Mrs Rochester - by Hilary Bailey (Paperback)

About the Book

'To be your wife is, for me, to be as happy as I can be on earth' - Jane Eyre's acceptance of Edward Rochester's proposal, but the return to Thornfield proves too much for Jane to bear.

Book Synopsis

Have you ever wondered what happened after Jane found Mr Rochester, blinded and crippled by the fire that destroyed Thornfield Hall? After the death of his wife freed him to marry his young love, and the destruction of his home and estate forced the two of them to start life anew?

Hilary Bailey answers these questions and brings in a plot of her own with this sequel to the Bronte classic. She builds a new world for the new Mrs Rochester, centred on her husband, whose sight is slowly healing and whose attitude is forever changed by being happy in love, and her young son, the joy of both his parents. For ten years after Thornfield Hall and all it stood for crumbled, Jane and Mr Rochester live in wedded bliss, spending their days in an idyllic family unit at the small manor of Ferndean. But when Mr Rochester decides to rebuild Thornfield Hall, Jane fears the ghosts that might be brought back with it, and her fears are not unfounded.

Mrs Rochester rewrites Jane's 'Happily Ever After' as a twisted tale of interrupted bliss, haunting pasts, and frightening vendettas that follow the Rochesters to their newly rebuilt home. Old wounds are re-opened, grudges once thought buried resurface, and accusations abound, resulting in a mysterious, fast-paced re-imagining of a timeless favourite.

About the Author

Hilary Bailey is a British writer and editor, born in 1936. She is the author of a biography of Vera Brittain, she edited volumes 7-10 of the 'New Worlds Quarterly' series and among her varied works are 19 books of fiction, including famously Frankenstein's Bride, the sequel to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and most recently, Fifty- First State (2008).