By Eve Marie Mont
April 2012
Kensington Publishing Corp.
978-0-7582-6948-5
Review by Michelle Griep
Emma Townsend has always believed in stories—the ones she reads voraciously, and the ones she creates. Perhaps it’s because she feels like an outsider at her exclusive prep school. And her only romantic prospect is Gray Newman, a friend who just adds to Emma’s confusion. But escape soon arrives in an old leather-bound copy of Jane Eyre…
A BREATH OF EYRE is a spin off of my all-time favorite Bronte book. Teenager Emma Townsend ends up back in the era—and even the very setting—of Jane Eyre. Actually, she becomes Jane. It’s left as a mystery as to how and if Emma was really there in that fictional land, which adds a certain amount of charm to the story.
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think it’s necessary that a reader be familiar with the Bronte classic. Author Eve Marie Mont does a great job of filling in the details. Another feat she accomplishes with finesse is mixing contemporary teenage angst into the nineteenth century, and trust me…heroine Emma Townsend has a lot of troubles.
Emma attends a school via scholarship that’s for the elite. As a result, she doesn’t fit in. Her mom died when she was young and she’s got a stepmother that’s relatively clueless. Her dad is as torn up over her mother’s death as she is and is emotionally crippled, which does nothing to help Emma. Yeah. Angst galore.
A Breath of Eyre is an interesting read. It’s not your run-of-the-mill storyline and the author leaves the ending wide open for a sequel (which there will be).
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