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Jane thinks she hits the lottery when she meets Eddie Rochester, a young, handsome, rich widower living in the neighbor where Jane walks dogs. While it’s not hard to see Jane’s attraction for Eddie, Jane has more reasons than most to want to escape her current existence. Fleeing her past in Arizona, Jane moved to Alabama for a fresh start which included changing her name so no one could discover her past. She dreams of a better life, but lacks the skills to get her there. It seems she’s doomed to a life of dog walking and sharing an apartment with her sleazeball of a roommate, John.

That is until she meets Eddie and the life Jane so desperately wanted is within reach. Everything about Eddie and his life is perfect, and Jane seems certain her days of struggling are over. But, there’s just one tiny problem; Eddie’s first wife.

Bea Rochester was the envy of everyone. She was a millionaire thanks to her business, was gorgeous, and had Eddie before Jane. But, none of that could save her when she went out on her boat along with her best friend and neighbor, Blanche. Seemingly one thing led to another and now both women have been missing for months. Many, like Jane, presume them both dead but something isn’t right and the more Jane chips away at Eddie’s perfect façade, the more the ugly truth begins to reveal itself.

The Wife Upstairs is a Jane Eyre retelling, and it was that reason why I picked it up. I love Jane Eyre and was interested in how Ms. Hawkins would work with the story to give it a new, fresh feeling. For the most part she did that very well. The Jane Eyre story frame was there but Ms. Hawkins did a lot with it to make it different and not a nearly identical style, which I really appreciated. The last 40% of the book goes quickly as more of the truth is revealed and Ms. Hawkins through in a little twist at the end that I didn’t expect.

Yet while this book is classified as a thriller/mystery I’ll be honest and say there isn’t much mystery to this story. Fairly early on you learn a good chunk of what actually happened, based on how Ms. Hawkins writes the story. I didn’t necessarily hate that, but I also wasn’t a fan of it. It more became a question of whether or not Jane would discover the truth, but even that seemed little bit obvious. That’s why I did appreciate the little twist Ms. Hawkins tossed in towards the end. The ending is a little ambiguous which may frustrate a few readers but I didn’t bother me.

What did frustrate me, and the reason why I gave this book a four stars, is because the author never really reveals what Jane is running from in Arizona. We get clues throughout and a little bit of explanation, but it didn’t feel like enough to explain why Jane changed her identity and fled her life in Arizona. It was by no means a pleasant experience in Arizona, but I thought there was going to be a bigger punch and that it somehow would connect with Eddie, Bea, and Blanche. But it didn’t and I was left a little unsatisfied with Jane’s story.

Overall this is a good, fairly well-written story that takes the Jane Eyre story and gives it no life. But, if given the choice between the two books, I think I’ll go with Jane Eyre every time.

4 out 5 stars