A battered and country-fried retelling of Jane Eyre set in Alabama? Yes please!

This book has more secrets and surprises than my 21 year old's closet and I was turning pages compulsively the last half of the book. Who killed "the B's" and why? I absolutely had to know and I wasn't disappointed when I got there!

Thank you to Rachel Hawkins, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for giving me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I've been following Rachel Hawkins on social media for several years now, so I already enjoy her writing style, but this is the first book of hers that I've ever read. Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review! The Wife Upstairs is a modern day twist on Jane Eyre and it was so fantastic. Lots of twists and turns and compelling characters. Even though I've read Jane Eyre before, this still had me guessing "whodunnit" until almost the very end. It was fast paced and an enjoyable read that I couldn't put down all day (yes, I did tear through this in one afternoon). Highly recommend!

Jane thinks that she has found her perfect match when she meets Eddie. Eddie is a wealthy man who lives in the Birmingham, Al area. His wife recently was lost while boating and presumed dead. Jane steps in as the new girlfriend and befriends the ladies in the area, all while hiding secrets. Little did she know, her secrets are not as horrible as those of the people surrounding her. I enjoyed reading a book set in my state, with familiar settings. This was a good, quick read.

Great quick read! This was a hard to put down book. It’s twisty and full of unlikable characters. Seriously, every single one is flawed. That makes it easier to read because you form no alliances. The title makes one of the ‘twists’ pretty obvious. I would’ve rated this a 5 but the truth about Bea was something I suspected early on.
This book keeps you engaged and the different points of view make it extremely interesting. There were many similarities between Jane and Bea as well. The ending is somewhat open and let’s you decide what you want to believe, while this may bother some readers, I actually think it left things perfectly in case the author decided to write a sequel. Overall an enjoyable read. Definitely add to your list for this year.

Jane is not accustomed to the finer things in life. She lives in a small apartment with a shady roommate, and can barely meet the rent each month. Following a brief stint at a coffee house, she begins a job as a dog walker in the rich southern community of Thornsfield Estates. During one of her dog walks, she runs into one of the community’s eligible bachelors, Eddie, and a love connection is quickly made. Within weeks she has moved in and is rebuilding a new (And richer) life.

Eddie became a bachelor and a widow, when his former wife Bea passed unexpectedly during a girls weekend with her best friend Blanche. Everywhere Jane looks she is reminded of Bea, and it feels that the spirit of Bea is alive and living in her house. They never did find Bea’s body—surely it’s at the bottom of the lake? Some days it doesn’t seem that she will remain buried. Will anyone get a happy ending in this love triangle?

When I read the book’s description I was struck by the combination of “gothic” and “southern” and had to revisit the definition of the gothic genre (it applies here). The Woman Upstairs is southern charm and manners, but with a gothic storyline running underneath, which is a perfect combination. If southern gothic is a genre, after reading this book I want to read more of them!

I'd never read this author's work before, and I have to admit, I actually thought she was a different author altogether when I requested this on Netgalley. My mistake. But I was interested in reading a retelling of Jane Eyre, because that classic, along with Wuthering Heights, are favorites of mine, and they're well-known and well-loved for a reason. Unfortunately, retellings of them almost always fall flat.

I liked this new portrayal of Jane's character as something other than a meek, wide-eyed doe of a girl. She wasn't quite a grifter, but she was an opportunist, always looking for an angle she could use to her advantage. And yet she wasn't without her vulnerabilities. The side characters were also really well-drawn, which helped flesh out the story.

It took me a while to get into this, but once I did, the pages flew by, and I finished it in one day. I was actually reading this as romance for a while, under the assumption that Jane and Eddie will end up together, until I started to realize it was more of a mystery. The first part of the book is all about Jane and Eddie starting a relationship, so that may have colored my outlook. Even when we got to Bea's perspective, I knew everything wasn't what it seemed. I just wasn't sure where the author was going with it all.

While I appreciated how the author handled the ending, it didn't quite work for me. One of the characters I didn't know that well and didn't care much about, based on my wrong reading of this. Then again, I don't see how things could have ended differently.

All in all, this was a refreshing take on a well-loved classic. 3 stars.

Jane Eyre set as a thriller in the South?!? What more could readers want?

Rachel Hawkins pulls off a compulsively readable and original story in The Wife Upstairs. Nothing is as it seems and secrets about in Birmingham where protagonist Jane meets Eddie Rochester. Jane sees in Eddie a chance to escape the poverty and to find a home after a childhood spent in foster homes.

Just read this book.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts are my own.

The Wife Upstairs is a twisty gothic novel that will keep you hooked to the bitter end.

Jane is a dog walker in the prestigious neighborhood of Thornfield Estates in Birmingham, Alabama. Being around this wealth brings her a long way from her past, an opportunity to be someone else. A chance crash meeting in the rain has Jane running into Edward Rothschild's life. Finally, she can be free of the past. Eddie, a widower, and Jane are only different on the surface.

Bea, Eddie's former wife, had perished in a tragic boating accident that also claimed her best friend. Bea's body never was found. But after several months, Blanche's body has surfaced. With a depressed skull fracture. Who could have inflicted this wound?

As Jane and Eddie become an item, Bea's past and present will cast a lingering shadow over the couple. As Jane learns more about the relationship between Bea, Blanche, Tripp (Blanche's husband), and Eddie, she becomes entangled in their web.

I cannot say enough about how I loved the slow build-up of characters, some southern, some without charm. The story is gothic and atmospheric, exuding suspense that is dark, alluring, and intoxicating. The backstories of Bea and Blanche are well-rounded and slightly cringeworthy. But all these details create the perfect mise-en-scene.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Rachel Hawkins, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

Disclaimer: If you have never read Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, then you may enjoy this book as a suspenseful, exciting story. However, if you know and love (or even just know) Jane Eyre, then you may get a little upset with this one. Read on.

Jane is a young woman with a troubled past. She grew up in the foster care system and had a rough experience being passed around from house to house and group home to group home. She reinvents herself and even takes on a new name and leaves her old life behind. After some false starts, she finds herself in Alabama and takes on a job as dog walker in a posh neighborhood-Thornfield Estates. Soon she meets Eddie Rochester who adopts a dog, Adele (are you catching on yet?!) and she begins to work for Eddie. They begin to fall for each other and things move rather quickly towards engagement. Eddie is a widower whose wife, Bea (short for Bertha, but you already knew that) was thought to have died in a boating accident. While some folks are surprised Eddie moved on so quickly after Bea's death, Jane is happy to take her place. The catch comes when the narration shifts to Bea's voice and we learn that she is not in fact dead, she is actually hidden in Eddie's house in a special panic room. Just when Jane thinks she has shed her traumatic past, she finds herself walking right into a new, even harsher reality. Will she learn the truth about Bea? Is she really safe in Eddie's arms? The reader is taken on an adventure of many twists, turns, and dives in The Wife Upstairs.

I have to admit, I am struggling with this one. I have read Jane Eyre twice, once in high school and once in my early 30s. I read it differently at those two unique periods in my life. I am a Mr. Rochester fan, I just am. And I'm not even sorry. But Eddie? Just not the same. At all. I enjoyed the pacing and suspense in this book, but I am afraid Charlotte Bronte may be turning in her grave. While there are many character names that are exact references from Jane Eyre, and Jane herself has a traumatic past separated from her family, the similarities grow thin the more the story evolves. The twist takes it very far away from Jane Eyre, to the point the comparison completely dies. I also wish it had a few less f-bombs, which I find tacky. Especially taking a famous quote like, "Reader, I married him" and changing it to something far less savory (I'll leave this to your imagination). In short, I don't recommend, unless you are not invested in Jane Eyre and don't mind the f word.

Regardless, I am thankful to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

"Jane" is a barista and a dogwalker for the women who live in the McMansions in Thornfield Estates. She also commits petty crimes against the bored housewives that live there, as an act of rebellion and also as a way to supplement her income. But her recollections of her past hint at darker secrets than just whether or not "Jane" is her real name.
Everything changes for her when she meets Eddie Rochester, Thornfield Estates' most eligible bachelor (or more accurately, most eligible recent widower). And that's when "Jane"'s life becomes a bit more like "Jane Eyre". As "Jane" falls in love with Eddie, the relationship is haunted by the disappearance of Bea, Eddie's dearly departed wife. Blonde, rich, accomplished and beloved - Bea is everything "Jane" feels she isn't.
But things aren't always what they seem, as "Jane" is soon to find out. And just when she thinks she's figured it all out, she finds out that everyone in Thornfield Estates has secrets of their own. Will "Jane" ever get her happy ending? Or will she even make it out alive?

Actual rating closer to 3.5.

A page-turner for sure, this is the story of "Jane", a young dog walker with secrets who wanders into a wealthy community with secrets of its own. She meets a guy who is too good to be true: a very handsome widower with a ton of money. And he immediately falls for her and proposes!

The question of how Eddie became widower is of course one of the secrets.

I enjoyed the pace and the prose but I never felt much sympathy for any of the characters. I appreciate red herrings and thrillers that are twisty but this didn't twist quite the way it promised. Still, I would read more work by this author and I would recommend this novel to others.

Thanks to Netgalley for the arc to review.

I couldn’t get enough of this modern twist on Jane Eyre! I loved every minute of it and did not want this book to end, although I raced through it. This was a delicious mystery thriller, filled with unexpected plot reveals and twists, and spectacular characters.

A couple of things that the author absolutely nailed were striking a brilliant balance of using enough that was identifiable from Jane Eyre without simply going for a modern retelling, and spinning a thriller that will appeal to both fans of the referenced classic novel as well as readers who are not familiar with the gothic classic. This book stands entirely on it’s own, and I loved it. My thanks to the publisher for the ARC through NetGalley.

This was a crazy book with way too
Many storylines and plot twists and I kind of hated it but...I couldn’t put it down. I felt like it was trying to be like Gone Girl but it’s not. And there were lots of storylines left unfinished. I don’t know how to review this, truthfully. It’s a mess of a book but it was fun to read.

The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins had me on the edge of my seat, the making of any great thriller. It definitely is one of the better and more engaging thrillers that I’ve read recently and there were numerous twists that I had not foreseen. I would recommend this to any thriller/domestic noir lover! Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this digital ARC.

Truly this book was...fine. Once I realized it was a retelling of Jane Eyre I was really not into it. As a local to the Birmingham, AL area I was incredibly excited about it and the details of the city were spot on even if the neighborhoods were fictional. I loved getting a story about Bama girls written by a Bama girl. Hawkins tells a compelling story with interesting characters but I couldn't get Jane and her story out of my brain long enough to enjoy it. The fine line with retelling is how much of the same information is too much and this one rode that line really hard for me. I would definitely recommend this to fans of thrillers or Jane Eyre.

I loved this book!! Twisted characters and a good plot. No spoilers here so I'll keep comments general. The book had a good pace until the very quick transition from a few concerns to wild suspicions everywhere. The latter part of the book jumped from one person to another quickly at that point. Loved the end and epilogue even if it was missing a little bit of an explanation. I would definitely recommend!

I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to the author and the publisher, St Martin’s Press!

Wow! I loved this book. I finished it all in one day. I love psychological thrillers, and I love when all the main characters have secrets they’re keeping from the reader. The book had such great twists and turns. I totally recommend everybody who likes that kind of stuff to read this book! I’m also really picky about when author’s switch POV but it was done so well in this book!

Jane is a lot of things-- a dog walker, a foster kid, and now a woman running away from her past in search for something new in Birmingham Alabama. When Jane meets Eddie Rochester by chance, she falls into this upper middle class world of Homewood where secrets hide in plain sight and no one is exactly who they seem to be.

The Wife Upstairs is a perfect example of Southern Gothic fiction with a feminist twist set in Birmingham Alabama. I was glued to the story within the first chapter and had to continue reading until the very end. Perfect for lovers of modern adaptations of classical literature with twists that stray from the source material, Hawkins brings up a story that makes you guess if you really can know anyone around you.

Honestly, I picked this book in hopes that Rochester’s first wife would have agency and become more three dimensional than a hysterical woman hidden in the attic. The plot twists are worth it, a few catching me by surprise, making me gasp on my fifteen minute breaks where i snuck in reading time before having to go back to work.I was glued to my seat after I finished the first page and that counts for something. Jane feels real and the reader is drawn into wanting to know more about Rochester and the mystery surrounding this now dead wife.

The problem comes from the fact that this book would have been 5 stars if the author had cut the last 50 pages of her book. The POV switches and the redundant explaining almost ruined the book for me. I wish the author would have left a little mystery behind, after building on the parallel between Jane and the “late” Mrs. Rochester, as well, making the reader wonder what really happened on that boat a year ago.

I would definitely recommend this book though, if not for the fact that the setting is in my own home town, but for the fact that this book reminded me more of Rebecca, another favorite book of mine.he mentions of Birmingham and places nearby, descriptions that felt like home, made it cozy.

Worth the read, even if I left the book a bit disappointed.

I read a LOT of books based on cover art. I know, I know, that's not a great way of picking books. But it's always a great surprise to find yourself in a clever retelling. This psychological thriller is a modern remake of Jane Eyre!

Our heroine is young Jane (not her real name), who has bounced back and forth in foster care before finally ageing out, and starting her adult life as a dog-sitter in a very posh neighborhood. Her paths cross with Eddie Rochester's, a handsome widower with a mysterious past. Eddie, true to the original Rochester, has a lot of rough edges. As the title points out, he does indeed have his (alive) wife, Bea (Bertha) upstairs. Shenanigans ensue.

I'm a reluctant fan of Jane Eyre, and found this retelling lots of fun. The mystery was also fun to unravel, with lots of twists and surprises. This was a perfect summer read!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.

I had so much fun with this novel. This is truly an outstanding book.

Jane has fled a difficult past in Arizona and is hiding out in Alabama where she gets a job walking the dogs of the ultra-rich in Thornfield Estates. She meets Eddie Rochester, a handsome, wealthy widower whose wife drown in a boating accident with her best friend several months earlier. He takes an interest in Jane, even though she’s plain and nothing like the polished women of the neighborhood. She does her best to fit in, but just about everyone is hiding something, also trying to be who people expect them to be.

This is a super fast, twisty read. Recommend.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this novel, which RELEASES JANUARY 5, 2021.