Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre is a Gothic romance novel by Charlotte Bronte, published in London in 1847. It follows the willful and passionate orphan Jane through her neglected childhood, her education at a strict girls' school, her time as a governess, and her eventual romance with the troubled yet dashing Mr. Rochester. The central themes of Jane Eyre are morality, religion, social class and gender relations, but mainly passion and independence.

The book might seem tame or out of date to modern readers, but it certainly caused a sensation at the time of its publication, yet it's still highly relevant and readable today. Throughout the story Jane fights against the affections of all the men in her life until she is certain that a relationship will be on equal ground. And in Victorian England, a woman so headstrong and independent, with her own self-hood and passions at the center of the narrative, was seen as a brave departure from the typical portrayal.