Rochester and his friends - Lord Ingram and his two sisters, Blanche and Mary, Henry and Fredrick Lynn, Lady Fulbright, Miss Dupret, Captain Dent, Louisa and Amy Eshton and their brother - spend evenings playing sexual games.įurtively, Jane watches them from behind curtains and longs for a chance to put what she sees into practice. Sinclair’s Rochester is more like a Caligula, the scandalous Roman emperor.

Rochester is portrayed as a man inclined to indulge in vices even in the original novel, although Bronte hadn’t elaborated upon them. They must have action and they will make it if they cannot find it.” And there’s plenty of action to be found at Thornfield Hall. She junks her conscience casually and feels that “it is in vain to say human beings ought to be satisfied with tranquillity. Bronte’s Jane, extremely passionate and also devout, struggled to walk the middle path between righteous morality and passion.įor Sinclair’s Jane, carnal pleasures easily win the battle. In her initial quiet months at the Hall, before Rochester makes his appearance, Jane’s “sole relief” is to walk along the corridors and arouse herself by gazing at these works of art as preparation for her secret remedy. There are explicit paintings, statues and effigies of “strange flowers, strange birds and the strangest human beings in contorted positions”. On the walls of Thornfield Hall hang tapestries of men and women, gods and mermaids copulating. In Jane Eyre Laid Bare, author Eve Sinclair takes off from the undertones and whiffs of sexual tension with which Charlotte Bronte had carefully nuanced the original Jane Eyre.

This book is one among many that merit writer Ambrose Bierce’s remark - “The covers of this book are too far apart.” The overdose of mindless sex in the book could numb your brain. Smile at the turn of phrase or applaud Jane’s ingenuity, but don’t hope for a joy ride. How does she deal with the tedium of a journey in solitude? By positioning herself over the wooden handle of the carriage for a quick orgasm - her “secret remedy to alleviate the disquiet of the mind”. Just a page into the novel, we see Jane Eyre, at the tender age of 18, en route to Thornfield Hall where she will be governess to one young Adele Varens. Almost everyone in the book, almost all the time, is engaged in twists of the pleasurable, carnal variety. Jane Eyre Laid Bare adds an erotic turn to the classic tale right from the cover, and the promise is kept many times over. Here’s something that packs a wallop for those of you left distraught by the lack of anything remotely erotic in the Fifty Shades Of Grey.

Jane Eyre Laid Bare by Eve Sinclair