Deseret Book version of Jane Eyre

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Jane Eyre is a young Mormon girl orphaned and being raised by a distant, non-Mormon relative who never tells her of her true heritage. She suffers greatly because of this, secretly longing for an eternal family. She is good to all of the children in the school she works in, but knows they can never be hers. When she becomes a governess to a spoiled young girl Adele, who is ward to the mysterious Mr. Rochester, she tries to come to peace with her place in the world, though her heart tells her there is more out there somewhere. Eventually she falls in love with Mr. Rochester and agrees to marry him, hoping that this love will bring her true happiness.

Unfortunately, at her wedding, she discovers that Mr. Rochester is still married to his first wife, who resides in his attic and is a madwoman. Jane is still in love with Rochester, but of course, she can’t marry a bigamist. She flees and is rescued from near certain death by St. John and his sisters, who are Christians and try to convince her to marry St. John and go on a mission with his church to other countries. This speaks deeply to Jane’s soul, but she continues to have vivid dreams of Rochester and she knows she still loves him more deeply than she will ever love anyone. She can’t bring herself to marry St. John, though she wishes him well.

One night, she hears Rochester calling to her and has a vision of a fire in which he may have died. She goes immediately back to his home, to find it has burned to the ground. Rochester nearly died in the fire trying to save his mad wife, who ultimately died. He is living nearby, and Jane goes to him. He explains to her that he is a Mormon and that it doesn’t matter if he is sealed to more than one wife in the eternities. He tells her about the promise of the resurrection, that all his wounds from the fire will be healed, and that he will be a god. He invites Jane to become his goddess, and she agrees, on one condition: that he allow her to write her own story and publish it to all, so that she can convert many others to Mormonism. It is, of course, exactly what Rochester wants from his wife.

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