Ever since I first read Jane Eyre in middle school, I've been a fan of the book, the character, and Brontë as an author. I've been vaguely aware of the new proliferation of Eyre retellings, but Jane Steele is the first I've read and I'm happy to report I fell butt over teakettle for it.

Jane Steele follows the titular character in her quest for happiness. Orphaned at a young age, Steele, like Eyre, is told as a child that she is an evil burden on the remaining family and going to Hell. Unlike Eyre, Steele convinces herself that she deserves these slanders: whether by accident or intention, she has left a trail of corpses, delivering justice to her tormentors and abusers. As she grows older, she follows Eyre's path of school and teaching, though the details are pleasantly changed. Mr. Rochester is transformed to Mr. Charles Thornfield, a Sikh convert and veteran of the Sikh Wars. The mystery surrounding him and his household does not contain a mad wife (thank God), but a missing trunk, a death, and the East India Company. As she uncovers clues and betrayals, Steele must use all her strength and resources to thwart the corporation that has brought harm to so many.

Set in Brontë's world and fully aware of its source material, Jane Steele is a marvelous moral quagmire. Steele isn't a serial killer in the psychological-sense. She's just killed an awful lot of awful men by the end of the book. Faye takes pains to have Steele dance on the knife point of heroine and anti-heroine, and that dance is engrossing. Thornfield's mystery is pretty basic, especially if you're a fan of A Little Princess or Sherlock Holmes, but I didn't care. I was having too much fun with Faye's world-building, characters, and absolute dissection of race, colonialism, and patriarchy in early Victorian England. I soaked up every detail of Thornfield, his friend Sardar, their ward Sahjara, and Steele's school friend Clarke. I laughed with them and cried for them. As a writer, I strive for Faye's accessible language that is also beautiful and ornate.

For those wondering, the story is feminist, and the cast is diverse. There are queer characters (including an asexual man!) and characters of color. Steele goes from riches to poverty and everything in-between. The dichotomy of toxic and non-toxic masculinity is fascinating. I had a grand time, and I'm definitely looking up Faye's other work.

In conclusion, read Jane Eyre, then read Wide Sargasso Sea and then read Jane Steele. It's a must for Brontë fans everywhere.