Hello and welcome to Storytime for grownups.

I'm Faith Moore, and this season we're reading Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.

Each episode, I'll read one chapter from the book,

pausing from time to time to give brief explanations so it's easier to follow along.

It's like an audiobook with built-in notes.

So brew a pot of tea, find a cozy chair,

and settle in. It's chapter 26. We left Jane waking up on the morning of her wedding. So this is her wedding day. And I hope you all have turned in your RSVPs because we get front row seats.

Welcome to Storytime for Grownups,

episode 26. I'm very glad that you're here. I'm very excited to share this chapter with you. Before we get started, I want to briefly mention an article that I have out this week in

the American mind. It's called There Is No Mr. Rochester. Reject the fiction of

perfection for the messiness of the world outside your head. So it's not really about Jane Eyre,

but it uses the romance between Jane and Mr. Rochester to explore kind of why I think people are so

lonely these days. and the difference between fictional

romance and the real romances that we want to have, but many of us are struggling to have.

So I put a link in the show notes if you're interested. I hope you'll check that out.

There are no spoilers if you've reached this far. So if you're all caught up, which I assume you are because you're

listening to this episode, then there are no spoilers in that piece. If you haven't made it through

chapter 23, then there are spoilers. But if you haven't made it through chapter 23, you should

go back and listen to chapter 23 or whichever chapter you've missed because we are reading

Jane Eyre chapter by chapter

with a few notes along the way. So welcome to everyone wherever you are in this journey, whether

you're here in real time with us, whether you're catching up, or whether this is your very first

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