Musing Mondays is a meme started over on Should Be Reading that presents a different literary-themed question every week.
This week’s question is: What is your favorite romantic book –or book that includes a love story?
My favorite love story will always be Jane Eyre. Some readers find the story too somber, Rochester too surly, Jane too meek, but those people aren’t reading the story the way I do. Jane and Rochester are two people who could be scarred so badly from the hands fate has dealt them, yet they allow their pasts to strengthen them. When I read their exchanges, I sense humor and affection and actual friendship that is so rare to see, especially in romances set during that era. Bronte set out to make a statement about women, and in so doing she necessarily highlights many of Rochester’s flaws, yet she doesn’t let them define him, and neither does Jane. Still, unlike so many romance stories where external forces convene to keep two lovers apart, Jane’s consults her own dignity and honor in taking the path necessary before she can allow herself to be with Rochester.
Love your choice! Im a fan of Jane Eyre – I love how passionate it is and how Jane is such a headstrong, independent woman for her time.