What a thrilling and fabulous ride it has been, loved every second spent on it. I was so excited to read this re-telling of class Jane Eyre. I’ve read the classic and know what happened in it, still, Hawkins has done an outstanding job of holding my attention with her brilliant twists and turns.

Jane, running from her shady past, ends up as a dog-walker in Thornfield estate, a rich community full of swanky houses and gorgeous housewives. During her job, she meets Eddie Rochester and rushes into a whirlwind romance. Eddie’s wife, Bea and her friend Blanche were missing and presumed dead when they had taken a trip to Bea’s lake house.

It was fun reading about all the rich housewives through Jane’s eyes. It’s like watching the Desperate Housewives show. This tale is told from different characters’ perspectives so you get to know them fully well. I found this very clever as it had me switch opinions on other characters.

The opinions formed on each character at the beginning were flipped by the end. At one point, it made me feel like my brain was caught in a whirlpool as I didn’t know whom to trust and who were telling the truth, and skeptical about everyone.

These characters have taken manipulation to the next level and the lengths they traverse to keep their secrets concealed. I was scared of one particular character. This is full of obnoxious people who don’t deserve sympathy and deserve the fate befallen on them.

One very minor thing that bothered me was when the author called one loathsome character as a member of a particular political party. I am neutral but I found this highly offensive and didn't like her insinuation since she could have done it without that reference.

Overall, I would recommend this fast-paced, engaging, compelling, and gripping domestic thriller.
Special Thanks to Anne Carter and Harper Collins UK for providing me an advanced copy as part of their blog tour in exchange for my honest opinions.

The Wife Upstairs By Rachel Hawkins
A modern version of Jane Eyre, which I haven't read.
I enjoyed every minute of this book, the story is very well written. The author does an excellent job of setting the scene so that you can picture the location and characters really well. I loved Jane, she is the type of character that you just root for.
I loved the air of suspense in this book, the story is building along nicely and then you realise you are hooked!
I don't want to give anything away, but this book had me smirking at times so all I will say is of you love psychological thrillers, then you should love this!!
One of my favourites this year.

Genre: Thriller / Mystery

Release Date: Expected 5th January 2021



It's always a risky business when you're retelling one of histories greatest tales - but Hawkins is one of the few authors who has actually managed to not just pull it off, but pull it of spectacularly. Taking one of the literary worlds most famous love triangles, this modern reimagining of Jane Eyre is set deep in southern america with it's own unique flair and style but still managing to give that uneasy sense of familiarity.

Our heroine, going through her life under the moniker of Jane, has always tried to blend into the background of life and forget the life she's left far in the past. Here in the Thornfield estates, Jane is a dog walker for the rich and the even richer - the polar opposite of her life. After Eddie, one of the most reclusive residents of the estate almost hits her with his very expensive car, an apology coffee takes a turn for something much bigger.

Eddie is all alone in his big empty house since his wife Bea died along with her best friend in a boating accident many years ago, and Jane could see herself being the person to finally fill the void left in his life ... and maybe find her place among the wealthy elite she had worked for all this time. She was alive, Bea wasn't. So what could possibly go wrong?

But you knew it wasn't going to be that simple, didn't you?

Even knowing some of the twists that were probably coming my way, they still hit me hard in the stomach from the beginning and they didn't stop coming. I was thrown every time a disturbing revelation came bubbling up to the surface all leading to one final decieving twist that left me staring at the last page in disbelief - this book still managed to throw curveballs my way and completely make it's mark on the tale.

This was an ingenious retelling of one of the most delightfully twisted love stories; vivid, witty and deliciously dark. Even if you've never read Jane Eyre, you should definitely read this book.

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐





Thank you to NetGalley and Rachel Hawkins for providing me an ARC in return for an honest review.

The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins
I give this book 4 stars

When broke Jane meets Eddie she can’t believe her luck.he is handsome, rich and lives alone in a beautiful mansion since the tragic death of his wife a year ago.
But what Jane doesn’t know is that Eddie is keeping a big secret. And when the truth comes out, the consequences are far more deadly than anyone could ever have imagined…
A fabulous fast paced creepy page turner,l absolutely loved it.
I was drawn in from the start......Murder,secrets,relationships and pretence.What a great storyline so well written.
Suspenseful ,entertaining and a super twist.,what more could you ask for!
A must read psychological crime thriller.
With thanks to Netgalley,Rachel Hawkins and Harper Collins UK for my chance to read and review this book

Jane is on the run, she hasn’t simply given up her old life, there are things which need to be forgotten und buried and never talked about. When she comes to Thornfield Estates, the McMansion area of Birmingham/Alabama, she sees a life which could hardly differ more from hers. Having grown up as a foster child, she has never known love and affection and surely not the riches she can observe in the families for whom she walks the dogs. One day, she meets Eddie Rochester who recently lost his wife Bea. They fall in love and suddenly, everything seems possible for Jane. Leading a carefree life, no worries about money anymore and a loving husband. But at times, she wonders if she sees something different, threatening in his eyes. Then, however, she remembers that she herself also has some secrets. Yet, there is a third person in that house also having secrets.

Rachel Hawkins does not hide that her novel is a modern version of Charlotte Bronte’s “Jane Eyre”. The names are identical and even parts of the characters’ biographies show large similarities, only small Adèle has been turned into a dog. The plot is not set among the British upper class but among the newly rich who are driven by greed, egoism and the conviction that they can have it all.

What I liked about this version of the classic plot is that Rachel Hawkins created some unexpected twists which keep suspense high and make you reassess the characters. You can never be totally sure about who is good and who is bad, actually, they are all some dark shade of grey. I would have liked the protagonist to be a bit more complex, Jane remains a bit plain and shallow throughout the novel for my liking even though the other characters repeatedly consider her rather clever and strong. On the other hand, everything around Bea was quite surprising and I actually adored the utterly malicious character.

An enjoyable read with a lot of Jane Eyre to be found and some new aspects which added to the suspense.

Thank you to Netgalley, Harper Collins and Rachel Hawkins for my arc of The Wife Upstairs in exchange for an honest review.

Published: 5th January 2021

A retelling of Jane Eyre like no other. Newly arrived in Alabama, Jane is trying her best to reinvent herself and escape from her tragic past as a child passed from foster carer to foster carer. So landing a job as a dog Walker in a plush southern community is the perfect place to get rich by lifting expensive baubles from her Uber rich and patronising clients. But her luck changes when she meets recently widowed Eddie Rochester, and gets pulled into a whirlwind romance. But how can she truly win the heart of Eddie and his and dead wife's friends when the ghost of her haunts everything and everywhere.

This was a fantastic page turner of a novel. I love Jane Eyre so was a little nervous about how this book would go but I think it turned out perfect. It was original and held up on its own merit while holding on to the main points of the original storyline.
The characters were excellent both Bea (in her memory chapters) and Jane are very strong female characters who have a lot of similarities of character that others don't see. The modern twists were done so well too, and the setting of Southern Living was also excellent throwing you right into the beautiful community and the gossipy, scandalous secrets where it was obvious Jane didn't belong.
A thrilling and exciting read full of suspense and drama that will hook you to the very end!

I've been a fan of Rachel Hawkins since her Hex Hall days. That was a fun series. When I heard that she was coming out with an adult thriller - her first foray into adult fiction! - I was, well, thrilled. I was very excited to see what she would come out with, and I couldn't wait to get my hands on a copy.

We can all se where this is going, can't we?

Yep, I was disappointed.

What I loved about Hawkins' previous books was the amount of personality that was in there. The characters had so much heart, and they were snarky and fun to read, and because of this they really jumped out of the page at you.

The characters in The Wife Upstairs were just a bit bland, really. I realise it's difficult to pull off great characters in a thriller book. Very few authors do it for me. But I was hoping Hawkins would be one of the ones who could. Instead all the characters, particularly Jane, were bland and didn't have much going for them.

In case it wasn't clear from the synopsis, this is a modern retelling of Jane Eyre. That's a classic that I have actually read quite recently, so go me! I didn't know this was a retelling going into this, until all the characters started being introduced and then it hit me in the face like a brick.

This has to be one of the least subtle retellings I've ever read, and I didn't much like it. I didn't like that I knew where the story was going to go since this is supposed to be a thriller that keeps you on the seat of your pants. It kind of ruins the effect.

I did quite like the very, very end. But everything leading up to that was really quite boring and generic, and I was really hoping for more. I'm giving this book three stars because it wasn't terrible, and I mostly liked reading it. I just think it's very forgettable, and I can only hope that Hawkins' future adult books turn out to be better.

Oh my God!! I'm in love!!!
This is my type of thriller. I loved this book.
A fun inspire book of Jane Eyre, a twisting psychological that is very difficult to stop once you have started.
Thanks netgalley

Reader, I did not enjoy this book.

The Wife Upstairs claims to be a ‘modern day retelling’ of Jane Eyre. Jane is a dog walker for the rich families in Thornfield estates, where she meets Eddie Rochester, a man who seems too good to be true. He’s handsome, rich and seems to like Jane – but he also seems to be hiding a big secret.

The reason I said this novel ‘claims’ to be a modern day retelling of Jane Eyre is because it’s not, really. It’s a novel that takes the names from the novel, bookends it with two events that happen in the original novel, and then departs completely from the plot, theme and spirit of Jane Eyre.

I have to admit here that Jane Eyre is my favourite novel – and so maybe I am the wrong audience for this book? Maybe I shouldn’t have been expecting a retelling of the book – perhaps then I wouldn’t have been disappointed so much by this book? I know there is a lot of criticism around JE – lots of people feel that Rochester and Jane shouldn’t have ended up together etc – but I personally love it, faults (St John and the cousins storyline) and all. And this book just didn’t stick to any of the novel. Which makes it feel disingenuous, like a marketing ploy to capitalise on the name of a classic – rather than born out of love for the original book. To be honest, if this book felt like a retelling of anything, it was Rebecca, not Jane Eyre.

But my biggest problem with this book is that, even if you put aside the JE factor, it’s an average thriller at best. The characters are unlikeable and the plot is simultaneously unbelievable and unpredictable at best. I guessed the ‘twist’ as soon as the Bea flashbacks were introduced. There’s no fun in reading a thriller when you already know what was going to happen.

So yeah, this book just wasn’t for me, which is especially disappointing as I was so interested/excited by the idea of it to begin with. But I have given it two stars as I feel like others out their will enjoy it.

I love Jane Eyre - one of my favourite books ever - and I enjoyed seeing how Rachel Hawkins updated the story to change it into a domestic thriller. I liked how the characters were utilised and it made me dragged in to the story.
BUT if this hadn’t included inside references to Jane Eyre, subtle sentences plucked right from the original and fun little Easter eggs for fans to spot, then this would have been an average thriller for me. Nothing special or memorable. The Jane Eyre aspect really made it more readable and enjoyable.
Good fun for fans, but a little bit predictable and maybe slow for thriller readers.

I really enjoyed this book. It has a good pace with several reveals and a few twists. The end was a little too tidy but made for a satisfying end.
The reference to Jane Eyre and using the same names was unnecessary. It was a book that could stand on it's own merits. I hope this is the first of many adult books by Rachel Hawkins.

My full review will be up on my blog https://jenrosewrites.blog/

What I will say though is this a brilliant retelling of a gothic classic, with characters you love to hate - can’t help but love them, though - and the glamour of upper class life.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review!

Rating: 4.5 stars.

A psychological thriller twisting with the dark occurrences at Thornfield Hall, *The Wife Upstairs* shows the characters of *Jane Eyre* in a way we have never seen before.

Jane Eyre is one of my favourite books of all time, so naturally seeing a dark thriller retelling one of my favourite stories, I was both hesitant and equally excited. This book held MANY elements that I loved in the original classic and also sprouted new ideas on how twisted these characters could become. The characters were all existing and thriving in their new personalities and new portrayals. Jane as her bad bitch self, is a new favourite character that I have EVER read amongst all of the fiction that I have had the privilege of reading. Rochester and his charm, equally blew my mind. The atmosphere of The Wife Upstairs portrayed an even darker image of Thornfield Hall and all of the mishaps that occur there and I was HOOKED.

Now.... THE PLOT TWISTS?!

As a fan of Jane Eyre, I found so much enjoyment in being both critical of this retelling and being so incredibly immersed into this new portrayal of the characters.

If you are after a gothic, psychological thriller that will leave you gasping at the edge of your seat, this is for you!

“You never know what secrets are hiding behind closed doors...” - cover tag line.

My thanks to HarperCollins U.K. for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Wife Upstairs’ by Rachel Hawkins in exchange for an honest review.

Years ago I enjoyed Rachel Hawkins’ Hex Hall YA series and so was intrigued to read her first novel for adults. It is a modern retelling of ‘Jane Eyre’ though with some unexpected twists.

Jane had grown up in the foster system and recently moved to Alabama. At the opening of the novel she has been walking dogs on the posh Thornfields Estate for a month. She’s not a very likeable character though pretends to be all sweetness and light. As a narrator she is quite upfront about the envy that she feels towards her clients and happily helps herself to small items when in their houses to keep as souvenirs or to discreetly pawn.

Then one day while walking one of the dogs she meets the dishy Eddie Rochester and her eyes bug out in delight, especially when she learns that he is not only wealthy but a widower. Ka-ching! When they first meet he doesn’t have a dog, but he quickly adopts a rescue and employs Jane to walk her. Score!

Jane learns that Bea Rochester and her best friend had died in a boating accident, their bodies never recovered. While Jane’s dreams appear to be coming true there are niggles like her ex-flatmate threatening to reveal information to Eddie about her past. Then a body is found ....

I won’t say more in order to avoid spoilers though the title and link to ‘Jane Eyre’ is somewhat revealing. Still, Hawkins did have plenty of surprises to reveal.

Jane is clearly a survivor and her calculating behaviour in order to win Eddie and to be accepted by the desperate housewives of Thornfields was linked to this. Her snarky inner dialogue wickedly subverted the tropes of the passive heroine of the classic romantic suspense novel. Aside from ‘Jane Eyre’, elements of the plot did also bring ‘Rebecca’ to mind, though again Jane is no demure unnamed narrator in the shadow of her predecessor.

Overall, I found ‘The Wife Upstairs’ a fresh retelling of a Gothic classic that I couldn’t put down, completing it easily in a day.

As an advance reader, I look forward to seeing how others respond to it as well as recommending it to friends.

Found this hard to get in to and a little formulaic...perfect man- wealthy widower, strange woman with many issues..chance meeting? However all is not quite what it seems to be and the tales unfolds and keeps you thinking....I found it worth persevering...but it was a read I could have easily given up on.

This was a fantastic take on the classic Jane Eyre with a modern and thrilling twist. The mystery of the first wife and her fate is the crux of this exciting story.

This will have lots of appeal but it really isn’t a modern reworking of Jane Eyre. It uses an idea from the classic book and the names of the main characters but there the comparison ends. This is a domestic thriller with unlike able characters and an unbelievable plot but it will keep people reading to find out what happens.

The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins
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Thanks @netgalley @ladyhawkins and @harpercollinsuk for my arc
Publication date 6th January
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I've been dying to read this book and was so happy to receive the arc. And I was not disappointed. I don't want to say to much in fear of spoilers but this book is brilliant. If you love creepy, dark domestic noir then you will love this book. Absolutely brilliant and highly recommended xx

Eddie is perfect, in every way
Jane is broken, in every way
Both need a way out, both for very different reasons
And so they meet, ‘tis a whirlwind romance, and marriage beckons
Sadly for Eddie his first wife died alongside her ‘bezzy’ but you, like me, have read enough of these stories to know it’s not as simple as that and much as I like not to give anything away I think the title of the book kinda does that.....but I was also wrong, about a lot of things and the book holds many many surprises....
Great characters, to loathe, the neighbourly women are a dream that turn on a pin to a nightmare and as for Eddie and Jane it could go either way for both of them, good? bad? evil? or angelic?, you will decide as the book progresses
It’s a laid back read for a book so intense, well written, almost inviting your opinion as it goes on
I enjoyed it and it wrong footed me, good!

8/10
4 Stars

The Wife Upstairs was a masterful story with a thrilling twist on the typical poor girl meets rich boy story. I can truly say this is one of my favorite books of the year and I wanted to say THANK YOU to St. Martin’s Press and Rachel Hawkins for this AMAZING ARC. I don’t think I could have possibly loved this book more.

I just found out this was a retelling of Jane Eyre, but I would have not been able to tell while reading. Rachel Hawkins writing style captured me from the first page and I was completely drawn into the story. It’s about Jane, and dog walker in a rich neighborhood with a questionable past. When she meets Eddie, a recent widower and handsome millionaire, she sees her chance at a better life. But there may be more to Eddie than meets the eye. Eddie’s late wife disappeared under very mysterious circumstances and as Jane starts to become more a part of Eddie’s life, she’s not sure if she will like what she finds.

Thoughts: THIS BOOK GRABBED ME. I don’t know what it was, but this book had me from the beginning with the funny and relatable characters who were full of wit. I enjoyed the setting, the story, and the crazy journey this book took me on. I LOVED the different POV, especially Bea’s. I’ve heard that if you don’t like retellings you might not love this one, but I never read the original Jane Eyre (sorry to my English teacher mom) so it was perfect for me. I loved that it was set in high society Alabama, I loved all the pretentious and rich women, and I loved the twists and turns. 5-stars from me!