Well, would you look at that? I’ve finished all the top ten. Go me.

Jane Eyre was… really not what I expected. I mean, in a way it was: governess meets master, falls in love, problems typical of the time get in their way. But aside from that basic skeleton, my god. Nothing was anything like what I’d thought it would be.

Jane herself was brilliant. Hilarious. All the characters were genius, vivid and fun, but as a protagonist, Jane was probably the best I’ve ever read. The plot was, er, silly. It took all sorts of weird and unexpected turns that left me either frustrated or amused (or both). And there were so many themes that I just loved: the age gap, the burning house, the struggle to balance purpose with enjoyment, the quest for intellectual fulfilment and stimulation. So good.

One thing that frustrated the HELL out of me was that almost every single problem that arose for any character stemmed from their Christian belief, and yet the final line was essentially in praise of Christianity. Was that a cop-out on Bronte’s part? Did she really not recognise what had happened? Or was it designed to frustrate, and hence get the reader to consider their own belief system and way of living? Arrrgh.

So as you can see, my only real gripe with the book is one that I’m not even sure was unintentional. Therefore: brilliant book. Well and truly worthy of its place in the top ten.