An invaluable reading—and learning—experience…

It had been decades since I’d originally read Jane Eyre—probably something I deemed as cruel and unusual punishment in a middle school English class—but once I started reading it again (hopefully a bit more mature and open-minded than I was during my previous attempt), I quickly found I’d never truly read the classic, much less appreciated it.

It’s an understatement to say I learned a lot the second time around, as both a reader and a writer, thanks to K.M. Weiland’s intuitive and well-placed annotations. Like a tour guide, she walks us through Bronte’s story, meticulously outlining the components that make this classic, well…a classic.

Starting with a great hook that reaches out and grabs readers, we can easily see that Bronte hits the ground running and from her very first line: “There was no possibility of taking a walk that day,” we know something’s already happening. Bronte piques our curiosity and has us immediately wondering—what is going on with this character?

And while Bronte’s careful not bog us down with backstory or excessive background (something a lot of writers, including myself, struggle with), Weiland notes how she reveals just enough information to compel us to read on: “The details she offers readers are so precise that she doesn’t need to use lengthy descriptions. She has equipped her readers with power tools so they can fill in the blanks and build the rest of the sets themselves.”

In her annotations, Weiland also points out Jane’s progression through the character arc and how Bronte effectively lets her characters, including Jane, speak for themselves—turning them loose on the page and letting them become who they are ultimately meant to be—while maintaining consistency in their personalities, e.g. Jane’s actions and dialogue remain intact as Bronte has outlined from the beginning, regardless of where Jane is in the story and character arcs.

Other annotations show Bronte’s use of foreshadowing, irony, description, symbolism and how she brilliantly weaves them into the story while moving readers from scene to scene, leaving us with intriguing chapter endings that incorporate the right balance of suspense, tension and conflict needed to evoke our curiosity and keep us proceeding on to the next chapter. Even the climax of Bronte’s story is about high tension—composed of a series of scenes that lead up to that moment when the major conflict is resolved. Weiland shows us how Bronte’s final resolution mirrors her story’s beginning and how she wraps up any remaining unanswered questions, yet doesn’t let the story’s conclusion—or the readers’ expectations—fall flat.

In her last note, Weiland tells us, “Hook a reader with the first line of your story and he’s yours for the next 300 pages. Hook him with the last line, and he’s yours for life.” Bronte does so beautifully and like the rest of her story, does not disappoint—all the way until the last juicy syllable, she leaves us breathless and wanting more.

Overall, Weiland’s annotations provide a unique perspective of this classic, which are comprehensive without being overwhelming or presumptuous. For me, it was an invaluable learning experience and something I consider to be an important addition to my writing toolbox. As an added bonus, she also includes a fabulous study guide at the end of the novel, which is broken into sections like Structure and Plot, Character and Character Arc, Theme and Symbolism, Conflict and Tension, Dialogue, Setting and Description, Backstory and my Achilles’ heel—Foreshadowing. This handy guide offers both questions and tips with pointers to relevant chapters and sections in Bronte’s novel so that we can see the concepts in action as we apply them to our own writing. It alone is worth the price of admission! ( )