Book Minute

Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte's first book, in 1847, is the story of an impoverished young girl and the harsh treatment she endured for most of her life. A story with similarities to Bronte's own, it became a controversial look at the treatment of women, but an immediate success with the public, and now a literary classic!

There are more than a dozen references to the Bible in her novel, from Genesis and a reference to Lot's wife to the book of Joshua and God's judgment. In an imaginary conversation with her spiteful aunt, Jane admits she should forgive her, "for you knew not what you did"—an unmistakable reference to Jesus's words on the cross in Luke 23:34.