John Eyre

In the past couple of years, I’ve been loving getting into Mimi Matthews‘s books. While she normally writes historical romances, her one work of Gothic fiction also appealed to me: John Eyre, a gender-flipped retelling of Jane Eyre and another creepy classic.

Summary

In 1843, schoolmaster John Eyre is hired to tutor two strange boys at Thornfield Hall in Yorkshire. His employer, Mrs. Rochester, is an enigma in her own right, but also a woman John is increasingly drawn to.

Slowly we learn of Bertha Mason’s (now Mrs. Rochester’s) adventures sixteen months prior, involving a whirlwind romance that took her from Egypt to Romania… and left her widowed and with two kids to care for. What secrets has she taken home to Yorkshire? And how much danger are they all in?

Review

It’s hard to talk about John Eyre without revealing the second book it’s inspired by. The Jane Eyre references are obvious from the beginning, but I love how this retelling also weaves in themes from another well-known novel. The two classics actually blend together perfectly here.

While the original Jane Eyre had its spooky moments, John Eyre amplifies those into something more clearly horrific. The pupils here are strange children who can’t (or won’t) speak. They’re sickly and take a special tincture provided by Mrs. Rochester, a woman who herself is haunted by whatever happened to leave her widowed so early into her marriage.

I love how this flips the genders around. John Eyre is the meek tutor; Mrs. Rochester is the arrogant, mercurial, yet charming employer. The personalities shine through and provide new dynamics to the relationship.

As this book edges further into horror, the romance falls by the wayside a bit. No matter; I enjoyed this novel more for its building sense of dread and danger.

Audiobook

Nicholas Boulton and Justine Eyre do excellent service to John Eyre and Bertha Mason, respectively. They are both captivating narrators who make the story that much more engrossing.

Final Thoughts

John Eyre is an absorbing Gothic novel that will appeal to fans of the original book(s). I enjoyed the gender-flipped aspect of it and the way the spookier elements rise up. Mimi Matthews is a master of historical fiction, whether it’s romance or Gothic.

This year I’ve enjoyed several Jane Eyre retellings and I’m excited to dive into more in the coming months.

Get the Book

You can buy John Eyre here – it’s available as a paperback, ebook, and audiobook.

John Eyre by Mimi Matthews
Audiobook Narrator	Nicholas Boulton and Justine Eyre
Audience	Adult
Genre	Gothic
Setting	England; Romania; Italy; Egypt
Book Length	362
Format I Read	Audiobook
Original Publication Date	July 20, 2021
Publisher	Perfectly Proper Press

Official Summary

From USA Today bestselling author Mimi Matthews comes a supernatural Victorian gothic retelling of Charlotte Brontë’s timeless classic.

Yorkshire, 1843. When disgraced former schoolmaster John Eyre arrives at Thornfield Hall to take up a position as tutor to two peculiar young boys, he enters a world unlike any he’s ever known. Darkness abounds, punctuated by odd bumps in the night, strange creatures on the moor, and a sinister silver mist that never seems to dissipate. And at the center of it all, John’s new employer—a widow as alluring as she is mysterious.

Sixteen months earlier, heiress Bertha Mason embarked on the journey of a lifetime. Marriage wasn’t on her itinerary, but on meeting the enigmatic Edward Rochester, she’s powerless to resist his preternatural charm. In letters and journal entries, she records the story of their rapidly-disintegrating life together, and of her gradual realization that Mr. Rochester isn’t quite the man he appears to be. In fact, he may not be a man at all.

From a cliff-top fortress on the Black Sea coast to an isolated estate in rural England, John and Bertha contend with secrets, danger, and the eternal struggle between light and darkness. Can they help each other vanquish the demons of the past? Or are some evils simply too powerful to conquer?