The Flight of Gemma Hardy

Summary (from the publisher): When her widower father drowns at sea, Gemma Hardy is taken from her native Iceland to Scotland to live with her kind uncle and his family. But the death of her doting guardian leaves Gemma under the care of her resentful aunt, and it soon becomes clear that she is nothing more than an unwelcome guest at Yew House. When she receives a scholarship to a private school, ten-year-old Gemma believes she's found the perfect solution and eagerly sets out again to a new home. However, at Claypoole she finds herself treated as an unpaid servant.

To Gemma's delight, the school goes bankrupt, and she takes a job as an au pair on the Orkney Islands. The remote Blackbird Hall belongs to Mr. Sinclair, a London businessman; his eight-year-old niece is Gemma's charge. Even before their first meeting, Gemma is, like everyone on the island, intrigued by Mr. Sinclair. Rich (by Gemma's standards), single, flying in from London when he pleases, Hugh Sinclair fills the house with life. An unlikely couple, the two are drawn to each other, but Gemma's biggest trial is about to begin: a journey of passion and betrayal, redemption and discovery, that will lead her to a life of which she's never dreamed.

Set in Scotland and Iceland in the 1950s and '60s, The Flight of Gemma Hardy--a captivating homage to Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre--is a sweeping saga that resurrects the timeless themes of the original but is destined to become a classic all its own.

 

Review: Set in the 1950s and 60s, this first person narrative follows the story of Gemma Hardy, who is ten when the novel opens. Orphaned young, she was taken from her home in Iceland to live with her uncle and his family in Scotland. But when her uncle dies in a tragic accident, her aunt is more than happy to be rid of Gemma, who is sent off to a boarding school on a scholarship that turns out to be drudgery in turn for education. When the school is bankrupted, she takes a job as an au pair on the Orkney Islands and quickly develops a bond with the owner, the mysterious Mr. Sinclair.

 

This novel is a retelling of Jane Eyre and for the most part, it closely follows the turn of events in Bronte's novel. I found it hard for me to separate my love for Jane Eyre and this new version and it was difficult to evaluate this novel as a standalone piece since its story is not original. The most obvious difference (beyond the names, setting, and time period) was that in Bronte's novel, Mr. Rochester turns out to be married to an insane woman in the attic and in Livesey's novel, Mr. Sinclair is very much single. I found the reason for Gemma's flight away from him didn't function as well and I found it difficult to believe she would abandon him for the reason she did. In short, the one major deparature from Bronte was a poor one, in my opinion. However, I will say that Livesey tied this up in nicely in the conclusion, where Gemma realizes that her youth has made her ignorant of the hard decisions that individuals sometimes must make.

 

Ultimately, I had a difficult time reconciling this novel with its 'inspiration,' Jane Eyre. Although Livesey has changed a few details, she basically wrote Bronte's novel over in her own words. Reading it felt like an exercise in retracing my steps through reading Jane Eyre many years ago and not as if I was reading a novel merely 'inspired' by another work. In short, I enjoyed this novel largely because of the things it shared with Bronte's novel, a work I very much love and not for anything distinct about Livesey's work. I did think her choice to set the novel in the 1950s worked well and I liked the story line and Gemma's dilemma, but those are thanks to Bronte's creative work and not this author.

 

Stars: 3