Rachel Hawkins has done a splendid job showing us how all the scrupulous people will lie to us and what will happen when people start to build their lives based upon lies. She shows us how it creates a butterfly effect that destroys the life of many people If you need a "spoiler free" recap of Jane Eyre...it begins with Jane Eyre, an orphan living with her Aunt, getting in trouble on a rainy day and being sent to Lowood School, to live until she becomes of age. It's a miserable place, and her one friend, Helen Burns, dies shortly after her arrival. Despite her childhood, and plain looks, Jane is smart and witty and obtains a post as a Governess to a young French girl, named Adele, ward of Edward Rochester, owner of Thornfield Hall. Remarkably, Edward falls for Jane but a secret comes to light, which could threaten their happy ending!

The story starts with twenty three year old Jane walking a dog in the pouring rain. Jane, a perpetual foster child until she aged out of the system, used to surviving by her wits, thievery, and lying. Her latest job is walking dogs in the rich neighborhood of Thornfield Estates and she's barely making ends meet by stealing from her employers, taking things that they'll never know are missing. Then Jane has a literal "run in" with rich, handsome, eligible widower, Eddie Rochester. My sincerest appreciation to Rachel Hawkins and St. Martin’s Press for the physical Advance Review Copy. All opinions included herein are my own. Hawkins twists together the suspense and storytelling of Jane Eyre with the atmosphere, tension, and odd characters of a Southern-gothic into a tale of a young woman trying to escape her past...an altogether sinister novel that will make readers of Jennifer McMahon, Ruth Ware, and Donna Tartt shudder." –– Booklist in any case, it's a fun spin on the original, bringing some much-appreciated lightness, humor, and female ferocity to a story that used to be about how great it is to be patient and is now about how great it is to be proactive.In The Wife Upstairs, Rachael Hawkins reimagines the classic gothic novel Jane Eyre as a Southern Gothic thriller set in Alabama. It’s in some ways successful, less so in others. Eddie wants Jane and she moves into his mansion almost immediately. Then they are engaged and discussing their wedding. But Jane has secrets and she has suspicions, too. Because Jane thinks that Eddie is just like her, which means he's hiding things, he's a liar, he takes what is not his, he cheats to get what he wants. And, there is the matter of his wife's death and that of her best friend. Were their deaths really an accident? There are rumors, lots of rumors about infidelity and arguments, so many hints from the gossiping neighbors. Whether I liked these people or not, I was hooked by the story.

On the plus side, The Wife Upstairs borrows from Jane Eyre, but modernizes and twists the story in interesting ways. A lot of the base components are there, so Jane Eyre fans will enjoy seeing what she’s done with the story elements. I thought it was creative, and I enjoyed trying to anticipate what Hawkins would do with it.A Southern Gothic twist on Jane Eyre that’s full of suspense, twists and turns...the story of this twisted love triangle will have you on the edge of your seat all the way until the end." –– CNN Jane gets together with the other women in the neighborhood, and as they are talking, she realizes that the women will not truly accept her unless she is married to Eddie. As such, Jane has a new goal which is to get engaged. She’s hopeful he’ll do it on his own, but when he doesn’t, she gives him a nudge by making him think she is considering leaving to go to grad school. (She wouldn’t since she never even finished college, but he doesn’t know that). It works and he proposes.

This one is a slow burn thriller, with a bit too much focus on the politics at Thornfield Estates. Though there were a handful of memorable twists, most of the story was predictable. In comparison to other reads from the thriller genre, this one didn’t stand out to me. Full of small town gossip and rich people drama, this story was a cleverly-plotted, modern-interpretation of a classic tale. While I have never read Jane Eyre, after this, I really want to! He owns a gorgeous house, he is smart and funny and (most importantly), his wife died in a boating accident, thus allowing Jane to swoop in and snap up that place by his side. These perspective shifts also made the reveals seem very fast-paced and fun. The pace at which the story evolved was also really well done.

Mrs. Reed looks sympathetic. She looks like she absolutely hates that I have to walk her collie, Bear, on a cold and stormy day in mid-February. The Wife Upstairs, by Rachel Hawkins, has so many delicious parallels to the old classic, Jane Eyre, but it has its own twists and turns, too. A book full of unlikeable people, which usually means I have a hard time enjoying the book, but in this case, everyone deserves each other and I kept wanting to see what was going to happen next. I couldn't help feeling I'd been here before but really, it was all new and intriguing, wondering what was real and what was for show, when the other shoe was going to drop, because things couldn't go on as they were. A delicious twist on a Gothic classic, The Wife Upstairs is perfect for fans of Lucy Foley, Ruth Ware and Shari Lapena. She hopes that no one will notice that Jane isn’t her real name. And she hopes that no one will notice their missing valuables. Whereas I imagine Jane Eyre to be dark, brooding, and filled with an undercurrent of dread, The Wife Upstairs is not. It’s lighter and brighter. Frothier, almost. It’s more of a snarky, feminist, Southern soap opera – one that snaps and bites sharply at the hands of men, the wealthy, and the privileged.

Things escalate and Jane and Eddie have a whirlwind romance which culminates with him asking Jane to marry him. All in all, The Wife Upstairs is a fantastic read. It’s crafted so amazingly well and with such care by Hawkins. And I think it will appeal to both devoted Jane Eyre fans and indifferent non-fans, like me, who have yet to read the gothic classic.Thoughts: A pretty liberal twist on Jane Eyre, this novel grasped me from go. First - Jane isn’t likeable, but I liked her. Not really sure if I’m supposed to, but the fact she steals from her wealthy cookie-cutter cloyingly cute yet decidedly annoying clients (who don’t even notice) makes me smirk away. I can’t blame a girl from gettin’ her hustle on (I could, but I don’t want to!) Something about a solidly written anti-hero sends my heart soaring. Enter Eddie Rochester. A recent widow who is trying to get over the death of his wife, Bea and her best friend Blanche, both of whom drowned while away on a “Girls Weekend.” Channeling all the amazing naturally-gothic atmosphere of the American South, The Wife Upstairs puts a modern twist on the beloved Classic, Jane Eyre.