Re Jane
A Novel
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Re Jane
Narrated by:
Diana Bang
Buy Now for $26.99
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Narrated by:
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Diana Bang
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By:
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Patricia Park
About this listen
For Jane Re, half-Korean, half-American orphan, Flushing, Queens, is the place she’s been trying to escape from her whole life. Sardonic yet vulnerable, Jane toils, unappreciated, in her strict uncle’s grocery store and politely observes the traditional principle of nunchi (a combination of good manners, hierarchy, and obligation). Desperate for a new life, she’s thrilled to become the au pair for the Mazer-Farleys, two Brooklyn English professors and their adopted Chinese daughter. Inducted into the world of organic food co-ops and nineteenth–century novels, Jane is the recipient of Beth Mazer’s feminist lectures and Ed Farley’s very male attention. But when a family death interrupts Jane and Ed’s blossoming affair, she flies off to Seoul, leaving New York far behind.
Reconnecting with family, and struggling to learn the ways of modern-day Korea, Jane begins to wonder if Ed Farley is really the man for her. Jane returns to Queens, where she must find a balance between two cultures and accept who she really is. Re Jane is a bright, comic story of falling in love, finding strength, and living not just out of obligation to others, but for one’s self.
Journeying from Queens to Brooklyn to Seoul, and back, this is a fresh, contemporary retelling of Jane Eyre and a poignant Korean American debut.
Well it does because it is. While some of the similarities in Patricia Park’s retelling are obvious are soon as they are revealed, there are also big changes to the narrative. If you have a slavish devotion to original plot, there are some aspects of Re Jane that you really won’t like (like K-dramas, Beth as Bertha and the way Jane strings along some people). Hang on, did I just make a statement that Jane wasn’t a perfect golden heroine? Yes, I did. Jane Re is selfish and whinging at times. She’s after what’s best for her, except quite often she doesn’t know what it is herself. She abandons Devon, who she is the au pair for after sleeping with her father and flies to Korea, telling nobody. Oh, and this all happens on the night of 10th September 2001. So nobody – not her uncle, not the Farleys (Beth and Ed) know whether she’s dead or alive. But Jane doesn’t stop there. In Korea, she gets engaged, but then decides that’s not really what she wants either. I get that Jane is mixed up, being an orphan with a doubt over her parentage, bummed over her inability to get a job in her chosen field and young and foolish, but- she is still really, really selfish and unthinking. So while I started out loving Jane, in the end I wasn’t too fussed what happened. She seemed to take everything in her stride, then expect more without giving anything.
And our modern Mr Rochester? Well, Ed Farley was a limp fish for me. He’s not particularly stand-out awesome, nor brooding and moody. He’s just an average guy who is happy to go with the flow, cheat on his hyper-achieving wife and makes sandwiches. He was kind of bland. While I understand that in no way should Jane’s future depend on Ed in this day and age, he’s not a hero I wanted her Jane. They just seemed so…unsuited (even though Ed could be just as selfish as Jane). I much preferred Jane’s suitor in Korea, who was sweet, devoted and caring. I felt bad for him when things turned pear shaped! For me, the other star was Devon. The modern Adele, she’s smart and sassy and not afraid to try to bend the rules. I felt both Jane and Ed gave her short shift in the later part of the novel – I would have loved to see more of her.
Despite my character gripes, I did enjoy the story of Re Jane, trying to match the plot movements to that of the original story and marvelling at how well Patricia Park changed things for the modern era. Kudos also goes to Diana Bang, who was the perfect voice for Jane and did a great Korean accent. I loved Jane’s explanation of nunchi (trying to fix a particularly awkward situation smoothly – something that happens a lot in the story) and tap tap hae (that feeling that everything is closing around you in a social situation) and the section of the book set in Korea. It’s a good story, just don’t expect Jane herself to be redeemed.
A Jane for modern times and manners
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