''Reader, I Married Him: Stories Inspired by Jane Eyre'' is a 2016 anthology of short stories, edited by

Tracy Chevalier Tracy Rose Chevalier (born 19 October 1962) is an American-British novelist. She is best known for her second novel, ''Girl with a Pearl Earring'', which was adapted as a 2003 film starring Scarlett Johansson and Colin Firth. Personal backgroun ...

, inspired by the line "Reader, I married him" from ''

Jane Eyre ''Jane Eyre'' ( ; originally published as ''Jane Eyre: An Autobiography'') is a novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published under her pen name "Currer Bell" on 19 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London. The firs ...

'' by

Charlotte Brontë Charlotte Nicholls (; 21 April 1816 – 31 March 1855), commonly known as Charlotte Brontë (, commonly ), was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë family, Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood and whose novel ...

, at the beginning of Chapter 38. It was commissioned to mark the 200th anniversary of the author's birth, and is published by

The Borough Press HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the " Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette, Macmillan, and Simon & Schuster. HarperCollins is h ...

, an imprint of

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

. ''Includes full list of authors'' ''Shows UK cover''

Authors

The authors of the stories are all women: *

Joanna Briscoe Joanna Briscoe (born 1963) is an English writer who has written six novels and several short stories and has worked as a freelance journalist. Her first novel, ''Mothers and Other Lovers'', won a Betty Trask Award in 1993, and her third, ''Slee ...

Emma Donoghue Emma Donoghue (born October 1969) is an Irish Canadians, Irish Canadian novelist, screenwriter, playwright and literary historian. Her 2010 novel ''Room (novel), Room'' was a finalist for the Booker Prize and an international best-seller. Donog ...

Helen Dunmore Helen Dunmore FRSL (12 December 1952 – 5 June 2017) was a British poet, novelist, and short story and children's writer. Her best known works include the novels ''Zennor in Darkness'', ''A Spell of Winter'' and ''The Siege (Dunmore novel) , ...

Esther Freud Esther Freud is a British novelist, known for her autobiographical novel '' Hideous Kinky'' (1992). She is the daughter of the painter Lucian Freud. Early life and education Born in London in 1963, Freud is the daughter of Bernardine Coverle ...

Jane Gardam Jane Mary Gardam (born Jean Mary Pearson; 11 July 1928 – 28 April 2025) was an English writer of children's and adult fiction and literary critic. She also penned reviews for ''The Spectator'' and ''The Telegraph'', and wrote for BBC Radio. ...

* Linda Grant *

Kirsty Gunn Kirsty Gunn (born 1960, New Zealand) is a novelist, essayist, short story writer, and professor of creative writing. She has won the Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year award, the New Zealand Post Book Awards Book of the Year award, and the ...

Tessa Hadley Tessa Jane Hadley (born 28 February 1956; née Nichols) is a British author, who writes novels, short stories and nonfiction. Her writing is realistic and often focuses on family relationships. Her novels have twice reached the longlists of the ...

* Sarah Hall *

Susan Hill Dame Susan Elizabeth Hill, Lady Wells (born 5 February 1942) is an English author of fiction and non-fiction works. Her novels include '' The Woman in Black'', which has been adapted for stage and screen, '' The Mist in the Mirror'', and '' ...

Elizabeth McCracken Elizabeth McCracken (born September 16, 1966) is an American author. She is a recipient of the PEN New England Award. Life McCracken, a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, graduated from Newton North Hig ...

Nadifa Mohamed Nadifa Mohamed (, ) (born 1981) is a Somali-British novelist. She featured on ''Granta'' magazine's list "Best of Young British Novelists" in 2013, and in 2014 on the Africa39 list of writers aged under 40 with potential and talent to define ...

Audrey Niffenegger Audrey Niffenegger (born June 13, 1963) is an American writer, artist, and academic. Her debut novel, '' The Time Traveler's Wife'', published in 2003, was a bestseller. Biography Audrey Niffenegger was born in 1963 in South Haven, Michigan. At ...

* Patricia Park *

Francine Prose Francine Prose (born April 1, 1947) is an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and critic. She is a visiting professor of literature at Bard College, and was formerly president of PEN American Center. Life and career Born in Broo ...

Namwali Serpell Namwali Serpell (born 1980) is an American and Zambian writer who teaches in the United States. In April 2014, she was named on Hay Festival's Africa39 list of 39 sub-Saharan African writers aged under 40 with the potential and talent to define t ...

Elif Shafak Elif Shafak ( ; née Bilgin; born 25 October 1971) is a British Turks, Turkish-British novelist, essayist, public speaker, Political science, political scientist and activist. Shafak writes in Turkish language, Turkish and English language, En ...

Lionel Shriver Lionel Shriver (born Margaret Ann Shriver; May 18, 1957) is an American author and journalist. Her novel '' We Need to Talk About Kevin'' won the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2005. Early life and education Shriver was born Margaret Ann Shriver, ...

Salley Vickers Salley Vickers (born 1948) is a British novelist whose works include ''Miss Garnet's Angel'', ''Mr. Golightly's Holiday'', ''The Other Side of You'' and ''Where Three Roads Meet'', a retelling of the Oedipus myth to Sigmund Freud in the last mo ...

Evie Wyld Evelyn Rose Strange "Evie" Wyld (born 1980) is an English author. Several of her novels are set in Australia, where she spent holidays with her grandparents as a child, and she has won several Australian literary awards. Her first novel, '' Aft ...

References

2016 anthologies American anthologies British anthologies Fiction anthologies Works based on Jane Eyre {{2010s-story-collection-stub