A short story by Salley Vickers from the collection Reader, I Married Him: Stories inspired by Jane Eyre.

In ‘Reader, She Married Me’ Mr Rochester reveals a long-kept secret.

Edited by Tracy Chevalier, the full collection, Reader I Married Him, brings together some of the finest and most creative voices in fiction today, to celebrate and salute the strength and lasting relevance of Charlotte Brontë’s game-changing novel and its beloved narrator.

Reviews

Praise for the full collection, READER, I MARRIED HIM:

‘Dazzling’ DAILY MAIL

‘The success of this book owes much to [Chevalier’s] enthusiasm … it’s quite amazing to see the quality of work on show’ EVENING STANDARD

‘A terrific set of stories by some of our leading novelists, each of whom engages with a chosen aspect of Jane Eyre’ THE NEW STATESMAN

‘A clever idea well-executed; a treat for fans of short fiction and for Brontë's many ardent fans’ KIRKUS REVIEWS

‘Exemplary…written by some of today's best female writers’ THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE

‘These pieces create a beguiling picture of women and men and desire, in which everyone is searching, like Jane, for happiness and wondering whether marriage is really an answer. The book acts as a prism spreading all kinds of literary and historical refractions, and it’s a reminder that Charlotte Brontë, too, has many sides’ GLOBE AND MAIL

About the author

Salley Vickers is the author of eight novels, including Miss
Garnet’s Angel and The Cleaner of Chartres, and two collections of stories, most recently The Boy Who Could See
Death. Her books explore themes of art, psychology and
other dimensions and she allies herself with an old tradition
of storytelling. Sally Vickers won her first ever school
prize when she was thirteen for an essay on Emily Brontë,
and has remained a devotee of the Brontës ever since. They
feature in Cousins, her latest novel published by Viking in
summer 2016.