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Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Jillian Dare (or is it Jane Eyre?) by Melanie Jeschke

Jillian Dare: A Novel Jillian Dare: A Novel by Melanie M. Jeschke

Jillian Dare leaves her Shenandoah Valley foster home behind and strikes out on her own as a nanny at a large country estate in northern Virginia. She is delighted with the beauty of her new home, the affection of her young charge Cadence Remington, and the opportunity for frequent travel to the Remington castle in England. She is less certain about her feelings for her handsome but moody employer, Ethan. In spite of herself, Jillian realizes she is falling for her boss. But how can a humble girl ever hope to win a wealthy man of the world? And what dark secrets from the past is he hiding? This contemporary story, inspired by the well-loved classic "Jane Eyre", will capture readers' hearts.

My review


rating: 4 of 5 stars
Jillian Dare is a fabulous contemporary adaptation of the classic story of Jane Eyre and I enjoyed it thoroughly. In the authors letter at the end of the book, Melanie tells us that she wrote this book not for the Bronte purists, but for three different types of people: those that love romantic suspense, those that have yet to read Jane Eyre and now will want to, and the category I fit in - those that have read the story and love to find the comparisons between the two stores and make conjectures as to how the contemporary twist plot will unfold. I have to admit, with each turn of the page I was fascinated by how in the world could the next main scene unfold.



Other things that I really enjoyed in this book were the bits and pieces that alluded to the personal life of the author as well as to her previous book "Evasions". It made me smile quite often. Also, the brought in pieces of Dickens literature as well as references to Broadway plays that I am familiar with such as "The Woman in White". As a reader, I am not one that usually leans toward reading and enjoying a story of contemporary fiction. But Melanie does more than that, she ties the bits and bobs of history in that make it worthwhile, page-turning, and fun.



In the last quarter of the book, there was a topic brought up that has been in theological debate as long as their has been theology and although at first it was a good point, after a few chapters I tired of it. But other than that slight imperfection, I heartily the entire book and could hardly bare to put it down until completion. I had to wait too many years before this for more fabulous fiction from Melanie Jeschke, and I do hope to read more from her in the future sooner rather than later. Although, I will wait quite impatiently for later if need be. *wink*


View all my reviews.

  • Paperback: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Revell (June 1, 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0800733169
  • ISBN-13: 978-0800733162

5 comments and creative thoughts:

Sheila Deeth said...

You make this sound really interesting. And the theological debate intrigues me too.

Anonymous said...

intrigues me as well. and now I really wanna know what they theological debate is!!

CherryBlossomMJ said...

No spoilers from this reviewer! You'll have to go buy yourself a copy to read about it. *wink*

Amee said...

I'm really unobservant. I have read the summary for this one a couple times and never connected it to Jane Eyre! I guess the summaries I read never included that last line about Jane Eyre. Weird! Great review!

CherryBlossomMJ said...

Amee - I have to confess. I knew it was a Jane Eyre adaptation before I knew the title. And when I finally found out the title and more information I was shocked of it being contemporary. It was not what I expected. But very worth the read.

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