Books read in pairs

Rutland Herald recommends books to be read in pairs such as

Jane Eyre

by Charlotte Brontë

Widely regarded as one of the classic romance novels, as well as one of the earliest feminist novels. Brontë tells the tale of a young woman who overcomes a series of obstacles on her own terms instead of being “saved” by a man. One of the obstacles is that her fiance, Mr. Rochester, is already married, although his first wife has gone mad and is confined to the attic, which is where the next book picks up.

Wide Sargasso Sea

by Jean Rhys

Rhys’ book, one of my very favorites over many years, is an answer to Brontë. It tells the tale of Antoinette Cosway, Rochester’s first wife, who he married in the Caribbean before his return to Britain, and who exists only as a plot point in Jane Eyre. In Rhys’ book, Cosway is driven mad by her forced dislocation from her Caribbean home to English society, where she is not welcomed or even accepted. (Randal Smathers)

Digital Journal features writer Linda Habib who

enjoyed a thirty-three-year career in New York City schools moving from Manhattan to the Bronx. Among her favorite books to teach were Jane Eyre, Ethan Frome, Their Eyes Were Watching God, The Bluest Eye, The House on Mango Street, and Things Fall Apart. (Markos Papadatos)

Financial Times reviews Cécile McLorin Salvant's show at the EFG London Jazz Festival.

And then “The Unquiet Grave”, sung authentically as a Scottish lament, segued into Kate Bush’s “Wuthering Heights”, which was utterly transformed. (Mike Hobart)

The Digital Bits reviews the Blu-ray edition of the 1941 film Among the Living in which

Reference is made to Jane Eyre and Poe stories such as The Tell-Tale Heart. (Dennis Seuling)

Rhyme & Ribbons reviews Wise Children's Wuthering Heights. Pine Reads Reviews posts about Lauren Blackwood'ss Within These Wicked Walls.