Mr. Rochester by Sarah Shoemaker
A review on the back of the book reads: “If you’ve ever wondered about the backstory of the man who Jane eventually teaches to love again, Mr. Rochester is officially wish fulfillment.”
This is Edward Fairfax Rochester’s story, as told from his point of view.
As we learn the story of this intriguing, complex, harsh, and passionate man, we better understand his behavior, and in doing so, we feel sympathy. And if we don’t feel sympathy, at least we have a better understanding of his character.
We meet him in his childhood, motherless and wandering alone in Thrushcross Grange, the servants and his haughty brother his only companions. Of note, his childhood is not that different from either Bertha’s or Jane’s.
When he’s sent to school, he makes friends for the first time, and then later learns a trade in a woolen mill, followed by education at Cambridge, all in preparation for his taking over the family business in Jamaica.
It’s in Jamaica he meets and marries the beautiful Antoniette and ends up feeling betrayed because those close to him had concealed her madness.
He’s trapped. But then, both his father and brother die, and he’s left with the family wealth and estate.
He returns to England, hides his wife in the attic, and profligates around Europe until his self-destructive lifestyle finally closes around him.
This part of the book catches up with Jane Eyre, and he is back home, with Adele, his late mistress’s child, hiring Jane as governess.
I found myself rotating between wanting to cuddle him along with anger for his behavior. But what I really enjoyed was the way his emotions were brought to the front. We see his tenderness as he weeps while inheriting Thrushcross Grange and returning his mother’s portrait to the gallery. His isolation, since the only family he’s left with is the wife he despises. And finally, his struggle as he deals with his feelings for Jane, providing context for his hot and cold behavior towards her.
Mr. Rochester is well-written and expertly researched, since the author is a former university librarian. I believe it is a wonderful companion to Jane Eyre.
