In BECOMING JANE EYRE, Sheila Kohler uses extensive research and her own imagination to bring the tragedy-filled circumstances of Charlotte Brontë and her family vividly to life. BECOMING JANE EYRE is the story of Anne, Emily and Charlotte as they struggle with love, family, finances and their writing.

There is a castle in THE DISTANT HOURS, and a moat, not to mention a deep forest; there is a trio of slightly batty, secretive sisters; there is a likable protagonist --- an editor, passionate about reading --- who goes sleuthing where she shouldn’t; and there is one particularly crucial dark and stormy night. There is romance, too, but most of the love affairs lie in the past and are forbidden and/or thwarted.

Sterling is a small, ordinary New Hampshire town where nothing ever happens --- until the day its complacency is shattered by a shocking act of violence. In the aftermath, the town's residents must not only seek justice in order to begin healing but also come to terms with the role they played in the tragedy.