Adèle

Publishers Weekly

Seasoned sequel-writer Tennant (Pemberley; Sylvia and Ted; etc.) offers not so much a follow-up to Jane Eyre as a new perspective on its plot. She retells Bronte's romance from the perspective of the pampered but neglected Adele, Rochester's "ward" and Jane's pupil. Only eight years old when the novel opens, Ad le is living blissfully in Paris with her mother, the celebrated trapeze artist and actress Celine Varens. Their cozy-if somewhat depraved-life is threatened by the sudden arrival of Rochester, an explosive alcoholic whispered to be her father. Rochester kills Celine's lover in a duel, then flees to England, while Celine flees to Italy, abandoning her daughter. Adele is sent to stay with Rochester at Thornfield Hall, where she is befriended by the witchy "etrangere" Antoinette (also known as Bertha). Soon Jane Eyre arrives, but the bratty Adele, still plotting the marriage of Maman and Papa, rejects her governess's "persistent banality." Adele's narration is an awkward attempt at Victorian prose ("That she had had affection for me, I cannot gainsay; but I had been for her a conduit to the greater profit of her master's love, and little more") sprinkled with occasional, mostly gratuitous French words ("I was dismissed without even trying on the robe of organdy"). But the real problem is Adele herself, whose haughtiness is merely unpleasant; she has none of the charm of Bronte's imp, let alone the charisma to anchor a whole book. Some diehard Jane Eyre fans may enjoy this variation, but purists are warned to stay away. Agent, Elaine Markson Literary Agency. (Jan.) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Why write an alternate version of a novel that is already complex and intriguing? Tennant, who tried to update Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice in Pemberly and An Unequal Marriage, focuses on Adele Varens, the ward of Edward Rochester and pupil of Jane Eyre. Adele's life in Paris and tenancy at Thornfield Hall are revealed in chapters narrated by various characters, most often Adele or Edward. The possibility of a different demise for the unfortunate Bertha constitutes a major part of the plot. Tennant's book is too insubstantial to sustain interest in its plot or characters. If the reader's major concern is trying to recall how Blanche Ingram, Grace Poole, Mrs. Fairfax, and the rest fit together in the original, why not just reread Charlotte Bronte's novel itself? That experience would be more rewarding than slogging through this volume. [Or read Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhys's classic take on Jane Eyre.-Ed.]-Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State Univ. Lib., Mankato Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

After two sequels to Pride and Prejudice (Pemberley, 1993; An Unequal Marriage, 1994) and one to Emma (1998), Tennant retells Jane Eyre from the perspective of, mainly, Rochester's daughter Adèle. The nice thing about being narrator is that it lets you look better than you might really be; and, if Adèle Varens is to be believed, Jane Eyre was not the gracious soul she made herself seem. Adèle, we recall, was the illegitimate daughter of Edward Rochester and Céline Varens, the Parisian actress and acrobat who was Rochester's great tragic love. Brought to England as a girl, when her mother abandoned her for an Italian musician, Adèle (who had spent her childhood in the company of the greatest artists and actors of France) found life in the Rochester household unbearably dull and dreary-and looked down on her governess Jane as "this little, ill-educated nun." In chapters narrated by different characters, we discover that Rochester's family is an even greater nest of duplicity and madness than Brontë herself made it out to be. All Adèle wants is to run back to the Continent and find her mother again-a normal enough sentiment, perhaps, except that Adèle knows perfectly well her mother is dead. Rochester, meanwhile, detests himself for having murdered Céline's lover-but seems not too bothered about keeping his mad wife Bertha locked in a closet upstairs. Mrs. Fairfax, the housekeeper from hell, is trying to bump off Jane and Bertha alike so that Rochester can marry Blanche Ingram-an uncanny double of the young Bertha who may actually be Rochester's daughter. And Adèle eventually learns that she has a twin brother who was fathered by another man. No, it's not the Addams family-just the darkunderside of a Victorian one. Delightful may not be the word, but this is certainly lots of fun. Despite the odds, Tennant's story works perfectly, creating a genuine modern sequel to Brontë's tale that's neither a parody nor a cheap imitation.