Jane Eyre
This was one of the very first novels I read and kept going back to it. The orphan Jane broke my heart. Despite the loss of parents, a home, her beloved uncle, and then her best friend at Lowood, Jane persevered. Teaching in the very school she was exiled to and then having the will to leave and make something of herself, was such a queen move and unbeknownst to me was my introduction to a strong female influence. I love Jane’s strength, her generosity in willing to share her inheritance with her cousins, her ethics and above all her forgiveness towards her aunt and cousins. These nuances of Jane’s personality and essence that make her such a great heroine in Literature were never really explored successfully in any of the adaptations.
