Super Short Summary

Published in 2021, Rachel Hawkins’s thriller The Wife Upstairs adapts Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre for the 21st century. Best known for Hex Hall, her trilogy of young adult paranormal romance novels, Hawkins tells the story of Jane Bell: a young woman with a traumatic, mysterious past who starts over in the affluent community of Thornfield Estates. Hawkins alternates the narrative perspective throughout the novel to build suspense and highlight the shared experiences of outsiders Jane, Eddie, and Bea. Through her relationships with Eddie and Bea Rochester, Jane confronts her past and learns the consequences of blind ambition. This book includes references to intimate partner violence, self-harm, and murder.