Score: 5/5 Bookmarks

Thank you to Libro.fm and Macmillan Audio for gifting me the audiobook of The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins.

This story is a retelling (or more of remix) of Jane Eyre, and while retellings can be tricky—and in my experience, not always very well done—I thought this one was fabulous! it has just the right amount of grit and enough twists and turns to keep you going all the way through. In fact, it had me hooked from the start and I couldn’t stop listening so I binged the whole audiobook in a day.

Jane is new to Birmingham, Alabama and is walking dogs in a ritzy housing estate called Thornfield. She’s frustrated, wants more from her life, and hates being treated like ‘the help’. Enter Eddie Rochester. He’s a handsome widower, and they hit it off pretty quickly. But their new relationship is haunted by his previous wife Bea, and both Jane and Eddie have enough secrets of their own to fuel the gossip-mongers of Thornfield for years.

There is definitely a thread of dark humor woven throughout the book, so even though the characters are all completely unlikeable, the book is just fantastic. The whole way through Jane thinks she is just the worst person, and that she’s pulling something over on everyone else—and she is, but she just doesn’t realize that everyone else is ten times worse than she actually is!

I loved that this story was told from multiple points of view, and the audiobook has different people narrating each part, so I found myself completely immersed in the world they created. Emily Shaffer, Kirby Heyborne, and Lauren Fortgang were the narrators. While Heyborne and Fortgang were new to me, I recognized Shaffer’s voice from Tweet Cute. The audio comes in at just over eight and a half hours, so you’ll scream through it in no time (pun intended).

I quite like the original Jane Eyre, but honestly, this was so much more fun!

It had definite Verity (by Colleen Hoover) vibes to me, so if you enjoyed that book you’ll want to pick this one up for sure!

I really only have one complaint, and it’s a technical thing, which I can’t mention without spoiling some of the story so if you’ve read the book and want to know what I’m talking about DM me on Instagram and let’s chat!

You can grab the audiobook via the button below, or click here to buy a physical copy from an indie bookseller.

Synopsis:

A delicious twist on a Gothic classic, Rachel Hawkins's The Wife Upstairs pairs Southern charm with atmospheric domestic suspense, perfect for fans of B.A. Paris and Megan Miranda.

Meet Jane. Newly arrived to Birmingham, Alabama, Jane is a broke dog-walker in Thornfield Estates––a gated community full of McMansions, shiny SUVs, and bored housewives. The kind of place where no one will notice if Jane lifts the discarded tchotchkes and jewelry off the side tables of her well-heeled clients. Where no one will think to ask if Jane is her real name.

But her luck changes when she meets Eddie Rochester. Recently widowed, Eddie is Thornfield Estates’ most mysterious resident. His wife, Bea, drowned in a boating accident with her best friend, their bodies lost to the deep. Jane can’t help but see an opportunity in Eddie––not only is he rich, brooding, and handsome, he could also offer her the kind of protection she’s always yearned for.

Yet as Jane and Eddie fall for each other, Jane is increasingly haunted by the legend of Bea, an ambitious beauty with a rags-to-riches origin story, who launched a wildly successful southern lifestyle brand. How can she, plain Jane, ever measure up? And can she win Eddie’s heart before her past––or his––catches up to her?

With delicious suspense, incisive wit, and a fresh, feminist sensibility, The Wife Upstairs flips the script on a timeless tale of forbidden romance, ill-advised attraction, and a wife who just won’t stay buried. In this vivid reimagining of one of literature’s most twisted love triangles, which Mrs. Rochester will get her happy ending?