Obviously the most interesting and exciting things about the original Jane Eyre is not the fact there are characters in it called Jane, Edward, Blanche, Helen and John, or even that there is a first wife trapped in the attic, but that is ALL that The Wife Upstairs has in common with that original book.

I am not sure what this fad for 'retelling English classics' is about but really wish it would stop. Even Curtis Sittenfeld (who I like) couldn't manage it with Eligible.

This is a jumbled up domestic romance novel with a little murder thrown in, there is very little Gothic, tragic or sweeping about it. I'm not sure why the idea that a 'modern' take on a classic means we have to dumb down the feelings, the grandeur, the narrative, the darkness, the complexity, but this book does all of those things.

I might have felt a little more receptive to it if it hadn't tried to add on the Jane Eyre tag and just put it out as a novel about a women from a hard background grasping for more in a hard to crack rich suburb full of murderous secrets. We could have delved quite hard into Jane's life and motive rather than the confusing flashback struggles between Bea & Blanche and Tripp etc. Everyone was so dislikable I didn't really care what happened to any of them, and we never found out anyway because it was all left so open ended and without any real satisfaction.

Sorry, leave the classics alone, not one for me.

A fresh twist on a classic tale, The Wife Upstairs is a gripping story that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end. A must read thriller of the year.

Enjoyed reading, it is always nice to watch the fraudster get duped. Nice twist at the end - would recommend!

Wow, what a book! I really, really enjoyed this book. It was easy to read, gripping from the start and kept me guessing until the very end! Fantastically written! Would definitely recommend!

I could not put this book down, it was such an intriguing read. I loved the storyline of this thriller, it was so unpredictable. I also enjoyed the alternating chapters between Jane, Bea and Eddie. The reader can really get a sense of the characters pasts and the current story told in their perspective. They all seem to have a distorted view on what has happened. The ending of this book was left up to the imagination of the reader which I loved, Jane also does not know how things ended up so I feel like the reader and Jane are both left guessing.

Jane and Eddie had a whirlwind romance which seemed to be identical to how Bea and Eddies relationship occurred. All of Jane's new friends are happy for her but I feel like they were skeptical about the whole situation. We got to read about Jane and Eddie's relationship and how it grew through out the book, but we could also read about Bea and Eddie's relationship too which I enjoyed reading about.

I loved how many twists there were in this book. With so many secrets being kept against each other and in between other characters, it was never going to be simple for the couple. Thrillers are always such quick books for me to read, I read the majority of this one in one sitting. It was easy to read and understand what was going on which made the book go even quicker. I also liked the layout of the chapters, it was easy to know in which perspective each chapter was in. The book was set across the span of a year and the pace of this book was perfect. As a reader, the dramatic events and revealing of secrets seemed believable because it was spread across a timeline. The drama in this book continue all the way until the end, this is why I could not put it down.

I don't normally do thrillers, but you had me at 'modern twist on Jane Eyre'. She flips the story on its head enough to keep it interesting, even for someone who's lost count of how many times they've read Jane Eyre, and the writing is well-paced. It's a fun thriller for anyone into the genre as well as for people like myself who don't normally read this sort of thing.

From many of the reviews it seems that The Wife Upstairs is a re-telling of Jane Eyre. For me I can not really compare as I have not read Jane Eyre, but if that is correct then I am very tempted to read Jane Eyre. I thoroughly enjoyed The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins.

Jane is a dog walker and she crosses paths with Eddie, who is a widower. His wife and friend had both drowned in a recent 'accident'. Jane and Eddie start having a relationship but Jane is intrigued to find out about his deceased wife, Bea. This is such a thrilling and slightly gothic genre that I devoured within a few days. There is lots of suspicions around Eddie and Jane finds herself questioning many things.

This book is so intriguing and I love the character descriptions and really found myself warming to Jane. I will certainly keep my eye out for more by Rachel Hawkins and even pick a copy up of Jane Eyre.

Thanks so much to NetGalley, Rachel Hawkins and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Really loved Jane's character. She was feisty and down to earth. Her voice was so authentic and real. Her past mystified me and I loved her job of dog walking.

The writing is fast paced and laced with mystery and a sense of foreboding - I couldn't stop turning the pages to find the reveal.

The narrative was vivid in its descriptions and I loved the contrast from the new house to her old flat and all the characters that lived in both settings.

A great read.

Much as I love Jane Eyre, there are elements within that never quite sit right with me. I often wondered why Jane didn’t show the strength of will and defiance of expectations to really push the boat and do something truly shocking at the end. The whole mad wife in the attic scenario lent a more sympathetic portrayal to Rochester than he perhaps deserved. Yet it’s a book that I deeply enjoy, and I was more than a little nervous when I realised The Wife Upstairs was transposing many of these elements to a modern setting.
Having now finished the book I have to say I really enjoyed it as a concept.
In our version, Jane is running from her past but she is now a dog walker in an exclusive neighbourhood as she tries to find her way into the life she craves. We follow her interior monologue, so we know she has more than her fair share of secrets and that she is just as happy to manipulate someone if it suits her. For this reason, I found myself feeling less concerned for Jane's welfare than I did in the original. She makes some silly choices and fails to see some potential issues that she really should have factored in.
Our Mr Rochester is Eddie, a charismatic man who is having to live with the mysterious disappearance of his wife, Bea. Neighbourhood gossip reveals a little more to this story than Jane was told, and it was pretty obvious that we would be watching this story unravel over time.
There are, perhaps of necessity, some changes to the original 'Jane Eyre' and these do work fairly well. If you read this with no knowledge of the text then you have a great thriller with some well-timed reveals and shocks. Even with those with knowledge of the text won't be disappointed. I confess to waiting for some of the 'twists', but there are still surprises. I also really liked the ambiguity of the ending, which leaves us - and Jane - in a rather difficult position.

Approved by NetGalley having already purchased and read the book.

A thrilling and modern spin on Jane Eyre (which I’ve not read and after looking at a synopsis now realise how hugely similar these two are...). I liked the multiple perspectives the book was written from and felt it slowly revealed clues to the final puzzle piece. I found myself not wanting to put this down and frequently thinking oh just one more chapter. I didn’t see the twist coming although the ending did leave me slightly underwhelmed and a tad confused! After looking at the Jane Eyre synopsis I felt there was some originality lacking but I did enjoy the book overall.

3.5⭐️

Somehow it didn't work for me. It's well written but the story didn't keep my attention.
Not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This is very much a "It's not you, it's me" situation. This is an easy, quick, read on the beach-type of novel. A domestic thriller that is a retelling of Jane Eyre with most of its beats (with a twist of Rebecca to keep things on your thoughts).

But I couldn't escape that... well... it felt bland and flat. There was nothing new or exciting about this. Nothing that "wow"ed me. It felt like we've read this a lot recently into domestic thrillers. How many domestic thrillers have we read about a woman with a past meeting and falling with a man, and yet the woman can't help but feel his ex haunting her?

I do think it's hard to retell and reimagine a classic story we all know quite well. You either stick to the original almost to a letter, use it as inspiration and go in a different direction completely or find a balance between the original and adding something new and exciting to the mix. Striking the right tone and line is tricky and you have to give the author her due to

This didn't work for me, I'm afraid, but I can see other readers really liking this candy-floss of a thriller.

It opens with the classic words, 'It is the absolute shittiest day for a walk'. Jane Bell is a dog-walker, out in all weathers walking the pampered pets of Thornfield Estate. She quietly loathes her wealthy clients and is not above pilfering their possessions when they're not looking, intensely jealous of their money and security. But then one day she stumbles across the path of the recently widowed Eddie Rochester and suddenly, Jane wonders if he just might be her ticket out of her precarious existence. But ... just what was it that happened to his wife exactly? This is Jane Eyre mashed up with Gone Girl and Desperate Housewives - a contemporary retelling with a truly savage twist.

Spin-offs and retellings of classic novels rarely turn out well. I kind of stumbled on this one - I actually thought it was by the author of The Girl on the Train because I wasn't really paying attention and the two writers have the same last name. Anyway, having vaguely thought that it was an interesting shift to go from thriller-about-trains to retelling of a classic novel, I gave it a closer look than I would likely have done otherwise. Of course, it turned out that Rachel Hawkins is someone completely different but luckily enough I found The Wife Upstairs to be utterly compelling. So ... I guess it's just as well that I wasn't very 'on' the day that I requested it.

Hawkins has done a masterful job at translating the main players of Jane Eyre to modern day Alabama. As a job title, dog walker shares a similarly down-trodden status to Victorian governess. I particularly enjoyed Jane being scolded by a one client for walking the dog too far from home. The real genius touch though was Rochester buying himself a dog so that he can legitimately seek Jane's services and he calls it ... Adele. At that point, I felt like we were in safe hands. This was not going to be one of those spin-offs where the reader is left sucking their teeth at how many errors have been made about the original text (looking at you, PD James). Of course modernised Adele was an obedient little puppy.

Another minor master-stroke was background character John Rivers, Jane's room-mate. They're friends from the old days in foster care but these days John is a creep who is not so subtly trying to pressure Jane into a sexual relationship, all the while working for a church. The original novel lent Rivers more dignity in his mission and there are moments when he does seem like a credible alternative for Rochester. Not for nothing did Jeanette Winterson's mother rewrite the ending for her daughter's ears in Oranges are not the only fruit. But there was always something uncomfortable about his desire to force Jane to submit to him bodily as a wife and it feels right that Hawkins draws attention to that. The modern Rivers has the same patriarchal desire to dominate Jane and make her 'behave' as he wishes and for that, he deserves all he gets and more.

I was less sure about the twists and turns about Jane's true identity. Much is made of how she is on the run from her past but with the references to hearing her real name being talked about on the news, I was expecting something more significant than was later revealed. [spoiler]And I wasn't quite sure that it worked out for her real name to have been Helen Burns. Like her or loathe her, Helen Burns was the 'Jesus' figure of the original novel. She continues to serve as Jane's conscience in later life. Switching their roles in this instance felt like one of the only bumpy notes within the novel.[/spoiler] It probably didn't help though that by the time it was all cleared up, the reader has more or less stopped caring about Jane and instead switched their focus to the drama going on upstairs.

The Thornfield estate has been left reeling after the sudden demise of Bea Rochester and Blanche Ingram, both mysteriously vanished following a boating accident. Actually ... less reeling ... more just loving the gossip and high drama. Again there are clear nods towards Rebecca here too, not only from the manner of Bea and Blanche's 'passing' but also the way that Jane comes over time to model herself on Bea to try and fit in. While Blanche's widower Tripp is falling to pieces, Eddie shows little sign of grief. But there's a reason for that. As the title gives away, his wife is actually still alive and well but locked in the panic room upstairs.

The Wife Upstairs is a strange read because I can't think of a single character who I actually liked but yet I thoroughly enjoyed it. While my instinct would usually be to champion the underdog, Jane is pretty underhand and the kleptomania really doesn't sit well with me. All of the characters, Jane included, are obsessed with social-climbing and material possessions. Neither of these have ever interested me. I also found it really hard to visualise Bea Rochester's infamous 'Southern Manors' lifestyle brand - I landed up on a more hideous version of Cath Kidston. But while all this would normally leave me feeling ambivalent, The Wife Upstairs still managed to make me feel invested. Hawkins is having terrific fun snarking about the lives of the bored-and-rich and if we've read the original novel, we know that the pay-off will be that we get to see them all burn.

To be blunt, when I twigged that I had misunderstood this book's author, I wasn't sure what to expect. In fact, my expectations were pretty low. The high level of expletives isn't usually my scene - each one of the 'iconic' lines of the original novel are made over with swear words. But instead, I was very pleasantly surprised. The Wife Upstairs does raise some thought-provoking questions about the original novel. Bea describes how she re-establishes a sexual relationship with her husband to regain some control over him (Reader, I fucked him). But then as she realises that he has moved in Jane, she ponders what it must feel like to have a wife upstairs and a girlfriend downstairs. There is huge suspicion over how the far less wealthy Eddie had attached himself to Bea in the first place - they met on vacation - and given that the canonical Rochester married Bertha for her money, his motivations remain murky at best. Bertha Rochester remains such a blank even if one does read The Wide Sargasso Sea - what did she really think of her faithless spouse? The Wife Upstairs is not a book about women who accept their fates lying down.

In her afterword, Hawkins mentioned that this book is written for all the women who ever read Jane Eyre and thought, 'Honestly, Jane? You can do better.' Perhaps because I really have always been in that demographic, The Wife Upstairs definitely hit the mark for me. Simultaneously light-hearted and sharp-tongued, this is a highly entertaining domestic thriller which can be enjoyed by both uninitiated and Brontëphile alike.

The Wife Upstairs is Rachel Hawkins' modern retelling of Jane Eyre, full of twists, turns and lots of secrets. Jane, not her real name, is a destitute dog-walker for the Stepford Wives of Birmingham, Alabama, getting by by stealing from her clients. Until one day she meets Eddie Rochester, charming, rich and recently widowed, her luck begins to change. His wife Bea, drowned in a boating accident with her best friend Blanche and their bodies were never recovered. As Jane and Eddie's relationship blossoms, Jane is continuously haunted by Bea's legacy. How can plain Jane ever compete and can Jane keep her past in the past too?

This book was addictive and I challenge anyone not to fly through it. There were so many classic thriller tropes and I enjoyed every single one of them, you'll want to keep reading to try and guess what happens next. It was such a satisfying read, I highly recommend it to fans of mystery thriller and suspense novels!

This book has been on my radar for so long and I'm so glad I got to read it, thank you so much HarperCollins for my copy - paperback publishing in the UK 29/04/21.

This is my first Rachel Hawkins book and it certainly won’t be the last.

I was intrigued to know what had happened in Jane’s life before she moved to Mountain Brook which you get glimpses of throughout the story. The characters are all described in such detail you can picture and understand them and how they act and react to situations.

This is such a well written book with twists and turns and a fantastic ending I loved it and was hooked from the first page.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harpercollins for the opportunity to read an advance copy in return for my honest review.

The Wife Upstairs is a modern retelling of Jane Eyre. I love Jane Eyre and have read it many times so this was a difficult book to review because judged against the original I felt it was lacking slightly but judged in its own right it was highly readable and intriguing.

It fulfils a purpose in bringing the tale to a modern audience and solving a problem the author thought existed in the original – mainly that Jane deserved better than her lot.

Jane is a dogwalker and sometimes petty thief in the Thornfield Estate when she meets Eddie Rochester. His wife and best friend disappeared six months earlier and there is somewhat of a scandal surrounding it. It is clear that he has feelings for his wife still but Jane feels she can lure him in.

“Bea Rochester had been perfect. The perfect mogul, the perfect woman, the perfect wife. Probably had never heard of Easy Mac or seen the inside of a pawnshop.

I had one thing over her. I was still alive.”

One thing that really struck me about the Jane in this tale is that she is incredibly hard to like, mostly because she is so scheming.

The book flows easily and I did enjoy it but I felt I would have enjoyed it more if I didn’t know beforehand that it was supposed to be a retelling.

This was an interesting premise. The woman from the wrong side of the tracks trying to find her way into the uber rich who discovers life amongst the rich isn't without its own danger. I did guess one of the twists early on but it didn't detract from my enjoyment of the story. It's hard to feel much sympathy for many of the main players in this book, from the overly rich and pampered to those pretending to be something that they aren't. I think this is more of a case of everyone has their secrets and some of them are darker than others. An enjoyable little thriller.

'The Wife Upstairs' by Rachel Hawkins was published in January and is her debut novel for adults. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and @harperfictionpr for the e-copy in exchange for my opinion. Hawkins has an engaging writing style with flashbacks and multiple narratives to keep the plot moving along. A fun twist on Brontë's 'Jane Eyre' we have the protagonist Jane (of course!), the leading man Rochester, the woman upstairs and several other motifs and symbols seen in the classic. Jane is penniless, newly arrived in Alabama and is earning her wage dog-walking for the rich inhabitants of Thornfield (another nod to Brontë) Estates. Carrying around her own secrets and life she left behind, Jane is swept off her feet when meeting Eddie Rochester who immediately buys a dog (Adele - yet another reference!) so he has the reason to see Jane regularly. A dog is for life and not just for romantic liaisons when mourning your dead wife hey?! Jane notes that Eddie has the life she aspires to possess; complete with the huge house bought with the millions earned by the previous Mrs Rochester, Bea (Bertha). Eddie throws money at Jane and she tries to fit in with the perfectly groomed and coifed Thornfield Estates set (think 'Desperate Housewives' with its shady secrets and looming tension). There is a darkness looming over Jane's new abode and despite the trappings of luxury, there is something unsettling her. She might have that beautiful bath-tub and pristine marble floors but those noises upstairs are bothering her. Eddie reassures her it's just raccoons or the noises of "transitional seasons"...

Overall, this was an enjoyable and quick read. I enjoyed spotting the references to the classic but those expecting a re-telling would be disappointed. This is a quirky twist and it delivers with short chapters, change in narrative angles and voice as well as the prerequisite suspense.

The Wife Upstairs is a gothic retelling of the classic Jane Eyre. I completely loved Jane Eyre when I first read it and still to this day love it, and I can see why a lot of people would love The Wife Upstairs, however it just wasn't for me .

I found it was a quick, easy read, however I also found that it was predictable and boring. I'm not sure there is much else I can say in relation to this book except that while I appreciate a lot of people loved it and thought it was brilliant for me it was just ok and wasn't anything special.
2.5 Stars

Well, Happy New Year to you all in these troubling times we find ourselves in. I have not been here for a little while. I had to have a little break as I was a little burnt out with life in general but I am back and The Wife Upstairs was the perfect first book of the year to get me going.

What a clever little thriller this is. I haven't turned the pages so quickly in a long while and I am so partial to unreliable characters and these drive this story along at a fair pace. Jane is trying to move up in the world and escape from a past she would rather forget. So when she stumbles into dog walking in a well to do neighbourhood it would seem that Jane has achieved her wishes.

It seemed almost too tidy then that she should meet the handsome and intriguing widower Eddie Rochester. Jane definitely sets her sights on him straight away. Glimpsing a lifestyle she has dreamed of having. Eddie is not all he seems though, he is also keeping a secret.

The plotting and pace were just right here, the element of mystery created caused just the right amounts of foreboding. I hadn't realised at first that this was a modern retelling of Jane Eyre. I don't know too much about that as I have never read it. As you can imagine though all is not as it seems.

The story is told from chapters by Jane, Eddie and Bea. This allows the story to slowly unravel and what would a thriller be without a few twists?

Thoroughly entertaining read.