About Colleen Alles
Colleen Alles is a native Michigander and award-winning writer living in Grand Rapids. The author of two novels, a full-length poetry collection, and four poetry chapbooks; she’s also the Poetry Editor of The Lakeshore Review and a contributing fiction editor with Barren Magazine. Her fiction and poetry have appeared in Red Cedar Review, Tar River Poetry, Third Wednesday, The Write Michigan Anthology, The Michigan Poet, and other places. Colleen’s work was recently long listed for The Fugere Book Prize for Finely Crafted Novellas (Regal House Publishing).
When Colleen isn’t reading or writing, she enjoys distance running and spending time with her family.
The first time I read Jane Eyre, I was sixteen in Mr. Daly’s literature class. The story struck me as a strange one: a gothic mansion, a wife locked in an attic, a typhoid outbreak, a ward with uncertain parentage, a man so unable to express his feelings he dresses as a fortune teller at a party, a stalwart missionary offering a romance-less marriage, and one of the few times in literature, I think when a wedding officiant asks during a vow exchange if anyone objects to this union, and someone stands up in the back of the church and actually says I object.
Many years later, I came back to Jane Eyre and upon a second reading, fell in love. The book is a marvel, and this contemporary retelling is my love letter to Charlotte Brontë — a brilliant woman writing at a time when women were not encouraged to write. I’ve read Jane Eyre half a dozen times now, and every time I do, I see something different in Jane, in Mr. Rochester, in Helen. These characters are flawed and enduring and endlessly engaging. The hallmark of a great book is that you can reread it and somehow, it manages to feel familiar and at the same time, brand new.
While not every plot element is present in The Hound of Thornfield High, this story tries to explore how a young Jane might navigate our 21st-century world, feeling as she often did alone; seeking as she tirelessly did love and connection and her place in the world.
For their enduring patience and support as I workshopped this novel, I would like to thank Norman Belanger, Garrett Stack, and Megan Turner.
Many thanks to Laura Wackwitz for guiding me through a revision of this book. Thank you to Brittany McMunn and Abigail Wild and the whole team at Conquest Publishing for supporting me and seeing the magic in Jane, too!
Thank you, as always, to my family and in particular, my famously patient husband, Micah Alles.
And thank you, Dear Reader! I hope you enjoy this book and that it inspires you to dive deeper into Charlotte Brontë’s world.
Cover design by Abigail Baia
Title The Hound of Thornfield High
Author Colleen Alles
Target Audience Young Adult
Publication Date November 19th 2024 by Conquest Publishing
Find It On Goodreads ● Amazon ● Barnes & Noble
The Hound of Thornfield High is a retelling of Charlotte Bronte’s 1847 classic, Jane Eyre, but as a contemporary young adult novel.
In this rendition, Jane Eyre, seventeen, is a student at Thornfield High. Ready for a fun senior year with her best friend, Helen Burns, Jane is quickly unmoored by Eddie Rochester, a new student who matriculates when Thornfield High merges with Milcott High. Unfortunately, Eddie is already dating Bertha Mason.
When the relationship between Eddie and Bertha sours, Eddie begins chasing the beautiful Blanche Ingram. Meanwhile, Jane uncovers a secret that jeopardizes everything she knows about her family. To complicate Jane’s heart, SJ Rivers confesses feelings for her, too.
This is Jane Eyre’s story, adapted for younger readers, and told in our contemporary world of cell phones, text messages, and social media; it’s still, at heart, the story of a resilient woman, her journey to discover who she is, and what she really wants.
