthologies and textbooks. A second poetry collection, THIS BED OUR BODIES SHAPED, was published this summer by Able Muse Press.

I'm a professor of English at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia. The mother of two sons, I play acoustic guitar badly, see more rock concerts than I'd care to admit, travel whenever I can, cook Italian food, and lavish attention on my pets--two Labrador retriever mixes and two exciteable guinea pigs.

My website may be found at www.aprillindner.com.

Author's photo: Nick Belial

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars BookHounds [...] October 19, 2010

By Mary Bookhounds VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

I adored Jane Eyre, so this story done with a washed up rock star as Mr. Rochester seemed a natural for me. Of course, just like the original this one had me in tears in several parts, but I like a book that makes you feel some sort of emotion. I always think the author has done an exceptional job if they can create emotions with their written word. The story follows the original plot of Jane Eyre with a few modern twists. Jane is still fiercely independent and trying to overcome the horrors of her childhood.

I thought the recasting of Mr. Rochester as a rock star was a stroke of genius. I mean who else can convey the moodiness of a current character better than a rock star. There is no questioning why Nico Rathburn is almost bipolar than to make him a musical artist. Jane comes off vulnerable, yet still strong and develops in a way that she does become Nico's true love. She doesn't fall into the trap of Rock Star Groupie, but becomes something more. There are elements of drug abuse and sexual relations so this one is best suited for older teens. Another rock star romance that I can really recommend!

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars I loved Jane! November 2, 2010

By Christie VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Disclaimer: I haven't read Jane Eyre (gasp...I know). So I'm reviewing this as someone who is not a fangirl of the book that this one was based on.

Jane drops out of college because of financial woes after the death of her parents. Her quest for employment brings her to a nanny agency. She is quickly placed as the nanny for Maddy. Maddy just happens to be the daughter of a famous rockstar who is in the midst of planning a comeback tour. Jane's the sensible kind of girl who doesn't crave celeb gossip, and the agency is confidant she won't become starstruck and have it effect her job. Jane finds herself drawn to famous Nico much to her dismay, and Nico seems to relish in Jane's straightforward attitude. After years of being told what he wants to hear it is almost as if he is grateful for her honesty. Can quiet, conservative Jane actually live the life of a rockstar's girlfriend? Will the secrets Nico is keeping tear them apart?

I adored this book. Jane is truly an endearing character. I love that she wasn't the picture of physical perfection. Maybe it's just me, but sometimes I get tired of reading about main characters staring in a mirror thinking how gorgeous they are. I admired her values. You can't not like Jane. I dare you to try ;) Nico didn't win me over immediately, but as his relationship with Jane blossomed I found my first impression changing. He had that damaged, but redeemable hero thing going on that I kind of dig. The romance between Jane and Nico was well paced. It was a case of opposites attracting, but they complimented each other so perfectly. The mystery was a nice little twist. While I found it predictable I don't feel the predictability took away from the story. Jane's struggles and growth is what this book is all about.... Her character undergoes so many experiences during the course of the novel. Falling in love, drama with her selfish siblings, heartbreak, and more. I was surprised how quickly I finished this after picking it up. I was just so engrossed in everything that was happening. This is the kind of book you sacrifice sleep for.

I wish I could comment on how well modern day Jane lives up to the book that inspired it. I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed April Lindner's take, and was thrilled there were no vampires, zombies, or werewolves lurking around the grounds of Thornfield Park ;) Loved the idea of a rockstar love interest. I also loved that the hottie rockstar was close to my age (he's older though *wink*) And yes, I do plan to read Jane Eyre so maybe I'll give this one a re-read after. Hopefully this book will encourage others to pick up the classic as well. Read more ›

14 of 18 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Misses the point completely. September 21, 2011

By Wendy Darling

Format:Hardcover

When I think of Jane Eyre, I think of a dark mystery, beautiful prose, and strongly moral characters. Most of all, I think of the undercurrent of passion that burns through all of its primary characters, from the tortured Mr. Rochester to his poor mad wife, to the zealous Mr. Rivers to the unhappy and neglected Adele, and above all else, in the quietly determined Jane herself. It is very strange, therefore, to read a book based on this story that is so severely lacking in any of those elements.

This book would have been much better off if the author had abandoned the notion of basing this on Jane Eyre at all. But even taken on its own merits as a young adult novel, much of it really doesn't even make that much sense. There's just absolutely no way a girl with so little experience and interest in children would ever be entrusted to be the nanny of someone in Nico Rathburne's position, and no convincing reason (being that this is modern times) why he should not have been able to divorce his wife. And do most girls tend to ask their new employers whether he's been tested for sexually transmitted diseases? The relationship between Jane and Nico never felt genuine or loving or real, and really, very few of the characters have any life of their own either. Poor little Maddy, the whole reason why they come together in the first place, is relegated to merely a plot device, as are the other servants, the band members, Jane's siblings, etc. Nico's rock star status seems especially random and doesn't contribute to the story in any meaningful way, except as the realization of some sort of adolescent fantasy.

Jane herself is also a puzzle.... There's no real reason given for her being as reserved as she is, either in her upbringing or her beliefs. Just because someone doesn't wear make-up or read gossip magazines and is bookish (though there's no actual evidence of her reading, by the way) doesn't mean she should be boring, for heaven's sake. This girl has so little about her that is interesting or unique, and what spirit she shows is lifted directly and reworked from Charlotte Bronte's own dialogue.

This doesn't mean that a contemporary take on Jane Eyre is a mistake. I think it's actually a great idea to do a modern rewrite on this story, because it's one filled with dramatic tension and romance and tragedy. But it's important that a good rewrite not only captures some spirit or ideal from its source material, but that it also catches the reader's imagination on its very own. As such, dear Reader, I sadly cannot recommend this particular version. Read more ›

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars It was a good idea, in theory. August 14, 2011

By Paula Fowler

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I don't typically leave reviews on book or movies. If someone is, or isn't, going to read a book the opinion of a 20 year old girl they don't know isn't going to change that. But then I read "Jane."

In my experience there are four kinds of books. There is the kind that takes forever to read because it is so boring you have to force yourself to get through it, the kind that takes forever to read because you read it slowly, savoring it and stopping to think about a particularly poignant passage you just read, the kind that you read quickly because you simply cannot put it down, and then finally, the book you quickly read, like gulping down cough medicine, because you paid good money for this book, plus shipping and handling, but you just want to get it over with.

"Jane Eyre" is one of my all-time favorite books, but I was fully prepared to fall equally in love in a modern interpretation, curious as to how a story with such "Victorian" sensibilities could be translated for a new and modern audience. Spoiler: it doesn't translate.

If you're going to make Jane a "modern girl" who isn't religious, has sex before marriage, has no problem being completely independent, why would you have her accept a marriage proposal from a man she hasn't even "dated"? The idea of a 19 year old girl marrying a man she hasn't been in an intimate relationship with for more then a night is ridiculous. What is her motivation to get married? What is his? Instead of "interpreting" the story for a modern audience the author simply changed names, and locations. (Bianca Ingram? Stupid, but not nearly as terrible a name as Nico Rathburn.)

And then there is the offensive and ignorant depiction of a person with schizophrenia.... The idea of the "mad-woman in the attic" is one that reoccurs throughout Victorian literature. None of these "mad-women" are fleshed out in any sort of way because these characters are not "people", they are usually more of an "idea" and are usually symbolic of something hidden deep down within the heroine themselves. Of course, we now know that people with mental illness are not just "mad", but have some sort of disease causing them to behave the way they do. We no longer see people who are "mad" appearing in our literature simply because the idea has no place in our educated society. Instead of coming up with some cleaver resolution to this, the author chose to keep the "mad-woman in the attic" and instead of actually resolving the fact that people couldn't get away with locking their wife in the attic anymore she decided to "solve" the issue by labeling her as a "schizophrenic". The general public is not particularly educated about schizophrenia, but most people think of "schizophrenics" as crazy and violent maniacs. If it is found out that someone has been diagnosed with schizophrenia they are immediately and unfairly stigmatized because of ignorant portrayals they have seen or read, such as this. People suffering from schizophrenia are rarely violent, and the idea that someone could be better off locked in an attic then an institution in Connecticut, with professionals (not a drunk housekeeper) looking after them is, quite frankly, stupid.

I could go on, and on, and on, and on. But I'd rather not spend anymore time thinking about this book.

Perhaps I'm not this books demographic. I'm sure this book would appeal to teenage girls who enjoyed books such as "Twilight". The font is nice and large, and a book needn't make sense, have morals or a remotely plausible plot if there is a hawt dude in it. Read more ›