Since Jane Eyre is one of my favorite books of all time, I was skeptical when I read the dust jacket on this one. Decided to go for it. It was kind of neat knowing the general gist of the story. I kept reading as much to see how Livesey dealt with things in the modern situation as for what happened to Gemma. 
 The big shock seemed a little underdone by the time I got there. Is it really enough to spin someone off onto a completely new path? I wouldn't think so and the story doesn't convince me that it does. Of course, crazy wife in the attic might not work today as it did in Bronte's time, but I would think you could come up with something more than a lie. Especially a lie that wasn't one. She knew he hadn't told her everything, just as she hadn't told him everything. 
 I liked the spiritualism aspect of the book. That seems true to the original. I also appreciated the treatment of Gemma. We root for Jane but, and I think it's part of the writing of the time, we never really get to know Jane. It's what makes adaptations to film so difficult and varied. So much is under-played and internal in Jane Eyre. Livesey "unpacks" some of that and we get to see Gemma's thoughts and feelings in a way Charlotte Bronte doesn't, perhaps can't, offer with Jane. 
 Sure makes me want to take a trip to Scotland!