What if Mr. Rochester had, not a wife, but a deadly curse. Within These Wicked Walls by Lauren Blackwood reimagines Charlotte Brontë’s classic novel within an Ethiopia-inspired fantasy setting. Last year I posted about the surprising number of Jane Eyre retellings that all came out in 2021. Obviously, I’ve got to go down the list and read them all! I’ve already posted reviews of The Wife in the Attic and John Eyre, so Within These Wicked Walls was up next.
Andromeda has spent her youth training as a debtera—an exorcist who constructs amulets to cleanse people and places of the Evil Eye. And Thorne Manor has the worst case of the Evil Eye that Andi has ever seen. Though planted in the middle of the desert, the manor’s halls are ice cold and prone to strange manifestations like blood dripping from the walls and grasping hands that reach up from the floorboards. Ten other debtera have already failed to break the curse, but Andi can’t turn down a job—especially when it could result in the official patronage of a wealthy young heir. Magnus Rochester, the biracial son of an English chocolate baron, has inherited the Evil Eye from his father before he even came of age to inherit his family’s fortune. Though Andi chafes at being pulled away from her work to entertain this privileged young lord and his condescending guests, she soon comes to see that Magnus’s sullen arrogance hides a desperate loneliness. And when more and more of the servants disappear, it becomes clear that something more sinister is happening than just the curse scaring people away. Even as Andi realizes that this job may be far beyond her abilities, she becomes equally as sure that she can’t just abandon Magnus to his fate.
As you can see from the description above, Within These Wicked Walls takes Jane Eyre as only the loosest of templates. Indeed, it feels more like the author manages to hit many of the same beats while telling a completely different story—which I found clever and surprising. Though the story starts with Andromeda arriving at Thorne Manor, we get glimpses into her abusive childhood of grueling debtera training under her emotionally withdrawn mentor, which serves as a loose parallel to Jane’s experiences with the Reeds and Lowood Academy. Rather than tutoring a child, Andromeda spends her days at Throne Manor constructing amulets. And she saves Magnus at night not from a fire but from a particularly terrifying manifestation of the Evil Eye.
But while you’ll recognize many individual scenes as having clear parallels in Brontë’s novel, Blackwood changes some rather significant aspects of the story. As you kind of have to if you want to get modern readers invested in the romance, the author had made Magnus far more sympathetic than the original Mr. Rochester. This Magnus is a soft and sensitive soul, who cries instead of rages when Andromeda rebuffs him. And of course, Magnus is far closer to Andromeda in age—they’re both teens—which significantly changes the dynamic. Also, in a fun twist, Magus is the one with a penchant for drawing, and Andromeda admires his artistic creations the way Mr. Rochester admires Jane’s. Most importantly, while Magnus is not as forthright with Andromeda about some things as he should be, he has no secrets as horrific and insurmountable as a mistreated wife locked up in the attic. Instead, both Bertha and Blanche are somewhat combined in the character of Kelela. And while this childhood friend of Magnus’s competes with Andromeda for his affections, she’s a fully fleshed-out character in her own right and she and Andi are eventually able to connect on a level that goes beyond just jealousy and romantic rivalry.
Overall, I’ve been impressed with the way that so many different books manage to create fresh and interesting takes on Jane Eyre while also being able to stand as satisfying stories on their own. Whether you’re a hardcore Jane Eyre fan or just someone who enjoys YA fantasy novels with healthy doses of both romance and horror, Within These Wicked Walls is a fun and compelling read. You can find the book on shelves now at your favorite local retailer, or order it online and support The Gothic Library in the process using this Bookshop.org affiliate link. If you’ve already read it, let me know your thoughts in the comments. And if you know of any other Jane Eyre retellings I should check out, let me know about those, as well!