Jane can’t help but see an opportunity in Eddie-not only is he rich, brooding, and handsome, he could also offer her the kind of protection she’s always yearned for.

His wife, Bea, drowned in a boating accident with her best friend, their bodies lost to the deep. Recently widowed, Eddie is Thornfield Estates’ most mysterious resident. Where no one will think to ask if Jane is her real name.īut her luck changes when she meets Eddie Rochester. The kind of place where no one will notice if Jane lifts the discarded tchotchkes and jewelry off the side tables of her well-heeled clients. Newly arrived to Birmingham, Alabama, Jane is a broke dog-walker in Thornfield Estates-a gated community full of McMansions, shiny SUVs, and bored housewives. This was a lightning-fast read that had me glued to the page, desperate to see what would happen, and enjoying every minute along the way. I loved trying to line up the similarities to the source material, but those who haven’t read Jane Eyre will have just as much fun getting swept along for the ride as the story veered into its own twisting, haunting, surprising tale. The Wife Upstairs truly has something for every type of reader: murder, love, and ambition combine in a story that is both witty and suspenseful.

Rochester’s memory looms large in Thornfield Estates-along with the whispered rumors…

And-courtesy of a chance encounter on one abysmal rainy day-Jane is about to fall for one of the residents, the recently widowed Eddie Rochester.

To set the scene: Our Jane is a dog walker in Thornfield Estates, a development of McMansions in suburban Alabama. I was hooked by the premise itself: a reimagined Jane Eyre as a contemporary domestic suspense set in the South? Yes please! What followed was a tense mystery told in a pitch-perfect voice, brimming with sharp insight and wit. And The Wife Upstairs surprised me in all the best ways. But even more, I love that joy of surprise when those puzzle pieces suddenly create something unexpected. As a huge mystery and suspense reader, I love trying to solve the puzzle at the heart of the story before all the pieces have slid into place.

The woman upstairs rachel hawkins