Dame Darcy's Jane Eyre reviewed by a reader

Christy MacKinnon won one of the two copies we recently gave away of Dame Darcy's Jane Eyre. A few days ago she wrote to let us know what she thought of this new take on Jane Eyre.

... I decided to read the entire book.
I loved it! I like the design of the book itself with the mock leather binding look to the spine and the unevenly cut pages. It was such a modern sort of winking take on the classic but preserving all the wonders of the original. Dame Darcy's elaborate illustrations are completely delightful. Her style reminds me of Edward Gorey. I think the illustrations fit with the text beautifully and serve to further enhance it. My favourite illustration is the one between p. 342 and 343 which depicts Jane's premonitional nightmare before her and Mr. Rochester's ill-fated first attempt at a wedding. It's so perfectly moody and gothic and depicts how the subconscious can send us messages when something doesn't feel quite right. It is a haunting representation of the power of intuition.

So, you see, it's a delightful edition and would do nicely as a present to a fellow Brontëite. Or even as an introduction into Brontëland.

Speaking of contests. If you want to win a copy of Ann Dinsdale's beautiful book The Brontës at Haworth, with pictures by Simon Warner, here's your chance!

Categories: Books, Jane Eyre