Charlotte Bronte (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Bront%C3%AB) gives us plain young governess Jane Eyre who is not long out the orphanage. Plain, perhaps, but spirited, moral, and fiercely independent of mind. How will she succeed in a world in which the odds are so heavily stacked against her? Employed at the remote Thornfield Hall, Jane has to unravel the secrets of her moody master Mr. Rochester. How odd, also, are the strange scratchings and howlings in the attic? Will Jane’s courage, spiritedness, and love of truth and justice make a jot of difference? Will her passion ultimately find a fullness of expression? This is a ‘must read’ novel in English Literature. Its characters and narrative remain with you for life.
To follow up an interest in Charlotte Bronte begin with:
Gordon, Lyndall Charlotte Bronte: A Passionate Life (2008) (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Charlotte-Bronte-A-Passionate-Life/dp/1844084728/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1388776445&sr=8-1&keywords=charlotte+bronte+passionate)
Also try Fraser, Rebecca (2008). Charlotte Brontë: A Writer’s Life (2 ed.). New York: Pegasus Books (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Charlotte-Bronte-Rebecca-Fraser/dp/041357010X/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1388777465&sr=8-2)
The most recent biography is by Claire Harman (2015). Charlotte Brontë: A Life (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Charlotte-Bront%C3%AB-Life-Claire-Harman/dp/0670922269/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1445591571&sr=8-1&keywords=claire+harman)
Enjoy browsing the Bronte Society website at http://www.bronte.org.uk/
Filmed frequently, the closest any screen adaptation came to my imagination was the 2006 TV mini series with Toby Stephens as Rochester and Ruth Wilson as Jane (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780362/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2) Available on DVD at http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jane-Eyre-BBC-Ruth-Wilson/dp/B000IJ7H2C/ref=sr_1_2?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1409132134&sr=1-2&keywords=jane+eyre
Enquire at your local library or consult http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jane-Wordsworth-Classics-Charlotte-Bront%C3%AB/dp/1853260207/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1445595445&sr=8-1&keywords=jane+eyre for full bibliographic detail.
404 pages in Wordsworth paperback edition
First published 1847
ISBN 978-1853260209
Charlotte Bronte