Sentenced to read Jane Eyre

Lincolnshire Live has the story of a 'white supremacist from Lincoln' who's been sentenced to read 'Jane Eyre and other classic novels'. Unfortunately that's just the headline as the judge doesn't seem to have mentioned Jane Eyre at all:

The judge then asked him: "Have you read Dickens? Austen? Start with Pride and Prejudice and Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities. Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.

"Think about Hardy. Think about Trollope.

"On January 4 you will tell me what you have read and I will test you on it.

"I will test you and if I think you are [lying to] me you will suffer.

"I will be watching you, Ben John, every step of the way. If you let me down you know what will happen." (Tom Mack)

We obviously have nothing against classic novels and reading is certainly a great way of building empathy, but we would have hoped he'd been sentenced to read other, more-to-the-point books.

Interview magazine interviews debut author Jo Hamya.

Juliana Kiomogbe: What books did you read as a kid/teen?

J.H.: As a kid, I loved The Little Prince. I used to reread it every year on my birthday. There was also a picture book my mother used to read to me called Peace At Last and I memorized all the words to make sure she never skipped a page. That might have been my first-time “reading.” Generally, I was a loser, so a lot of the reading I did punched above my weight. I tried Shakespeare and Dickens age nine, I tried Woolf at 14. None of it stuck until I came back to it around 17, or later at university. I do remember some classics getting through properly on the first try though: Pnin at 15, Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Austen, and Brontë at 16. Russians and romances, which are probably ideal in temperament for teens. I was a ’00s child as well, so there was a lot of Roald Dahl, Harry Potter, and Enid Blyton, too. And I was passionate about Zadie Smith in my late teens. (Juliana Ukiomogbe)

Book Riot recommends this novel:

Within These Wicked Walls by Lauren Blackwood — This book is an Ethiopian-inspired dark fantasy retelling of Jane Eyre, with a horror twist. Andromeda is a debtera, which means she cleanses households of the Evil Eye. When she’s hired to work for the handsome Magnus Rochester, Andromeda quickly realizes this job is unlike any other. (Emily Martin)

El Periódico (Spain) reviews Un dimanche à Ville-d'Avray by Dominique Barbéris.

Claire Marie, la mayor, es la que sueña con ser rescatada por el jinete de 'Jane Eyre' en su casa ajardinada de Ville-d’Avray, un Sant Cugat parisino, donde vive con su hija y su marido —médico como el de Emma— un hombre afable que se dedica básicamente a tranquilizar a sus enfermos. (Valèria Gaillard) (Translation)