Jane Eyre is my favorite book and I looooved this retelling. So perfectly spooky and haunting! The perfect atmosphere.

This was a very creative retelling of Jane Eyre! It was very faithful to the original and did not take many liberal creativities. Charlotte Bronte would be proud!

⭐⭐⭐⭐ -- And enjoyable retelling of Jane Eyre

<b>PROS</b>
-- Solidly written.
-- Very well paced.
-- Suitably creepy and atmospheric.
-- Engaging plot with a modern adaptation.
-- Intriguing characters. Some more likable than others. 🤷🏻‍♀️
-- Okay ending.

<b>CONS</b>
-- Jane, she was a bit of a hot mess.
-- I found the ending to be a little far-fetched. I can't really say anything to elaborate on that without giving away the ending. So I'll just leave it at that.

**ARC Via NetGalley**

Mrs. Rochester's Ghost is a modern take on Jane Eyre. Unemployed television writer Jane gets an offer from a friend to come stay at the estate he works at and tutor the owner's daughter. It turns out this is Mr. Rochester's estate and the Evan Rochester who is a silicon entrepreneur and under suspicion for the death of his wife. Beatrice Rochester was a schizophrenic who was supposed to be medicated to control the voices.
Shortly after Jane's arrival in Carmel by the Sea she keeps feeling a presences near her cottage and is stalked by Beatrice's brother. He is convinced that the story that Beatrice killed herself by jumping into the ocean is a lie and Evan killed her just to get her money.
This story has a very gothic, horror feel to it and reminds me of Rebecca. It is a great update on a classic story and a nice blend of modern times and Victorian plot. If you are a fan of the classics or contemporary fiction you should get this book.

I really loved this book. It's creepy and twisty and left me wanting more. I enjoyed the setting and the characters quite a bit. The book actually puts me more in mind of Rebecca rather than Jane Eyre and I'm okay with that. While this isn't a thriller in my book, it is a well written tale of love, revenge and mental illness.

This book is a book about love, loyalty and murder. I really connected with the characters. I couldnt put it down and it was scary, creepy and mysterious.

Let’s address the thriller aspect first. If you’re a huge thriller reader this may not quite hit the mark for you. As someone who prefers lighter mysteries, it provided more than enough suspense for me! There is mystery. There is intrigue. There were moments I felt myself getting nervous about what would happen next. There are a few twisty turns but possibly not enough for die hard thriller fans.


The mystery is layered and rich. I enjoyed trying to figure out if Evan could be trusted. I loved seeing which of his statements were truth and which turned out to be lies. On top of that we have accounts from other characters to fit in. Which of them are speaking facts and which have have hidden agendas. Then there is Beatrice’s brother. Did he really love his sister or just her net worth? How does he fit into all of this? And just what of Beatrice’s mental health? How severe was her schizophrenia? What was she still able to plot (if anything) in her fragile state? What levels of violence was she capable of and just what would Evan do to control it?


Jane’s own mix of emotions and conclusions add to the mystery. Every time she starts following one thread she comes up against a convoluted knot that seems impossible to unravel.
I wish the romance was more convincing. The potential is there. The chemistry starts to bubble but the actual falling in love part falls a bit flat. There is so much to work with between their contrasting personalities, life experiences and then the mystery of Beatrice’s disappearance looming over them. It ends up being sweet but does not pack a punch.


The story is told mostly from Jane’s perspective but we do get intervening chapters told from Beatrice’s point of view. These chapters are mostly around the day she disappeared. It’s from those peeks that we begin to build a picture of what might have truly happened. But can we trust her words?


Overall, Mrs. Rochester’s Ghost caught my attention and kept me up a couple of nights as I read, fully engrossed, and wanting to know what happens next.

"...but now she's afraid, afraid of my clicking sharp white cat's teeth..."

I may be in the minority here, but I really dug Mrs. Rochester's Ghost by Lindsay Marcott! Jane is a very likable character - funny, unflappable (for the most part), fearless (mostly) and to me, authentic. She hits all the right notes, in my book. I didn't hate the Beatrice chapters, as others did, although I did find them a bit tedious. Nothing new here, but compulsively readable, want-to-get-back-to-b/c-i'm-thinking-about-those-characters kind of book. In this day and age, there's beauty to be found in escapism, and Mrs. Rochester provides it in spades. Even though I was fairly certain I knew a crucial plot point, how wasn't clear and I HAD to know! Lots of scary moments and did-he-or-did-he-not? Well done!

P. S. Thanks so much to #netgalley for the digital advance reader copy.

https://lynns-books.com/2021/08/16/mrs-rochesters-ghost-by-lindsay-marcott/
3.5 of 5
I enjoyed Mrs Rochester’s Ghost, probably more than I expected given how much I loved the original. I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily ground breaking but it was easy to engage with and an entertaining read.

In terms of plot, this doesn’t exactly mirror the original, which to be fair I wouldn’t expect given the modern setting, but it does manage to include a lot of references.

Jane, in this retelling, is a young woman whose mother has died recently, she’s lost her job and her relationship has ended badly. She can no longer afford to rent her flat and so when her cousin gets in touch with an offer of a rent free cottage she has little option but to accept. Of course, everything is not quite as peachy as first seems to be the case. Her new employer, Evan Rochester, owns Thorn Bluffs Estate, as well as other property around the world. Money is not something which he is short of – although he is investing heavily in a new endeavour that places much of his wealth at risk. Rochester’s wife died recently, drowning in a tragedy that some felt was suspicious and tongues still wag about whether or not he needed his wife’s money. Evan is a surly man, he doesn’t particularly take to strangers and he only agrees to Jane using the cottage on the condition that she tutors his teenage daughter – but also stays out of his way as much as reasonably possible.

The case/suspicions against Rochester continue, mainly fuelled by his wife’s brother who is convinced of his guilt and is pursuing further evidence. The locals are also not averse to a bit of gossip and strange occurences at the house, plus the rather veiled stories of the other staff all fuel Jane’s suspicions of what really happened and lead her to start her own cautious investigations.

What I liked about this. It’s an easy read. The writing is good, the pacing is fast, the descriptions and backstory are well integrated and there are no cumbersome info dumps. It’s definitely an entertaining read and one that I had no problem swiftly turning the pages with.

The setting is well done, the author manages to ramp up the gothic appeal with swirling sea mists adding to the atmosphere and rumoured hidden passageways and secret escape tunnels add to the strange eeriness of the place. Jane’s cottage is also rather creepily remote from the house – beautiful view not withstanding – and the quirky insecurity of the place add to the overall disquiet and make it easy to see why ghostly apparitions are easy to imagine.

The characters. I think this is one of my main quibbles with the story. Don’t get me wrong, I did like Jane. Rochester I felt a little indifferent to and the supporting cast really didn’t make an impression at all. Then we have the alternate pov chapters told by Rochester’s wife Beatrice. Beatrice was stunningly beautiful, hauntingly so. A former supermodel she eventually was forced into early retirement because of her swift temper and mental instability. I enjoyed her chapters because although she came across as fragile and a little unstable her perspective delivered a version of accounts that cast doubt on the current inhabitants of the bluff – whilst also coming across as unreliable enough to make you jump backwards and forwards between the husband’s stories and the wife’s. However, and this is my first real issue – I didn’t think that Jane or Evan really shared any on page chemistry. I didn’t buy into their feelings and didn’t really think the relationship came across as credible. This is a problem because if you don’t buy into the love between these two characters then the retelling is fundamentally flawed imo. I also struggled to feel any particular emotion towards Evan which makes it difficult to care about him or have any sympathy with regards to his situation, his experiences with his wife or his financial affairs. I just couldn’t connect to him at all.

The setting. As I already mentioned. I liked the setting and thought the author managed to use it to full affect in terms of gothic atmosphere. However, and this is just a personal whim, I think placing the estate in a coastal setting, and having the wife’s story revolve around drowning – well, it felt like the waters were muddied and I couldn’t help, more often than not, feeling that the author was channelling Daphne DuMaurier as much as Bronte.

I would say that if you’re a fan of Jane Eyre then you probably need to temper your expectations a little and in some respects I think I would have preferred this to be a story that stood on its own merit with original names, places, etc. but, as it is I would say this is an entertaining read that I completed with ease and enjoyed well enough to blast through at a good clip.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the author, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

Jane Eyre ​is probably one of the most loved and well known classic books and there are so many retelling of the story, that many times I get unsure if to start reading a new one or not . Only because there’s always the hype and high expectations that most of the time, they don’t live to it.

That’s not the case with Mrs Rochester’s ghost though. I got immersed in the story from the first chapters and wanted to see where the author is taking this retelling. ​

It was interesting to read about Jane, a woman with so many layers and depicted as a reliable and honest, vulnerable character. ​

The ghost of and how her presence was described, gave me a few goosebumps, mostly because I don’t read paranormal or hunted , scary stories​. But I enjoyed how the author made it feel real.

It’s a captivating story overall and I am looking forward to read more by the author in the future. ​

Thanks to the publisher @amazonpublishing for my review copy and the place on the blog tour.

Murder, mental illness, romance, a fiery teenager and a house set on the sea perfect for a ghostly thriller. This story was so good!

Jane moves to Thorn Bluffs temporarily to tutor Evan’s daughter but, soon becomes entranced by his mysterious ways and the ghost of his dead wife. What truly happened to Beatrice in her last day is intriguing and kept me reading. I loved the two person storytelling and the details enraptured me.

Thank you to Thomas & Mercer, the author and NetGalley for the review copy! Thoroughly enjoyed it!

This was a creepy, bone chilling read. I loved the dynamic between Jane and Sophia and wanted to see more of that. I feel like that was heavily discussed in the begging of the book and then it fell off somewhere in the middle where they started to focus on the relationship between Evan and Jane. I truthfully was not a fan of Evan and Jane as a couple - it felt out of left field and I have no idea what Jane saw in Evan. The ending was not a let down but it was not surprising. Overall it was a fine book - definitely one of the creepier ones that I have ever read, especially considering that I went through this one as an audio book.

To be honest, this book just didn't do it for me. As a fan of the original classic, I just couldn't get past the "this is kinda cheesy" feeling while reading the story; however, I can see how other people would be intrigued. The characters and setting are thrilling and I could see how someone would enjoy this as a light, poolside read. It just didn't work for me unfortunately.

Thank you #Netgalley and Thomas and Mercer Publishing for an advanced ebook version in exchange for an honest review.

Jane is newly single and living in an apartment she can barely afford when her job as a writer on a popular tv show ends. With her meager savings in danger of running out, Jane agrees to start work as a tutor for Evan Rochester's teenage daughter instead.

The job comes at the recommendation—pleading—of a good friend who just happens to be Rochester's cousin. The estate is huge and remote, but close enough to the city that Jane can still get a good coffee or make a yoga class. And the surly teen she's been saddled with is charming in her own way.

But rumors swirl around Rochester and the estate. Some say that the entrepreneur murdered his wife. A model who was diagnosed as bipolar, Mrs. Rochester was almost as famous for her outbursts as she was for her beauty. And though her disappearance was suspicious, it has officially been classified as an accident.

As Jane gets to know Evan, she suspects she might be falling for him. But certain happenings around the estate lead her to believe that not everything about Mrs. Rochester are exactly as the widower tells it. And as Jane begins to fall deeper in love, she has to wonder if she can truly trust Evan.

I've stated before that I'm a huge fan of Jane Eyre and Rebecca retellings. In fact, I'm pretty much down for any new take on these twisty tales. And that's exactly what Mrs. Rochester's Ghost is—a modern retelling of Jane Eyre.

In this version, Jane is a bit more worldly than the original Jane. She's been working in Hollywood, for one! So she's pretty prepared for just about any version of Evan you can imagine. And she's not surprised when she dislikes him immediately!

Chapters alternate between present-day Jane and Beatrice leading up to her own disappearance.

It's clear in Beatrice's chapters that she has issues. And Jane herself discovers this as she digs deeper into Evan's story.

Beatrice was a supermodel with a volatile temper. And her brother has continued to hound Evan, and now Jane, over his sister's fate. (He's quite the unpleasant character, to be honest!)

I think that every reader has a different take on Jane Eyre. Personally, I love it. I love Jane, who is young and innocent when we meet her but by no means truly naive; she's lived a complicated life and understands hardship. I think she also goes into her relationship with Rochester with completely open eyes.

Rochester himself is, in my own opinion, someone trapped by circumstances made more difficult by the times he lives in. And I think it's only in meeting Jane that he truly starts to imagine a different life.

Marcott, I think, effectively keeps the essence of all of that in her version but also gives it a modern setting and changes that make sense for the times. The pacing is much more quick and the plotting follows today's thriller formatting rather than classic, slow burn gothic lit, but the overall heart and tone of this retelling is very true to the original.

If you're looking for a new take on Jane Eyre, this isn't really it. But if you love the original and are interested in seeing how the story might play out present day and as a thriller, Mrs. Rochester's Ghost gives you exactly that!

Mrs. Rochester's Ghost by Lindsay Marcott is a twisted modern take on one of my favourite books, Jane Eyre. The initial premise follows the original - a young woman, Jane, moves in with a wealthy older man to tutor his young daughter. She knows that suspicion surrounds him following the death of his wife Beatrice, a former model, by suicide on what would have been their wedding anniversary. Having lost her job and with no other prospects in sight Jane decides to ignore the speculation and take the position , but from almost the moment of her arrival things seem a little off, and soon Jane is wondering if there is more truth to the rumours than she initially believed. Between ghostly apparitions, mysterious bloodstains and a disturbing encounter with the dead woman's brother, Jane is slowly being convinced that her new employer, Evan Rochester is hiding something, but the feelings she is developing for him are at war with her gut instinct to get out of there.

I love the original Jane Eyre and have read it numerous times, and I was really looking forward to seeing a new take on the story. Lindsay Marcott has not disappointed, this book has all the tension of the original and manages to retain much of its gothic atmosphere despite a sunny Californian setting, I also really liked the inclusion of short chapters from Beatrice's point of view. These chapters which were scattered throughout the book talk about the day of Beatrice's death, as well as the events leading up to it. She is portrayed as a woman in a fragile mental state who has stopped taking her medication, making her an unreliable narrator, but a very compelling and interesting one. I also really enjoyed the relationship between Jane and the teenage daughter, the dynamic felt really believable and I loved how the trust and understanding between them developed over the course of the book.
The book is definitely a page turner, and will keep the reader guessing along with Jane as she tries to make up her mind about Evan's guilt or innocence , and the eventual denouement is certainly a satisfying one.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

4.5 ⭐️‘s

A modern day gothic retelling of Jane Eyre, Marcott takes us to Thorn Bluffs in Carmel, California. The home of Evander Rochester. Rochester is under scrutiny as Beatrice, his wife went missing months ago and many believe that he killed her.

When Jane loses her job as a writer in New York, her dear friend Otto suggests she come to Thorn Bluffs for the summer, she can live in a cottage above the sea and tutor Evander’s teen daughter.

Jane has seen ghostly images of Beatrice in the woods, outside her window, by the sea, but Beatrice is dead.

As Jane and Evan draw closer, Jane loves him, but can she trust him?

Told in the alternating voices of Jane and Beatrice, this book was a total page turner. Filled with just enough intrigue and creep factor, Marcott keeps the reader guessing throughout.

Thisbook and I were not afit, but I amcertain this is a me thing and others are going to absolutely love it

4 stars

Jane Eyre retellings seem to be all the rage this year between this book and The Wife Upstairs. While adapting a classic can be a bit thorny (especially one that has a plot that continues to be contested by modern readers), Mrs. Rochester's Ghost does a wonderful job of fitting the gothic feel of the source material to the modern day.

Marcott keeps her Jane fairly in line with that of Bronte's novel, giving her both quips and softness in equal measure. It works pretty well, although I did find the romance between her and Rochester to really come out of nowhere in this version. However, as the novel went on and I started to realize how Marcott was adapting the book's ending, it didn't wear on me as much. The modern elements were integrated well, most specifically the use of the seaside manor to stand in for the English country estate. All in all, it is a solid adaptation and the best modern take on Jane Eyre that I have read this year!

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!

The spooky Yorkshire moors, a crazy woman in the attic, an ambiguous brooding hero, and a stalwart, plain featured and plain spoken heroine made Jane Eyre a popular classic and, by calling on these gothic tones and winning formula, a new author has sparked my interest once again with a modern retelling of the classic.

Janie has lost everything from mother to boyfriend to career as TV story writer and it is in these dismal straights that old friend Otis catches her ready to move across country, take up the job of tutor for a teenager, and do this in the isolated coastal estate of a wealthy man under investigation for murdering his wife.

Mrs. Rochester’s Ghost had the immediate advantage of being set along the California central coast just south of Monterey, which is a lovely, very familiar location for me so I can testify that the cool, coastal foggy mists could act on the imagination if one lived in an atmosphere of secrets and mystery that permeated Thorny Bluff, Evander Rochester’s estate.

The author cleverly wove winning elements from the classic into this modern domestic thriller so there was much for a Jane Eyre fan to recognize and appreciate while also getting to savor fresh elements to plot and characters.

I will say this story struck me as one of those that will be appreciated with varying degrees depending on how one sorts it out genre-wise. I had to get this clear in my own mind. If I treated it like a romantic suspense which is how it felt at times, I wouldn’t care for it because I simply didn’t see a good romance build up and there was the cheating aspect. However, if I viewed it as a domestic thriller (which is how it is described) with romance elements, I fared much better because there was much more care taken with that than the romance.

Speaking of the thriller side, I’m still on the fence about having the duo narration threads. Janie told the current storyline and Beatrice McAdams, the wife who Evan said drowned, though others think he killed her for her money, narrated the details of that last day she was alive. Beatrice is the quintessential unreliable narrator with her delusions and manic thoughts and behavior because she was off her meds. Her narration was intriguing as something different from any previous Jane Eyre retellings and variations I’ve read, but it was also somewhat distracting and took away from the suspense element in Janie’s storyline.

I did feel the story lagged somewhat after the initial introductions and set up, but it picked back up for me after the midway point. I could see the need of where the author was going with all that and it wasn’t just filler, with character and relationship development needed as well as a slow build of certain plot pieces, but I was impatient to get things moving.

Janie was a typical gothic tale heroine to me. She was susceptible to atmosphere and her imagination was her own worst enemy while at the same time, she was impulsive and gutsy to go nosing about when she suspected she was being watched, followed, and odd things were happening around her not to mention she was living in what she believed was a murder scene and falling in love with a murderer. I shook my head a few times, but ended up just going with it. The original Jane had a different personality that I appreciated more, but it was still fun to see Janie scared, but still detecting away.

For the longest time, I had no idea if this book was going to follow the original Jane Eyre story through its twists and reveals to the end or if it was going to surprise me with a variation on the ending. This is to say, I had my suspicions about Beatrice McAdams’ death, but I was also unsure if I was reading Evan all wrong. Simply, I had no idea and had to wait until the big reveal.

So, all in all, this was an entertaining, atmospheric modern retelling that did a good job. It definitely had the feel of the classic, but also translated moderately well into a fresh modern domestic thriller. The crowds who enjoy both modern retellings of classics and domestic thrillers that lean toward the old-style gothic are the target audience.

Great story! Loved the gothic undertones and the tingle on my spine I got while reading. Thank you netgalley and publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review.