My favorite book

Earlier this week, one of my favorite romance authors, Janie Crouch, posed a question on Facebook asking her followers to comment on their favorite book.  My favorite is Jane Eyre.  Pride and Prejudice comes in a close second, but Jane Eyre will always win out for me. 

I first read it in college.  Before then, I wasn’t really a fan of the classics.  I tried to read Gulliver’s Travels on my own in high school, and was forced to read To Kill a Mockingbird, Where the Red Fern Grows, and others as part of my high school English curriculum and hated every one of them.  Romeo and Juliet was about as good as it got. 

Then, my sophomore year of college, came Dr. Beth Sutton-Ramspeck, one of my English professors at Ohio State.  She is amazing.  Energetic, passionate, fun, she drew her students into the works with her love of literature.  One of the books assigned to us was Pride and Prejudice.  I was skeptical, but it was one of those books that everyone raves about, so I read it with an open mind.  Within the first chapter, I was hooked.  Witty banter, a crazy mother, tittering younger sisters, and of course, the ever so handsome and standoffish Mr. Darcy drew me in like a magnet.  I had to keep reading.  Had to find out what Elizabeth would do next.  When Lydia ran off with Mr. Wickham, I couldn’t stop the gasp.  How dare she?!  It was a thrilling ride, and I didn’t know how any other book could get any better.

Then, I had to read Jane Eyre.  In a word, Mr. Rochester is swoon-worthy.  I mean, not only is he handsome, but he’s romantic.  Shortly before their wedding, he tells Jane “You are a beauty, in my eyes; and a beauty just after the desire of my heart,—delicate and aërial…I will make the world acknowledge you a beauty too.”  *Sigh*  And when she comes back to him at the end of the book, his impassioned pleas that she never leave him again are enough to tug at even the coldest heart.  Charlotte Brontë is a master at making her readers feel the tension, the passion, the love between the characters.  I couldn’t put it down.  I frequently read more than I was supposed to for that day’s assignment just because I had to know what happened.

The book is also a study in imagery.  Brontë’s use of nature to portend strife, discord, and pain run rampant throughout the book.  My favorite scene is where lightning strikes the ancient chestnut tree in the orchard, foreshadowing the events that take place on Jane and Rochester’s wedding day.  Jane feels the tension and knows something bad is coming. 

Which brings me to the elephant in the room…er, book.  We know something is amiss at Thornfield Hall, but it is not until at the wedding (spoiler alert!) that we find out he’s been hiding his psychotic wife in the attic for years.  Surprise!  It was another gasp-worthy moment.  Looking back at it now, I wish I had written about the characterization of mental illness in this novel and how it portrayed the stigma surrounding mental conditions in 1800s Britain.  Brontë does a fantastic job of highlighting that.  Would Rochester have wanted to stay married to the beautiful Bertha if she had received mental treatment like people do now for mental illness?  Would psychotherapy have even made a difference for her?  I don’t know, but it’s fascinating to look at how differently society treated the “crazy people” then versus now. 

Bottom line, I don’t think any other book will ever top my favorites list.  I adore Jane and Rochester.  Watching their love grow and the transformation they both undergo, is a journey I will willingly read about time and time again.

So, what’s your favorite book?  Drop me a line and let me know.  I’d love to hear about it!

(And yes, those are tabs in the book. It was my college text I had to write academic papers on. You should see all the scribbles, highlights, and underlining on the inside!)