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(More customer reviews)D. E. Stephenson's books are sadly out of print; lucky is the person to find a copy, usually thanks to Amazon.com. "Rochester's Wife" is no sequel to "Jane Eyre," as might be suspected at first glance to the title. As with Stephenson's other books, it is an engrossing saga of people at a time when one man becomes the catalyst for action in others' lives.
Dr. Kit Stone, jaded world traveler, returns to England seeking steady employment, which his sister-in-law is able to obtain through mutual friends. He becomes junior partner to the elderly Dr. Peabody, living in the doctor's home along with the doctor's unmarried adult daughter and the doctor's precocious nephew.
Kit is made aware that his job is due to a recommendation given by Mrs. Rochester and eventually visits the Rochester home to thank her. This leads to a friendship that progresses, especially after Dolly, a married daughter of Dr. Peabody and close friend of Mrs. Rochester, returns to the Peabody home.
Mr. Rochester suffers from a mental illness which is exacerbated by the stresses of his job in a partnership with Kit's brother. As he reaches a crisis in the manifestation of this illness, Kit seeks to help Mrs. Rochester, even as he realizes he has fallen in love with her. Rochester runs away and is gone an extended time, presumed dead when all inquiries prove fruitless. Mrs. Rochester returns to her Scottish home, leaving Kit to deal with his feelings and the simmering personality conflicts within the Peabody home, as well as his developing clientele.
The story builds around the growing awareness of Dr. Stone and Mrs. Rochester that they love each other but have greater responsibilities to those around them. Hovering above everything is the fate of Mr. Rochester, even as they develop their new lives in their separate communities, apart from each other.
D. E. Stephenson offers us characters who are well-developed and so real as to have the reader wish s/he could meet and make friends of these people, for all their good points and even their flaws. There are no clear-cut villains, but many are heroes in their own ways, finding a means to survive the varied traumas of their individual lives while seeking to do no harm to others and as much good as possible, within their own perception of what is best. It is a microcosm of life caught between the covers of an engaging book.
If you enjoyed "God is an Englishman" and others by Delderfield, or the novels of Mary Stewart, you should enjoy this book and any others written by D. E. Stephenson as you (and Amazon.com) can locate.
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