Jane Eyre

Hey everyone! Its Lydia here. I finished Jane Eyre yesterday and thought I'd voice my views on the well beloved classic.

Author: Charlotte Bronte
Published: 16th October 1847
Publisher: Smith, Elder and Co
Pages: 448
Genre: Romance, Gothic, Romantic

Description (from Amazon)
Jane Eyre ranks as one of the greatest and most perennially popular works of English fiction. Although the poor but plucky heroine is outwardly of plain appearance, she possesses an indomitable spirit, a sharp wit and great courage.

She is forced to battle against the exigencies of a cruel guardian, a harsh employer and a rigid social order. All of which circumscribe her life and position when she becomes governess to the daughter of the mysterious, sardonic and attractive Mr Rochester.

However, there is great kindness and warmth in this epic love story, which is set against the magnificent backdrop of the Yorkshire moors. Ultimately the grand passion of Jane and Rochester is called upon to survive cruel revelation, loss and reunion, only to be confronted with tragedy.

Review

I've had Jane Eyre on my bookshelf for some time and I started to read it at the beginning of this year. However, I only got about a third of the way through before school work intervened. But my sister this year bought me a really lovely limited edition of the novel for my birthday, so I said to myself, "come on, now that you've got the time, you have to read Jane Eyre".

Jane Eyre is a novel with quite complex language, so if you're new to reading classics, I would perhaps start off with an easier book, like Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens, or 20th century classic like The Great Gatsby or To Kill a Mocking Bird, which are some of my personal favourites. I urge this as the first time I started to read some of Jane Austen's novels, I was around twelve or thirteen, and for good part of the time, I didn't understand the language.

Now, like in all my reviews I like to discuss aspects I both liked and disliked within the book. The first quality I enjoyed about Jane Eyre was Bronte's creation and style of narrative. The first person narrator (Jane herself) has a welcoming and polite tone, as she directly addresses the reader occasionally, creating a confidant relationship between the narrator and reader, forming a close and personal atmosphere. This adds wonderfully to the plot and direction of the story, as Jane is retelling her life experiences.

Jane is a lovely character: she's strong minded, independent and direct in speech - qualities I find in myself, and it seems other people find compelling in other reviews I've read. The characters traits are quite interesting given the time and age of the book. As I've written above in the details, Jane Eyre was published in the 19th century, and directness and openly opinionated women weren't seen to be very attractive (but that seems to be a different case in the book, I'll discuss this further down). It's additionally evermore curious that Bronte published the novel under a male name, Currer Bell. As a reader, I can see that Bronte was able to secretly express her personal characteristics while avoiding the female hypocrisy in society.

Judgement is something that Jane is confronted with all her life, with her Aunt Reed (her legal guardian), at school and even by some of the minor characters of the book. From a little girl, Jane has been cruelly judged. Personally, I think she is judged for many reasons, all very unreasonable, but mainly because she is forthright and expresses her opinions. Most women of that time didn't directly challenge people, as society would have seen it to be unfeminine. However, when Jane meets Mr Rochester, I think that it's what he likes most about her, that she openly speaks her mind.

Continuing with Mr Rochester, I'm brought to the theme of love and passion in the novel. It is clear, not at first, that Jane and Mr Rochester love each other. But what I like about their romance is that it isn't based on their physical appearance, which a great deal of Romantic novels are based upon. The couple fall in love because they find each other equally unattractive. At the beginning, it is made quite clear that Jane isn't beautiful, other characters and Mr Rochester even expresses that she is 'plain' looking, yet equally Jane comments that Mr Rochester isn't an attractive being either, and occasionally tells the reader he is ugly. This conveys that they love each other for sense of conversation and intelligence, and the colloquial term 'it's what's on the inside that matters'. This gives a certain warmth and sentimentality to their relationship throughout the novel. However, there are some moments in the story where I thought Mr Rochester to be quite an abusive lover, not physically, but mentally. He tricks Jane into jealousy, becomes possessive and becomes quite aggressive when he doesn't get his way. Yet he does openly express he loves Jane and doesn't convince or force her to marry him, like another marital interest attempts to do.

The last aspect I enjoyed about Jane Eyre was the Gothic side to the novel. Amongst all the beautiful pastoral language were dense and dark concepts. There is a sense of supernaturalism at the beginning, and scenes of morbidity and horror. I really enjoyed these moments, as it gave the novel a balance of both affection and hatred, as well as light and dark sentiments. I'm a big Gothic reader, I studied Frankenstein and Dracula for my coursework in my A levels, but even when I was slightly younger I enjoyed reading The Woman in Black and I'm the King of the Castle, which I studied for GCSE. These are all brilliant books, and if you like horror books, I'd give these a read next.

I hope you enjoyed my review of Jane Eyre! Sorry if it was very long, I had a lot to say about this wonderful book.

Outlander

Hey guys it's Lydia here! I finished Outlander a few days ago and I have a few views and opinions I'd like to express.

Author: Diana Gabaldon
Published: 1st June 1991
Publisher: Arrow
Pages: 864
Genre: Historical fiction, fiction, romance

Small description (from Amazon)

1946, and Claire Randall goes to the Scottish Highlands with her husband Frank. It’s a second honeymoon, a chance to learn how war has changed them and to re-establish their loving marriage.
But one afternoon, Claire walks through a circle of standing stones and vanishes into 1743, where the first person she meets is a British army officer - her husband’s six-times great-grandfather.

Unfortunately, Black Jack Randall is not the man his descendant is, and while trying to escape him, Claire falls into the hands of a gang of Scottish outlaws, and finds herself a Sassenach - an outlander - in danger from both Jacobites and Redcoats.

Marooned amid danger, passion and violence, her only chance of safety lies in Jamie Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior. What begins in compulsion becomes urgent need, and Claire finds herself torn between two very different men, in two irreconcilable lives.

Review

Outlander as a whole was a fantastic read, even though I'm going to discuss aspects of the book I didn't enjoy, generally it was an exciting read all the way through.

Again like in my last review, I would recommend this book to readers who are aged eighteen and above, because there's quite a lot of sexual language.

The time settings of the book (there are two) are very interesting, as at the beginning the story is set after the Second World War, a time of peace and tranquility, where society was trying to rebuild their lives after six years of horrific war. But Clair, our narrator is transported back in time to the 18th century, a completely different and perhaps brutal society. However, another view could be that Clair is transported back into a similar atmosphere of the war, and evermore reflects her 20th century life in the progress of the Battle of Culloden (16th April 1746). The time difference may have been created by Gabaldon to convey how decorum has changed over the years, and that peoples attitude towards one another became less harsh and savage.

The plot was well structured and written, keeping myself as a reader full of excitement and anticipation for what was next to come. This can also be said about the characters. While I actually read the book by listening to the audio version, I felt that I more vividly imagined and heard the characters when they spoke to one another, as through their voices and dialogue I could understand their sense of character. Like the Harry Potter series, Outlander has many characters, and all are explored and used well in the journey the reader takes with Clair into the new and scary world of the past. My favourite character is Clair, as I think she is for many readers. I enjoyed her as a character and a narrator because although she is launched into a new place, her sense of self and character doesn't change. She is still the same strong-minded, determined, passionate and kind-hearted person she was in 1946 and 1743.

My other favourite character is Jamie Fraser. Although I dislike some of the aspects the character is involved in (which I will comment on further on), he really is  brilliant. I felt that I couldn't write a review about Outlander without discussing Jamie. As a reader and writer, I have connections with characters, and I feel like he is a genuine person and very down to earth; Gabaldon has created someone unique. I won't say too much about him, as I like to keep my reviews as spoiler free as possible. But my favourite aspect I like about Jamie, is that for most of the part, he treats people with respect.

That brings me into the romance of the book. The love interest in Outlander is gradual, and this make the story feel more realistic and personal, in some books the romance is really corny, like 'I saw her face and knew that I would love her forever'. However, you watch Jamie and Clair become friends, lovers and then soulmates. This is in retrospect with the TV series. Although I do love the live action version of the characters, I felt that there wasn't enough awkwardness in the TV series as there was in the book (as Clair and Jamie married for practical reasons), and that the characters on screen adapted to each other as a married couple too quickly.

On the flip side of romance, I'm going to discuss the sexual assaults and manipulations in Outlander. While reading these horrific moments, and becoming enraged and pitiful for the characters, I feel that Gabaldon, again has included these interactions and descriptions in her book because she wants to get her readers to understand the low treatment people had of each other. While it is mostly men of women, we do encounter a reversal, the reader shall also feel and understand the shame and isolation of sexual assault other from a female perspective. I just disliked the way some of the male characters spoke to women. Even when Jamie and Clair are married, he became brutish and used sadism against her, and plainly because it was how husbands disciplined their wives (I know I sound negative about Jamie, but honestly he does love Clair). I can understand the marital customs of the time, but it was hard for me to listen to as a 21st century reader. However, as I have said before, perhaps the writer has pushed the reader into hard and uncomfortable situations between people, because she is trying to mirror current treatment men and women have of each other, and perhaps it doesn't differ so much as it did almost three hundred years ago.

I hope you like my review of Outlander, and I also hope I didn't spoil any of the book for you. It was a historical and loving read.

Storm of Attraction

Hiya, it's Lydia here. Today I'm posting a review on the book Storm of Attraction by Lily Black. I hope you guys enjoy the review as much as I loved reading the book.

Author: Lily Black
Published: January
Publishers: Red Adept Publishing, LLC
Length: 250 pages
Genre: Romantic, Thriller, Contemporary

Description from Amazon 

Alexa Wolving has just one rule: never give a guy a second chance. That works just fine in the safe life she’s built. In the charming town of Willowdale, her day job as a librarian balances perfectly with her evening job as a black belt instructor. But when she attracts the attention of a stalker, Alexa’s carefully built world begins to crumble.
Drew Cosimo knows he broke Alexa’s heart five years ago when he took his first Ranger assignment and disappeared from her life. Now that he’s out of the army, he’s moving back home to Willowdale. He’s not looking for a fight, but making peace would be easier if Alexa hadn’t told the entire town he was a money-grubbing jerk. Despite the tension between them, Drew is quick to offer his protection when a stalker forces Alexa from her home.
As the stalker’s attacks escalate, Alexa and Drew are forced to face their painful past and the simmering attraction between them. They must fight to save each other before everything they care about goes up in flames.

I recommend that readers should only read this book if they are fifteen and above.

Review

Romantic and intriguing are two of the many words I would use to describe this novel; while it was heart warming, it was also racing and hair-raising. I'm not the sort of reader who usually goes for thriller themed books, I would most likely let the other bloggers read and review it. However, Storm of Attraction has opened up a new and interesting genre for me to explore in the future.

The plot and story-line was written well, it wasn't too fast-paced, and yet it wasn't too slow that the reader fell asleep. The reader is taken on a climbing journey, that meets a climax towards the end of the novel that wonderfully reveals the face of Alexa's stalker. Even though I liked how the stalker was unmasked, I felt that the suggestion of the stalker written to near the beginning, and that it would have been better for the writer to let the reader discover for themselves why all these strange and eerie things were happening to Alexa. However, this is just my opinion and may be my format as a writer emerging into this review.

When reading I instantly knew that the author is a feminist, much like myself. However, while most female readers love an independent and strong minded heroine, they don't need to be told this all the way through the novel. I understood that Alexa was an emancipated young woman from a few simple descriptions, but from reading this in almost every chapter it made Alexa's sense of independence repetitive. But what I did like about Alexa is that she realised that her almost extreme sense of independence was stopping her from ever finding love and happiness in the future, and for me personally this the characters realisation of her faults was my favourite part of the book. It showed the true essence of being human, understanding our faults and finding a way to overcome them. For myself, this is what makes a really good writer, someone who captures a sense of human life within language, and Lily Black did just that.

Another aspect I found interesting about Storm of Attraction was its parallels between love and obsession. This gives the reader clues and makes them aware of the difference between the two emotions. The stalker is most indefinitely a psychopath, and wants to possess and control Alexa. The reader sees this from the third person narrative Black uses, where we can see into the mind of the stalker and hear his twisted and dark thoughts. Though this can be disturbing for some readers, I again liked how there was a sense of darkness that contrasted with the light of Alexa and Drew's relationship.

The books other main character, Drew Cosimo, is kind hearted and basically any persons dream guy. He cooks, he's handsome and he likes cats. However, what I liked most about his character is that he desired Alexa in the beginning, but that sense of lust changed into something futuristic and long-term, and within this he realised that he wanted to progress in the direction of a stable and martial relationship. Personally, I believe that this is how love should progress. You desire another person, and then, once you've spent a substantial amount of time with them, you develop a sense of protection and deep respect for them.
While I did like Drew, at times I felt that Black didn't let me discover his sense of character for myself and that she told me all of his feelings. The book had quite a telly narrative, and for some stories it can work quite well, however, when it is used excessively it can make the reader feel as if they can't think for themselves.

Aside from the small things I criticised, overall I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, and highly recommend it to anyone looking for an engaging and gripping read.

She Will Always Remain

Hi guys, it's Lydia here. This is probably the latest post I've ever written, but I finally found some time to edit and share this poem. I wrote this a few months ago, in a pretty horrible time for me. But I found that writing about my anxiety and picturing it as a living breathing person helped me focus my mind, it gave me a sense of clarity. Obviously anxiety or any mental illness has no form or shape, but for each person I think the way they visualise and imagine their illness is different to each individual mind. But tell me what you think and if you feel comfortable enough share your experiences with how your or a loved ones mental illness effects your way of life.


It attacks in happy hours,
Laughter escaping open mouths.
In times not foreseen, when minds are running water.

She appears as mist, that thins through floorboards.
Or beady spiders twitching in bedroom corners.
The Lady of 'ifs' and 'buts', whose face appears despite comfort.
The Monstrous Mistress, white fingers shadowing true sight,
Watery grey eyes that loom in waking sleep.

In minds blank peace she calls -
Her cold caress breathing in ears,
You've forgotten something.
Her purple lips gleeful in anxious agony.
Lounging, watching as fingernails stab palms,
As fidgeting eyes scan around frightful,
Finding something, someone to stop her presumptions.

As clammy backs cool, the echoing thuds reside.
She crawls back through silky glass.
Into innocent eyes, down, down within
She sings I am you. I can never leave.

The Writers Journal

Hey guys, its Lydia here! I've just finished another creative writing practice piece in preparation for my exams. I hope you like it, leave me a comment of how you think it could be improved or just some of your opinions. I hope to be finishing and reviewing the book Ashes to Ashes soon, go and check it out once I've uploaded. 

Just before I shut my eyes, I write on the clean blank lines of a new entry. I describe and recount whatever comes to mind, all the thoughts and trepidations that pass, but never can be brave enough to utter. They are all bound and safe within the brown leather cover, hidden from all wandering eyes.

It’s like a friend that never leaves my room, or causes me pain. It keeps all secrets and memories, and with just a turn of the page I’m brought back to the thoughts I had ten years ago. 

A journal is a writer’s second conscious, the part of you that transfers what you see and know into words, building the bridge from your life to the limitless ends of fiction. Here, the language I use will never be shamed or critiqued; it can be in any form, whether that be prose or poetry. It is the foundation to any author’s career, the first test to see how well I can describe my day to no one, and the final prize to see if I can display my language to millions. 

When I’m finished, as my pen leaves the paper, and my thoughts have been channeled. Its like I’m looking at my own reflection, the verbs and nouns creating eyes, a nose and lips. The face speaks to me, forming the fears and worries that loop within mind, and with each word that expels its mouth I grow calmer and my body sinks into the warmth, ready for sleep. In my unconsciousness I no longer feel tense and twisted with negative thoughts of doubt. I’m free and soring through my dreams like an eagle.

When each day comes to an end, as the light disappears, I look forward to writing in my journal, as in every new entry I understand my mind better, I’m inches closer to discovering who I can become.