Wendy Holmes
I first read Jane Eyre at 12 years old I was unable to put the book down. It made me think about my own mortality for the first time, and made me realise how unjust victorian society was to women. I still pick the book up from time to time, and enjoy it just as much

Liz Harvey
Read and re-read many times, always fresh

Antonia Quirke
I first read it out loud at class in school - Convent School, 1980's - and remember the everyone's scarlet faces. We were all so turned on by Rochester but too shy (and I guess innocent) to articulate this in any way. I remember blaming the radiators for my red face and the nun looking back at me unconvinced. I swear sweat was pouring down my back. My copy of the book - kept these 20 years - is covered in damp and inky fingerprints. Now when I read it, and I do, every year, especially this one, since I am writing a book myself, I think of Charlotte sitting around the table in Yorkshire with her sisters, also writing. These three women, quietly, discreetly, courteously, coming up with Heathcliffe and Rochester and flaming trees and people eating carving knives and starving on lonely roads. Characters DEMANDING love and respect. This amazes me. The atmosphere in that room must have been electric. The charge lives on the page and sure as hell lived in my old classroom. Jane Eyre is a transformative book and I will always, always be grateful for it.

Patricia Jones
Jane's feelings for Mr. Rochester made me realise I could never feel the same for the man I was wngaged to. I broke off the engagement and moved on to a happier and more fullfilling life with a wonderful husband and friend.

Margaret
I first read Jane Eyre at school when I was 12. It moved me passionately - against those awful cousins and Aunt - SO unfair! Then that dreadful school and what relief when she left and found happiness working for Mr Rochester. And then what a shocking outcome - the mad wife in the attic - very scary too - then so sad again until at last having overcome all her trials and tribulations - unbelievably, she is back with Mr Rochester. But the house burned and ruined and he blind. What a story! I have re-read this many times and though I know it so well, it never fails to move me in the same way. What a quietly determined and brave soul Jane is.

Elizabeth Power
This was the first "grown up" book I ever read, probably at 11yrs old. I felt Jane's pain, and the injustice of her situation. So different from my own safe upbringing. I have read it since from a feminist perspective, and it is a tribute to Bronte's talent that the story stands up to this kind of scrutiny. It has integrity and passion which carry it through from the 20th to the 21st century. Mostly because Bronte deals with universal themes which are timeless. There are still Janes and Rochesters. The other book which "did it" for me was Vanity Fair, but it isn't on the list. (is it?)

jane thornley
i find 'jane eyre' inspiring because of her strength in assessing situations and deciding how to behave even if she then suffers. i read this book whenever i feel i need supporting and always feel better for it. the novel is beautifully written with the repartee between rochester and jane particularly good, i just revel in its cleverness. the death of helen is very moving, the viciousness of jane's aunt and cousins and rochester's aristocratic friends is mercilessly drawn, altogether an astonishing book to be the creation of someone so young. it is one of very few books i read again and again.

Bel Greenwood
I first read this book when I was a child and it has haunted me ever since. I think it is so powerful because of the strength of Jane's uncompromising spirit - she doesn't give up and she survives quietly through all the cruelties she faces. Maybe it is the passion which is contained by her honest sense of what she can live with - perhaps this makes her a heroine of a quiet endurance which women have to employ in so many cultures all the time. It makes her story real and always important despite.

Frances Dennison
This is a story which is a complete roller coaster of all human emotions and most important of all always fresh, and always exciting to read no matter how often you do.

Julia Marriott
I love this book because of the vivid pictures it conjures up in my mind of plain Jane, the inwardly tortured Mr Rochester, the demonic Mrs Rochester and Thornfield. It is a romantic novel without the cloyingness of the genre. I find the first part of the book too sad now so I always start it from when she leaves Lowood. The ending is just right - wonderful!

Jan Bowman
Jane Eyre - timeless and appropriate for any age

Sacha
A childrens book which I carried through into womahood. Wonderful and touching.

emma sola
Not only did Charlotte Bronte make her heroine a passionate, modest and strong individual, she made her resourceful, intelligent and principled. Jane rejects superficiality on all levels and her moral stances throughout the novel are rewarded by her eventual marriage to the wounded Rochester, but also a growing self-acceptance. Jane has agency from the outset. She acts to change her own destiny, in quite extreme ways, and refuses to be a victim. In creating the character and concept of Bertha Mason, Bronte unknowingly allowed for a whole other story and description of female experience to be told by Jean Rhys in 'The Wide Sargasso Sea', not to mention the many academic texts within feminist literary criticism that draw upon both Jane and Bertha . I have been reading it once a year since I was 11 years old, I am now 30 and I look forward to many more years with Jane. This rich, multi-layered, evocative novel must win!

Jennifer Suggitt
Of all the books I have ever read, Jane Eyre is the one that stands out as a testament to being a woman. Jane has had an unloved childhood, but is still able to feel her own worth as a person, and hold on to what she thinks is right. With nothing of her own but her character and some education, she achieves so much. She values her integrity more than a comfortable life.

Lesley Smith
I would recommend this book mainly because of the wonderful poetic prose that Charlotte Bronte writes. The plot creaks at times but the almost hypnotic nature of the text makes this irrelevant.

Helen van de Linde
A brilliant not put downable book.I think Jane believed in herself and trusted her feelings no matter what the consequences. An example to all women, believe in yourself and trust your instincts.

Suzanne Allen
I have read 'Jane Eyre' at different stages in my life. At 15, I really appreciated Jane's complete belief in her 'self' despite the overwhelming negative responses she received from those around her. The mystery of the mad woman in the attic made in exciting and full of suspense. Like many young girls I fantasised about meeting a man like Mr Rochester without really appreciating their meeting of minds. 25 years later I read it with a completely new perspective as a mature woman, a wife, mother and family breadwinner, trying to cope with the realities and stresses of everyday, modern life. The romantic element had less impact but what really fascinated me, was the intensity of the conversations between Jane and Mr Rochester and the way he, not only enjoyed her company, but respected her intellect, judgement and independence. It was nice to be reminded that romance and sexual attraction are not the sole preserve of the beautiful people and the current obsession with body perfection at the expense of intellect was really put into perspective. More than anything when the going gets tough, it's Jane's constant struggle with her beliefs and values that inspire me and when I feel overworked or undervalued, her strong self-belief inspires and strengthens my resolve and will to survive with the spirit intact, just as she did.

Gillian Racher
I have always loved reading but this was one of the first 'adult' books which I read.It made me realise there was a wealth of interesting and entertaining literature to be found in books which seemed very dull from the outside covers .

Joanna Dawson
I first read 'Jane Eyre'when I was 16. I was fully prepared for it to be dull and boring,but to my astonishment I found it very enjoyable and I rattled through it in a day!. Jane is a great heroine for young girls who are not always at their most confident.Although a lot has changed in our society since Janes day, life can still be unfairly tipped in the balance in favour of the male,the rich and the beautiful. Jane is a heroine for optimism without being sentimental.

Maggie Brady
Such is my affection for this story that I have recently listened to 2 versions of it being read on the radio - one on BBC7 in 4 episodes and the other unabridged on OneWord Radio in 25 episodes. I think the story manages to reflect the times whilst still being avant garde in the way in which the character of Jane is portrayed. I first read it when I was 9 and I am still reading it over 30 years later.

Jane Taylor
I enjoy this story because of the intricate language spoken by the characters and the honesty of Jane. It is a story with a happy ending for the heroine, and a story of love.

Amanda Headley-White
I read this when I started at boarding school - I liked it because it started out about a child and a child who had a temper like mine. Now I relate to the Jane in her early twenties. Often when I feel plain and unloved I think of Jane. I think too that Jane gives a really good example of the need to work on relationships. I have lost count of the times I have read this book, of my tears at Helen's death and my beating heart at all those meetings of Jane and Rochester. I still feel a thrill at what is in the attic even though I know full well... When ever I am ill I re-read this book. I also love the Wide Sargasso Sea.

Elena Protasova
This book is really a Story. I like it because it encourages women to develope their intellect (I believe). Physical beauty is important for us, but it doesn't always leads to success and happiness. We should be interesting to ourselves, cultivate personality and then we will be attractive for other people.As Jane is...

Sarah Mehta
What makes this novel momentous in its portrayal of women is its insistence that a woman has a primary duty to herself--meaning both her self-esteem and her judgment. This is not just about an independent life but about valuing selfhood.

Rebecca Pattni
Jayne Eyre is a beautifully written book that will always stand the test of time and will define its reader.

Karen Tay
Helen Burns did NOT die of consumption because conditions at the school were so harsh. She would have died of it regardless of the conditions: at that time it was incurable.

Juliet Brandi
I nominate Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. Its a brilliant story, I have read the book several times already.

Alison Baker
Jane Eyre was shocking in it's time for it's laim for the rights of women to feel and express passion. For modern times, it's claim for women's experience to be as valid as men's is still radical.

Joanna Abrahams
Jane does not settle for the easy marriage to the clergyman but makes Rochester strive to be a better man by expecting him to be a better man if he is going to be her man.

Sharon Harrington
It affirms the possibility of a great love based on a deep friendship between intellectual equals as well as on physical passion. A book which inspires optimism in young girls despite the very different social and historical background of the heroine.

Jenny Vaughn
I was overwhelmeed by it's heartfelt cry of 'It's not fair!' when it comes to the relationship between men and women. Women are still not only considered less important that men, but must also be beautiful to count for anything at all. Unless, like Jane, they get sort-of lucky.