REVIEW: Jane & Edward by Melodie Edwards

In Jane & Edward by Melodie Edwards, If anyone knows what it’s like to feel all alone in the world with nothing to do but get on with each day’s hard work, it’s Jane Raine. From her five or so years in foster care to her years toiling away at a lowbrow job as a waitress, she’d like to say she’s heading somewhere in life. Sadly, it doesn’t appear so. But one day while half-listening to some of the other waitresses complain about going to college to become a legal assistant and how easy it is to get a degree, Jane’s future plans change abruptly. College. Something she probably shouldn’t spend money on. But knowing education and knowledge is power–and a means to more money–she knuckles down and gets her degree.

‘The Devil Wears Prada movie had made this kind of abuse look a lot more glamorous and cute.’

Jane’s job fresh after getting that all important diploma is at a law firm in downtown Toronto. The luxurious building and pristine, well, everything, makes her wonder if she’ll ever fit in. Although as soon as she meets her boss, Mr. Edward Rosen, Jane knows she won’t have time to worry about making friends. The man is like a tornado every time he steps in the room. But he’s obviously a brilliant lawyer. The more she studies him and his reactions to people (and oddly enough, inanimate objects) Jane begins to figure out that it is a classic case of his bark being worse than his bite. Not only that, but underneath the bellowing and swearing, Mr. Rosen has a wonderfully kind heart. Something she could get used to. And the kind of person she could fall helplessly in love with all too easily.

“I tolerate you, Mr. Rosen. Don’t get carried away.”
“I think you mean: ‘Why, Mr. Rosen, you are positively delightful as your natural self, and I adore you.’ ‘Why, thank you, Jane. I am rather adorable, aren’t I?”
“Are you bantering with yourself?” she asked, amused.
“Impressive, isn’t it?”

A smartly written retelling with clever banter and emotions galore, Jane & Edward was a thoroughly charming debut by author Melodie Edwards.

‘Never in her life had she been so incandescent with rage. Never had she felt so powerless, so murderous, so ready to tear down every palace of privilege and person who claimed to know better than her, with her bare hands.’

As it’s been many (*many*) years since I’ve had a re-read of Jane Eyre, I won’t do a point-by-point comparison of this retelling to the original. However, I will say that Jane & Edward hit most of the same themes, emotions, and notes I remembered while still being wholly its own. And I loved it! It’s not often I read a debut and give it a five-star rating. But Melodie Edwards did a fantastic job of taking a nearly two-hundred-year-old story and modernizing it in a way that completely worked, start to finish, without losing anything in the process.

I fell pretty much instantly for Jane and Edward. It started with their meet-cute in the Toronto law office’s kitchenette (involving his temper and a coffee machine that seemed out to get him) and continued through every peak and valley: first in their working relationship and then into their personal lives. Jane was every bit as pragmatic as Edward was blustery. And though their jobs were quite different from the original story, it still felt like the same dichotomy between them, with Jane being Edward’s assistant and the differences in their upbringing.

I so enjoyed seeing how Jane grew more confident in herself as she learned to navigate Edward’s moods, even bringing laughter and smiles out of him. The affection they had for each other was palpable. Of course, there were a lot of obstacles in Edward and Jane’s way–not just that they were boss/employee, but other factors I won’t spoil for you. It was a whirlwind, their time together. And I have to say that readers will either cheer Jane on in some of her choices she made for herself, or they might be frustrated with it. I was fully in the Team Jane camp (lol). She took a tough situation and did what she thought was right, with sound logic and as few emotions interfering as possible. And in the end, it turned out as perfectly as she–and Edward!–very much deserved.

QOTD: Are you a fan of Jane Eyre or any of Charlotte Bronte’s work?

Book Info:

Publication: Published March 1st, 2023 |  Berkley Books |

This powerful reimagining of Jane Eyre, set in a modern-day law firm, is full of romance and hope as it follows the echoing heartbeats of the classic story.

A former foster kid, Jane has led a solitary life as a waitress in the suburbs, working hard to get by. Tired of years of barely scraping together a living, Jane takes classes to become a legal assistant and shortly after graduating accepts a job offer at a distinguished law firm in downtown Toronto. Everyone at the firm thinks she is destined for failure because her boss is the notoriously difficult Edward Rosen, the majority stakeholder of Rosen, Haythe & Thornfield LLP. But Jane has known far worse trials and refuses to back down when economic freedom is so close at hand.

Edward has never been able to keep an assistant–he’s too loud, too messy, too ill-tempered. There’s something about the quietly competent, delightfully sharp-witted Jane that intrigues him though. As their orbits overlap, their feelings begin to develop–first comes fondness and then something more. But when Edward’s secrets put Jane’s independence in jeopardy, she must face long-ignored ghosts from her past and decide if opening her heart is a risk worth taking.