Charlotte Brontë · 1847 · First edition text, 1847
Jane Eyre
Jane Eyre (1847) tells its own coming-of-age story in first person — an orphaned governess, a brooding employer, and a secret in the attic at Thornfield Hall. The Psychologist reading companion in IO reader follows Jane’s interior reasoning as she narrates it, which is most of what makes the novel work.
Read the opening in Reels
PART I · PARAGRAPH
There was no possibility of taking a walk that day. We had been wandering, indeed, in the leafless shrubbery an hour in the morning; but since dinner (Mrs. Reed, when there was no company, dined early) the cold winter wind had brought with it clouds so sombre, and a rain so penetrating, that further outdoor exercise was now out of the question.
There was no possibility of taking a walk that day.
Jane Eyre · Charlotte Brontë
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The facts
| Length | about 185,400 words · 7,720 sentences |
|---|---|
| In sentence cards | about 515 minutes |
| Difficulty | steady |
| First line | There was no possibility of taking a walk that day. |
| Themes | Gateshead · Lowood · Thornfield · Moor House · Ferndean |
Is Jane Eyre hard to read?
It's long but told in Jane's own plain, direct voice, so it moves faster than its length suggests. In sentence cards it's about 515 minutes.
Which translation is this?
None needed — the original 1847 English text, public domain.
How long is Jane Eyre?
About 185,400 words across five settings; roughly 7,720 sentences.
Read Jane Eyre in IO reader
Colophon
Text: First edition text, 1847, from Project Gutenberg (pg:1260). Cover: Standard Ebooks CC0 cover, charlotte-bronte/jane-eyre. Reviewed 2026-09-04.