Joining in the tradition of “Jane Eyre-inspired books that I liked more than the original text” (scandalous, I know) is My Plain Jane, the second in the The Lady Janies series. This got on my radar when The Orangutan Librarian did a fun review of the book and then got kicked to the top of the TBR list when Jenn McKenzie talked about the book on Instagram.

While I don’t love this as much as My Lady Jane, I still loved this quite a bit! My Plain Jane is a witty take on the Jane Eyre story, with ghosts, a slightly healthier romance (let’s face it, Jane + Rochester was problematic, not least because of the age gap), and lots of secrets and drama. Plus, plenty of references to other books, including my favourite Jane (Austen).

My Plain Jane stars Jane Eyre, who can see ghosts, and Charlotte Bronte, aspiring writer. After the murder of Mr Brocklehurst, the Royal Society for the Relocation of Wayward Spirits comes to investigate and spots Jane in the process. In a bid not to become an agent of the society, Jane escapes to the post of governess at Thornfield Hall. Charlotte, desperate to be a Society agent, followers their star agent Alexander and her brother to Thornfield Hall to try and recruit Jane.

I wasn’t too enthused about the book at first, probably because I found Charlotte to be a little annoying. Jane was surprisingly endearing, but Charlotte I found a little selfish in a single-minded devotion to plumbing her best friend’s life for writing material. No spoilers, but there was one scene in the book where she confronts Jane and the word “selfish” was used on the wrong person. But in the end, all the characters grew on me and I found myself rooting for all of them to have happy endings.

Apart from the witty writing, I also really enjoyed the references to other works of literature in the text. It made it very fun and coupled with a rollicking plot, got me to read on even when I was still warming up to the characters.

Speaking of random references, I loved the very slight reference to tea. I (partially) kid, but this may be my favourite sentence in the book: “to make matters worse, they were out of tea” because yes, I feel them on the lack of tea in dire situations.

By the time I finished the book, My Plain Jane had wormed its way into a place in my heart. I did not fall in love with it like I did with My Lady Jane, but I still enjoyed it very much and am super excited for the third book in the series, which I hear is set to come out this year.