by Lyndsay Faye
Jane Steele endures brutal treatment from her aunt and schoolmaster until she snaps. She kills them both and flees into London's criminal underworld. There she survives by righting wrongs for the powerless while dodging the hangman's rope. Years later, an advertisement catches her attention. Her cruel aunt has died, and the new owner of Highgate House seeks a governess. Jane takes the position, desperate to learn if she holds any claim to her childhood estate. She finds herself drawn into the household's mysteries and falls for the enigmatic master, Charles Thornfield. Now Jane faces an impossible choice. She wants Thornfield completely, but her bloody past threatens everything. Can she claim love and inheritance without the noose claiming her first?
Genres: historical-fiction, mystery, crime, 19th-century
Vibes: dark, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Highgate House, London
Period: 19th-century
Paperback · Putnam,
Content warnings: murder, violence