Brontë (Bron) Ellis is tired of his teaching-assistant job at St Mary’s all-boys school. Given the chance to become tutor to a precocious young girl from a wealthy family, coupled with an opportunity to reinvent himself in the university city of Cambridge, Bron sets off without a backward glance. He is welcomed at Greenwood House, where he tentatively begins to feel more himself, exploring his own identity and sexuality, until he uncovers secrets he doesn’t expect to find in the freethinking Edwards family.

Admittedly, this novel is not what I expected but, being a fan of historical novels, I was lured by the idea that it might be a reinvention of the Jane Eyre classic. It is a well-written gender-bent exploration, but didn’t hold my attention as much as I would have liked, and in places the plot forgot its pace, which, unfortunately, didn’t have me reaching for the next chapter. This will appeal to lgbtq fans who enjoy the appeal of 19th-century classic literature woven through a contemporary setting.

Ended up DNF at 25%. I tried really hard to love this book but it just wasn’t for me. I couldn’t look myself in the main character like i normally can.

For me, this is perhaps one of the more enjoyable adaptations of "Jane Eyre". "The Manor House Governess" by CA Castle doesn't pretend it's not a love letter to Charlotte Bronte's masterpiece and I enjoyed the modern twist. It was pure indulgence for fans of the Brontes, Austen and the like.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with this ARC. Unfortunately, this was a DNF for me. There was nothing that drew me into the story. The characters, plot, and setting just didn’t work.

Wanted to absolutely love this. So important to see representation of gender fluid protagonists and I did like the main character.
I just really struggled with the way modern and historical was combined. I’d rather it have been in a historical setting.
Writing just didn’t quite work for me, but I’m sure it will for others.

I couldn't finish this book, but I'm not sure that it was the book's fault. It's an interesting title, written using language that is intentionally reminiscent of Bronte & Austen despite it taking place in modern times. The genderfluid protagonist was awesome and loveable, but I bowed out as he was meeting his love interest. I would recommend this to readers to see what someone else's take on it was, but it was truly just not for me. Well-written and worth adding to your collection for representation reasons (without compromising quality).

This is the other end of the scale of historical fiction books sounding too modern - it takes place in modern-day, but the narration as well as the dialogue wouldn't be out of place among the obvious inspirations - Austen, Brontë and the Romantic poets. There's an odd balance between Bron's desire to live in a world like his favorite novels and the knowledge that he's in the 21st century, and the book doesn't strike it well. In trying to keep to parallels with romantic and gothic novels, the story gets too wrapped up in itself, with the plot and characters acting out of nowhere so that it fits. with the central "mystery" and house fire being one of the biggest culprits. We spend so much time in Bron's thoughts that it becomes difficult to tell what is actually going on, and unfortunately, impossible to really feel any character motivations, especially for the romance between Darcy and Bron.

It's a shame, because at the end, there's some nice thoughts on wanting queer classics and to be able to see yourself in the stories you love and bringing that to living your life, but again, it just feels out of place with everything else that's been going on.

The Manor House Governess by C.A. Castle focuses on Bron, a genderfluid individual who is an orphan stuck away in an unpleasant boy's school. When the opportunity arises for him to take a position tutoring a young girl in a manor, he leaps at it. He has absorbed, loved, and devoured the novels of the 19th century and thinks he will find a Romantic--and possibly romantic--existence as a governess, free to dress as he likes and present as he wishes. Things aren't that easy, however, when his employer's son Darcy arrives, and he finds himself struggling in the position that had started to feel like home.

I really wanted to like this book, because I think it's important to see more queer stories produced by queer people, and I rejoice when they are made available. The only problem is...I didn't like it. The writing is very jarring; people speak in flowery prose, but it's set in the modern times. And the book repeatedly hammers home the need for gender nonconforming people and queer people to exist freely and without violence. Just over and over again. I didn't feel any chemistry between Bron or Darcy; it was as though I should root for them merely because it's what the novel required, and it seemed really abrupt when it came about.

I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

"With a genderfluid protagonist and 21st-century twist, this spirited debut pays homage to the British classics while joyfully centering an LGBTQ+ point of view, perfect for fans of Emily M. Danforth.

Orphaned young and raised with chilly indifference at an all-boys boarding school, Brontë Ellis has grown up stifled by rigid rules and social "norms," forbidden from expressing his gender identity. His beloved novels and period films lend an escape, until a position as a live-in tutor provides him with a chance to leave St. Mary's behind.

Greenwood Manor is the kind of elegant country house Bron has only read about, and amid lavish parties and cricket matches, the Edwards family welcomes him into the household with true warmth. Mr. Edwards and the young Ada, Bron's pupil, accept without question that Bron's gender presentation is not traditionally masculine. Only Darcy, the eldest son, seems uncomfortable with Bron - the two of them couldn't be more opposite.

When a tragic fire blazes through the estate's idyllic peace, Bron begins to sense dark secrets smoldering beneath Greenwood Manor's surface. Channeling the heroines of his cherished paperbacks, he begins to sift through the wreckage. Soon, he's not sure what to believe, especially with his increasing attraction to Darcy clouding his vision.

Drawing energy and inspiration from Charlotte Brontë, Jane Austen, E.M. Forster, and more while bowing to popular fiction such as Plain Bad Heroines, The Manor House Governess is destined to become a modern classic."

I mean a Bronte and a house fire? I have to read this!

I think this book is doing something really fresh and different and pulling from so many influences. I liked that it was written with nostalgic prose but set in modern day.

I read this as an eARC thanks to Netgalley

Anyone who loves the classics such as Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice is going to adore this story. I absolutely loved this modern day setting mixed with the grandeur of classic literature.
There’s romance and mystery but truthfully it is a coming of age story that focuses on finding yourself when the world is telling you how you should act and behave.
Totally recommend this for young people who are struggling with figuring out who they are meant to be.
LGBTQIA+ rep

DNF at 35%. I don’t typically leave negative reviews because I usually can tell very quickly that I’m not enjoying something and that it probably isn’t for me, but I really really tried to give this one a chance and it never landed, and I think the author was really done a disservice by the lack of helpful editing here.

Initially I found the writing style pretty challenging to get through but I thought I would keep going because I really like to finish what I start and I’m a pretty fast reader so it doesn’t cost me much to finish a book even when I’m not particularly enjoying it. However, the writing never settled into a good rhythm and I found nearly every sentence so clunky and stilted that I couldn’t ever get immersed in it.

I think a generous reading of the choices here would be that maybe Bron has created an identity and a sort of fantasy world for himself that results in this sort of anachronistic tone, but unfortunately it isn’t successful. The writing is stilted and feels like someone was trying to use a bigger word whenever possible (and they often chose one that didn’t mean quite what they thought it did).

I was hopeful that by sticking it out longer I would start to get invested in the plot and the characters, but even the narrator was not drawn in clear lines and there was no chemistry anywhere. The characters felt one-dimensional and I stopped reading when I decided that I didn’t care at all what happened to any of them; I’m not sure if this was because they were so hampered by the linguistic choices or because the book was taking far too long to get anywhere. Regardless, this book needed significantly more editing in all areas.

(2) This book was very hard to read due to the juxtaposition of tone and place. It’s set in modern times, yet the prose is very 19th Century, and it’s just… weird. I couldn’t get into the plot (if there was any) and the characters were hardly built up at all, with it being difficult to understand motives. The reveal at the end was more told rather than revealed, and the ending itself was quite lacklustre. I appreciate the message about gender norms, but it felt like very conversation was centred around it, and as a trans and queer person myself it felt quite forced.