Reader, I Married Him audiobook

This was a collection of short stories inspired by Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre". There were some modern takes on the story and stories based around the line "Reader, I married him". Some of the stories that stood out the most to me were, "Grace Poole Her Testamony" by Helen Dunmore, "Reader, I Married Him" by Susan Hill, and "The Orphan Exchange" by Audrey Niffenegger.There should be a story in this collection that appeals to everyone.

I thought this was a wonderful concept for a book of short stories. Short stories that were in some way connected to Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. Many of the authors I recognized for their other works, and so I went into the collection looking forward to reading them. Some of the stories were certainly good, and some, at least for me, missed the mark. Overall score averaging over the 21 stories was 3.35 stars. I think the overall score reflected that for me, most of the stories were good with a few exceptional ones...I liked to concept a lot and so that pushes my score to a 4. 🙂 🙃1. My Mother’s Wedding Day by Tessa Hadley — 2 stars2. Luxury Hour by Sarah Hall — 4 stars3. Grace Poole Her Testimony — Helen Dunmore — 2 stars4. Dangerous Dog by Kirsty Gunn — 4.5 stars5. To Hold by Joanna Briscoe — 2 stars6. It’s a Man’s Life, Ladies by Jane Gardam — 3 stars7. Since I First Saw Your Face by Emma Donoghue — 3 stars8. Reader, I Married Him by Susan Hill — 4.5 stars9. The Mirror by Francine Prose — 3 stars10. A Migrating Bird by Elif Shafak — 4.5 stars11. Behind the Mountain by Evie Wyld — 4 stars12. The China from Bueno Aires by Patricia Park — 4 stars13. Reader She Married Him by Sally Vickers — 3.5 stars14. Dorset Gap by Tracy Chevalier — 3 stars15. Party Girl by Nadifa Mohamed — 3 stars16. Transference by Esther Freud — 3 stars17. The Mash-Up by Linda Grant — 4 stars18. The Self-Seeding Sycamore by Lionel Shriver — 5 stars19. The Orphan Exchange by Audrey Niffenegger — 5 stars (extraordinary...it appears some of the reviewers below also thought highly of the story)20. Double Men by Nawali Serpell — 2.5 stars 21. Robinson Crusoe and the Waterpark — Elizabeth McCracken — 1 starReviews:• https://www.theguardian.com/books/201... • https://historicalnovelsociety.org/re... • https://www.readingreality.net/2016/0... • https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/r...

«Reader, I Married Him» Charlotte Brontë nasce nello Yorkshire nel 1816, terza di sei figli. Nel 1824, tre anni dopo la morte della madre, Charlotte, le due sorelle più grandi ed Emily vengono iscritte alla Clergy Daughter's School di Cowan Bridge. Le condizioni di vita delle ragazze ospitate nel collegio si riveleranno spaventose. Appena un anno dopo, le due sorelle maggiori, di dieci e undici anni, muoiono prematuramente. La salute di Charlotte ed Emily, sarà per sempre compromessa.Nel 1847, con la pubblicazione del suo Jane Eyre, Charlotte rievocherà la terribile esperienza.Dopo aver vissuto anche la scomparsa delle sue giovanissime sorelle Emily (1818-1848) e Anne (1820-1849), Charlotte morirà nel 1855, ad appena 39 anni, incinta del primo figlio.Nel 2016, per celebrare i 200 anni della nascita di Charlotte Brontë, Tracy Chevalier cura la pubblicazione di questa raccolta di racconti, che traggono spunto dalla frase di Jane Eyre: “Reader, I married him”, una delle frasi più famose della letteratura inglese.Le 21 autrici reinterpretano in maniera originale la frase, e il risultato è una raccolta di episodi collocati in tempi e luoghi molto differenti tra loro, nel futuro o in un villaggio africano, o proprio ‘dentro’ Jane Eyre.Non ci parleranno di matrimoni, ma piuttosto di relazioni affettive tra due persone, senza distinzione di sesso o di età o estrazione sociale.Fatalmente, alcuni racconti risulteranno splendidi e altri più fragili, ma il merito della raccolta sta nella forza del messaggio. Sono tutte storie che, come recita la terza di copertina, «ruotano attorno a una medesima eroina dai mille volti: una donna determinata e coraggiosa, che combatte per vincere i pregiudizi e gli ostacoli della società. E che non ha paura di affermare la propria identità dicendo, a testa alta, con un sorriso affaticato ma fiero: io “l’ho sposato, lettore mio.”»

Lightning review at Smart Bitches, Trashy BooksReader, I Married Him: Stories Inspired by Jane Eyre consists of twenty-one short stories. As per the title, they were inspired by Jane Eyre, but in many cases, the link is so tenuous that you would never know that the story was inspired by Jane Eyre if it weren’t placed in this anthology. There are several about interrupted weddings and unsatisfying marriages. Some stories are re-tellings of Jane Eyre from other points of view. Edward Rochester muses on life after marriage to Jane in “Reader, She Married Me” by Salley Vickers, and Grace Poole has a great deal to say about Jane in “Grace Poole Her Testimony” by Helen Dunmore. Some stories are surreal or futuristic, like “The Mirror” by Francine Prose, and “The Orphan Exchange” by Audrey Niffenegger.While many of the stories have a bleak tone, others will gladden the heart of any romance reader. “Dangerous Dog” by Kirsty Gunn, in which a jogger uses her wits and Jane Eyre to talk a group of teenage boys out of teasing a pit bull puppy, is my new favorite story in the history of ever. I’ve chosen to review this book purely on the basis of how incredibly thrilled I am by that short story. “Robinson Crusoe at the Waterpark” by Elizabeth McCracken, and “Self-Seeding Sycamore” by Lionel Shriver are stories that have endings that surprise and delight, and “The Orphan Exchange” made my heart grow three sizes.- Carrie S.

Most people who know me well know that Jane Eyre is my favorite book of all time. I first read it when I was 11, and I loved it so much that I went right back to the beginning and immediately read it again. An 11-year-old has way more free time than 60-year-old with a family, a house and yard, a responsible job at a bank, and a somewhat-neglected avocation as a writer. But I digress.All of the stories in this collection are based in some way on Jane Eyre, either subtly or very specifically. Since "Reader, I married him" is the most famous line in the book, and since the most dramatic and pivotal scene is an aborted wedding, many of the stories center around weddings. Some re-tell the Jane Eyre story from the point of view of a different character. Others simply feature a strong, Jane-like female protagonist. One draws a subtle analogy between being widowed and, like Jane, being orphaned. Some of the stories were a bit weak, in my opinion. But there were enough good stories in the collection that it rates a 4 overall. One of my favorites was Dorset Gap by Tracy Chevalier, who also edited the collection. It features both a reading of lines from both Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, and a strong female character, a modern Jane. I also especially enjoyed Double Men, The Self-Seeding Sycamore and The Orphan Exchange. But what delighted me most about this collection was that it mined themes from my favorite book and put them into different cultures and settings, demonstrating again the timeless value of Jane and her story. Like my reviews? Check out my blog at http://www.kathrynbashaar.com/blog/

In "Grace Poole Her Testimony", one of the stories directly related to Jane Eyre, the doctor who examines Rochester's wife is seriously into phrenology, and makes diagnoses accordingly. "My poor lady's skull showed an enlarged Organ of Destructiveness....in such a case as this, the doctor said, it would be wise to shave the head entire, the more clearly to see how the organs display themselves." Mrs. Poole adds some interesting backstory to the classic, as Jean Rhys did in The Wide Sargasso Sea.All in all, this book is a wonderful, varied collection of excellent writers. If you don't spend too much time trying to suss out the Jane Eyre connection in many of them, and just read the stories as stand alones, it's well worth your time.I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway. It was a treat.

I love Jane Eyre, so obviously I was very excited about this. Like any collection of short stories there were some stories I loved, a lot of stories that I enjoyed, and a few stories I didn't like. The stories ranged in how much they were based on Jane Eyre, and I think I would have liked the books better overall if the stories all seemed to based on the original material. Some stories were clearly based on Jane Eyre and some were based around major themes from the novel, but they were others that seemed to only be inspired by the "Reader, I married him line", and some of those stories were only barely based on that.Overall, despite the fact that not all the stories were hits for me, I would recommend this to Jane Eyre / Bronte fans. Received from Edelweiss.

This is a selection of stories by different authors that was released to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Charlotte Bronte's birth. The stories are either based around the themes of Jane Eyre or are continuations/variations of Jane Eyre.I've known about this collection since it came out and have been desperate to read it. Jane Eyre is my favourite book and I live fairly close to the Bronte Parsonage and was able to visit the Charlotte Bronte 200 exhibition that was curated by Tracy Chevalier. I preferred the stories that were influenced by the themes of Jane Eyre rather than the continuations/variations, these seemed to want to pull apart the original story and drastically change it for the worse. I found some of the themed stories a little weird at times. My favourites were Tracy Chevalier's and Kirsty Gunn's stories. I also loved the diversity that was present.

Leggere racconti come mandare giù uno zuccherino dietro l'altro. Volevo leggerla da tanto, questa raccolta, e non mi ha deluso! Ho scoperto di apprezzare particolarmente le raccolte scritte da autori diversi; danno parecchi spunti. Una piacevolissima lettura per chi, come me, ama Jane Eyre e Charlotte Brontë.

I love, love, loved this book! I admit that I didn't love all of the stories included but I enjoyed the wide variety that was included particularly in the last few. The final story, "Robinson Crusoe at the waterpark" had such a perfect ending that caught me by surprise and made my heart burst with joy.

It's a good mix!

This was such a neat idea for a short story collection! I love Charlotte Bronte and Jane Eyre so this was a natural for me. I really enjoyed the stories that profiled what could happen after the marriage or alternatives the best. I’m glad to have some new authors on my radar.

Perhaps it's a reflection of this summer of anger and fear, perhaps it's a yearning to return to a beloved book, but there are occasions when riffs on a known story provide a rewarding reading experience.That has been the case with Reader, I Married Him. It's a collection of stories edited by Tracy Chevalier, all based on that famous line from Jane Eyre. Written by a wealth of modern female authors, the stories are far more varied than one might first suspect. Part of this may well be because the idea is not to ruminate on Jane, but instead to take that pronouncement of hers, that she married Mr. Rochester and that she directly addressed her reader, and run with it.The variety is implicit in Chevalier's forward:"Reader, I married him" is Jane's defiant conclusion to her rollercoaster story. It is not, "Reader, he married me" -- as you would expect in a Victorian society where women were supposed to be passive; or even, "Reader, we married." Instead Jane asserts herself; she is the driving force of her narrative, and it is she who chooses to be with Rochester.The choice of a variety of narrators with a corresponding variety of results shows the beauty of Chevalier's choice in determining the focus of the anthology, as well as the beauty and strength of the source material. There is not a single story here that takes away from the power of Jane Eyre's narrative, even the iconclastic stories. They have a power of their own without taking away from the original, something that is at odds with The Wide Sargasso Sea, the Jean Rhys novel about Rochester's first doomed wife.Among the women writing about this declaration of the determination to choose one's mate are Tessa Hadley, Jane Gardam, Emma Donoghue, Francine Prose, Elif Shafak, Evie Wyld, Salley Vickers, Lionel Shriver, Audrey Niffenegger, Elizabeth McCracken, Nadifa Mohamed and Namwali Serpell.The mates chosen by their narrators and protagonists range from a mother's lover to a surly neighbor, from a succession of suitors to a favorite companion. Some clearly have happy endings while others lead to heartache, resignation or even a possible victim of gaslighting.One reason Jane Eyre endures is the strength of the heroine. She is plain, poor and mistreated by her relatives and the school where she was sent. Her only friend is murdered by the cruelty of their so-called protectors. Yet she perseveres and breaks free, choosing not to stay in familiar straits but to get a job on her own with unknown people.Once at Thornfield, she makes her own way, endearing herself to the people who matter most, in a most unconventional household. When she again has the choice to stay in a familiar setting with less than what anyone deserves, she again leaves. And when she receives St. John's attention, she hears the voice of the one she has chosen and returns to Mr. Rochester.Although these stories do not all follow this path, they do demonstrate the ups and downs of a main character who does not want to settle for second best, whether that's what happens or not, and whether they live happily ever after or not.Charlotte Bronte's life failed to follow the path established by her heroine, but she had some things in common with Jane. She fell in love with a married man, Constantin Heger, husband of the headmistress of the school where she worked in Brussels. Charlotte, too, was plain but inside was not a mouse.As Claire Harman notes in the prologue of her biography, Charlotte Bronte, A Fiery Heart:...Charlotte was also struggling with the larger issue of how she would ever accommodate her strong feelings -- whether of love for Heger, or her intellectual passions, or her anger at circumstances and feelings of thwarted destiny -- in the life that life seemed to have in store for her, one of patchy, unsatisfying employment, loneliness and hard work. What was someone like her, a plain, poor, clever, half-educated, dependent spinster daughter, to do with her own spiritual vitality and unfettered imagination? How could she live with the painful "consciousness of faculties unexercised" that had moved her to go abroad in the first place, and that she recognised, from the example of her equally brilliant siblings, not as some sort of freakishness, but as an intimation of the sublime?Although opportunities for women have, to some extent, changed since her days, some things do not change. It is that recognition that has fired the imaginations of the authors in Reader, I Married Him.

RATING: 4 STARS2016, William Morrow Paperbacks/HarperCollins "Reader, I married him" is the most famous lines from Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. The story behind this line is briefly discussed in the introduction of this short story anthology, but it is recommended that you read Jane Eyre first. Various writers were given the line "Reader, I Married Him" and asked to write a short story in ode to Jane and the novel. Although, Susan Hill has not read Jane Eyre but her story is fabulous, in my opinion. At the back of the book there is a small biography of each writer and most have a sentence on what Jane Eyre means to them. I did read the entire anthology though I did skim a few that did not hold my interest. The ones I loved were written by Joanna Briscoe, Helen Dunmore, Emma Donoghue, Susan Hill, Francine Prose, Sally Vickers, Audrey Niffenegger and Tracy Chevalier. The standouts being Niffenegger, Prose, Hill and Dunmore. All the stories in the anthology were well-written and done with passion, but depending on writing style and interest different readers will be attracted to different stories. I recommend this book to all fans of Jane Eyre and Charlotte Bronte...but also to those who like these authors or want to try a new author. ***I received an eARC from EDELWEISS***My Novelesque Blog