Hello, my name is Staci Stanton and welcome to Read Local, my video book review for In the Stacks. Today’s review is Rachel Hawkins’s highly anticipated debut, The Wife Upstairs. Purchase the book one Bookshop here.

Now, you may be wondering if this author has been influenced by Bronte’s classic Jane Eyre. The answer is, sort of. We meet Jane as a young woman with a troubled past who is walking dogs in a wealthy housing development to make ends meet. Jane is looking for a way out of her situation and, not unlike a gothic romance novel, meets the handsome (but recent widower) Eddie. The two have an instant connection and Jane can’t believe her good fortune, literally. So what if Eddie sometimes seems to have secrets of his own or if there are occasional sounds coming from upstairs. A girl like Jane can’t afford to ask too many questions if she doesn’t want to share the truth about her own past. For a modern spin on a classic tale of survival and love, check out The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins in the stacks at your local library.