Thornfield Hall (39 page)

I drink my tea and wonder about the fate of that other baby, Bertha's son, who was snatched from his cradle by unkind hands. Does the boy survive in the wild hidden heart of Jamaica? He is the firstborn legitimate son of Edward Fairfax Rochester and so is the true heir to the Rochester fortune. The chances are he is a barefoot and hungry fugitive. At least he will not be cold; I know from Bertha that it is very hot there.

I have done my best to be fair, to even out the injustices of life. I have plotted and planned and tweaked the strings of fate for many people but the boy in Jamaica is beyond my power. All I can do is to include him in my nightly prayers. My nightly prayers! I remember when my so-called prayers consisted of giving God a good ticking off for his unkindness to me. Now they no longer consist of outpourings of rage and despair but occasionally have a flavour of genuine devotion. As an independent woman with a comfortable income I find I am on much better terms with the Almighty.

It was Grace's idea that I should write this account of the events at Thornfield Hall. It would settle my mind, she said, help me let go of the past and stop my nightmares. Her plan worked; it is not so often now that the ghost of Martha appears in my
dreams and points an accusing finger at me. I keep these pages locked in a drawer; one day I may feel strong enough to destroy them. If death takes me unexpectedly Grace has promised to burn them. The secrets they contain will go with me to my grave. Keeping secrets is a habit I caught from the Rochesters. You'll not find a Rochester writing about family matters for all the world to read.

Q&A WITH AUTHOR JANE STUBBS

Who are your biggest influences?

The biggest influence on me has always been you, the reader. Working as a teacher I soon learned that if the students were not interested, didn't understand or preferred to talk to each other, it was
my
fault. It was time to think afresh, find a different angle of approach, re-arrange the order, and find some new words.

When it comes to a style of writing I am a fan of George Orwell's six rules for writing, especially as the final rule gives permission to break any of the other five rather than write anything barbarous.

It is another George who has inspired me most when it comes to drawing character. George Eliot is a genius at creating believable human beings with all their strengths and weaknesses. Her work shows a deep psychological insight before that branch of knowledge even came into existence.

How important are the Classics to you?

I am not sure exactly what makes a book a ‘Classic'. My local library has a section labelled Classics. I sometimes find books
there that I consider to be brazen interlopers. Try looking in your own library and see what you think of their choices.

I was fortunate enough to have an education that soaked me in Shakespeare, Milton, John Donne, Keats, W. B. Yeats and T. S. Eliot. Their words are part of the fabric of my mind. And yes, they are all poets. When you want the maximum effect from the minimum of words, look to the poets. ‘Language ought to be the joint creation of poets and manual workers.' Another gem from George Orwell.

The nineteenth-century novel is my favourite form in the Classic tradition. The great exponents: Austen, the Brontës, George Eliot, Trollope, et cetera, use the rhythm of the narrative to bring a sense of order and resolution to the chaotic nature of human existence. I think we are all trying to make sense of our lives and to do so we turn them into stories.

What inspired you to retell the story of
Jane Eyre
in particular?

It could be something to do with having the same first name. As a child I identified with Jane's rage and indignation at being such a powerless creature. I had to stop reading the death of Helen Burns because I cried so much.

Jane's few months at Thornfield Hall have always intrigued me. Charlotte Brontë makes it clear that the servants know about the mad woman in the attic. Alice Fairfax has a very motherly affection for Jane, so why does she not warn Jane that her planned marriage would be bigamous? What constrained the honest, God-fearing parson's widow from speaking out? It was to answer these questions that I wrote
Thornfield Hall
.

The subject of what the Victorians bluntly call madness also intrigued me. The more I thought about Bertha the more I could understand that she might well have had a nervous breakdown from which, with care, she could recover. To
demonstrate that milder versions of such episodes are not rare I gave a couple of other characters a temporary loss of their usual composure. Mr Rochester runs mad with grief after Jane leaves him. Even the redoubtable Mrs Fairfax collapses when she reaches safety.

What were some of the challenges you faced in attempting a retelling?

For me, the great challenge was to be faithful to the original. I built my novel from the hints that Charlotte Brontë inserted into hers.

Jane is a scrupulously honest narrator but she can only tell us what she knows. She overhears a charwoman and Leah talking about Grace Poole's wages; she realises there is a mystery and that she is ‘purposely excluded'. She is distressed that Mrs Fairfax is cool with her on the morning of her engagement. Why does the kind housekeeper not congratulate her warmly? When it comes to the fire, Jane has to rely exclusively on the description given by Mr Merryman, the landlord of the Rochester Arms. Charlotte Brontë left a trail of crumbs. All I did was to follow it.

The language was a challenge. Modern readers do not need the thorough and detailed descriptions that the nineteenth-century reader required. Through photographs, films and television we each have a much greater mental stock of images for writers to call upon. Nor do modern readers have the leisure to grapple with elaborate syntax. While wanting to be brisk I tried to keep the serious, and at times lofty, tone of the original novel.

Anachronisms were a problem. I had to abandon ‘with the speed of light'; the nature of light was not yet known. You cannot put your foot on the accelerator. You have to touch the whip on the horse's back.

How do you see the relationship of
Thornfield Hall
to both
Jane Eyre
and
Wide Sargasso Sea
?

Thornfield Hall
is a sort of iPad version of
Jane Eyre
. A tablet computer can zoom in on a particular detail, magnify it, turn it sideways, hold it up and look at it from below or above. I changed the point of view from Jane to Mrs Fairfax. Suddenly I had access to the third floor as well as below stairs. I was present in the house before Bertha arrived and after Jane left. There are a few characters I encountered who did not come the path of the governess.

Wide Sargasso Sea
is a widely acclaimed prequel
to Jane Eyre
. It concentrates on Mr Rochester's first marriage, which takes place in Jamaica. It made me think about Bertha as the person she might be, not just the stock figure of a raving mad woman.

Jean Rhys explored much further from the original than I felt able to go. She changed names, she moved the location to Dominica and she wrote from Rochester's point of view. The whole atmosphere of the book is tropical, mysterious and dripping with sensuality. It is a long way from the bracing air of Yorkshire.

When I first read
Wide Sargasso Sea
I thought of writing a sequel. At the end of
Jane Eyre
Charlotte Brontë tells us that Mr and Mrs Rochester have been blissfully happy for ten years. They have at least one son and Adele now lives with them. An English education has ‘corrected in great measure her French defects'. What a dull book that would be!

Would you be tempted to retell any other Classics?

Perhaps. I would like to stop Anna Karenina from throwing herself under a train; it is a very damaging form of suicide. It traumatises train drivers and causes disruption to thousands of people. I wish Tolstoy had made her take poison instead.

READING GROUP QUESTIONS

1.
What did you think were the central themes of the book, and how did they resonate with you?

2.
Thinking about Alice's mother's obsession with gentility, how do you think perceptions of social class have changed over time?

3.
Bertha's two nurses employ radically different approaches to mental illness. What did you feel about Grace Poole's treatment of her patient? How progressive was she?

4.
How important is the idea of secrets in this novel?

5.
How did you feel the novel related to
Jane Eyre
on which it is based?

6.
What do you think of retold Classics as a whole? Do you think they add something new to a familiar work? Or do you feel that ‘the Classics' should be left alone?

7.
What did you take away from the story? What point did you think Jane Stubbs was trying to make?

OTHER CHARACTERS FROM THE CLASSICS THAT COULD HAVE THEIR STORY TOLD

Far From the Madding Crowd

Fanny Robin: poor Fanny meets a sad end after her failure to marry Sergeant Francis Troy leaves her pregnant and destitute.

Pride and Prejudice

Georgiana Darcy: sister of Mr Darcy. Her fortune meant that at one time she was the subject of George Wickham's attention, and nearly his wife if their planned elopement had taken place.

Anna Karenina

Annie Karenina: the baby daughter of the ill-fated Anna and her lover, Captain Vronsky. What was life like growing up under the care of a man whom adopted her following her mother's death?

Great Expectations

Mrs Joe Gargary: sister of Pip. How did she come to be married to gentle, loyal Joe and raising her orphaned brother?

Sense and Sensibility

Lucy Steele: the secret fiancée of Edward Ferrars is attractive and manipulative. Her scheming eventually brings about her marriage to Robert, brother of Edward, and wins her the approval of the boys' mother.

Little Women

James Laurence: neighbour to the March family and grandfather of Laurie. What events led to him cutting his son out of the family, losing his beloved granddaughter and caring for his grandson?