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My sister laid claim to Jane Eyre long before I did. I'm not sure why; maybe she identified with the feeling Jane had of being on the outside looking in. My own favorite book growing up was Wuthering Heights by Charlotte's sister, Emily. I loved the romance and atmosphere of the long, foreboding moors, not to mention the romance between the violent and temperamental outcast, Heathcliff, and his love, the more privileged but equally unpredictable, Cathy. Their doomed love affair drew me in. I tried giving Jane Eyre a chance when I was about 13 but, like I said-in my mind-she belonged to my sister, Devon.

It wasn't until college when I rediscovered Jane Eyre, on my own and apart from my sister; we were assigned it in an English lit class my junior year. I found myself devouring the chapters, putting aside other work to follow Jane and her journey from being locked in the attic by her cruel aunt at Gateshead-surrounded by her mean, bullying cousins-to her education at Lowood School and finally to Thornfield, the heart of the story (which is where she meets the fascinating and mysterious Mr. Rochester). I hadn't realized that the lonely, shy, orphan Jane-who I'd once cast away-was an independent spirit full of passion. She had to overcome so many obstacles to find happiness, but with her sure and quiet determination, Jane stood out and made a life for herself when everything was working against her. And, in a society that didn't make things easy for women, she did it on her own terms.

I think the novel's a classic because of the way it speaks to readers and has lasted through time. Any plain-Jane, anyone who occasionally feels like they're on the outside looking in, can identify with Jane and her struggle to find her place in the world. It's a book about second chances  and overcoming obstacles. There are  also the more literary aspects: the gothic elements-the large, foreboding manor at Thornfield, the madwoman in the attic (which a book about feminism was based on)-plus what it said about the times and the limited options for women and the servant class. I didn't get a very good grade on the paper I wrote for that lit class; my professor was more interested in what the book said about "The Other" in society (whereas I was more concerned with Jane and Mr. Rochester!).

"Jane Eyre propelled Charlotte Bronte, who published it under the name Currer Bell, to fame. Some other great books of Charlotte Bronte, which I confess I have not read, are Shirley and Vilette. Vilette was recommended to me recently by Penguin author Ceridwen Dovey in an essay she wrote about books featuring school teachers. Dovey wrote, "Lucy Snowe may have unconventional teaching methods (such as tearing up homework or locking students in closets for misbehaving), but has gratitude to her students for opening up to her a ‘whole undercurrent of life and character.'" Lucy is propelled from governess (like Jane) to an English teacher at a small boarding school in Brussels. She is full of doubt, and wondering at her own place-like Jane. You can also read about Charlotte Bronte's in Penguin's forthcoming Becoming Jane Eyre, by Sheila Kohler, who has created a captivating fictional account of what it was like while Charlotte wrote her great masterpiece.

Even now, after all these years, my sister and I still retain our separate copies of the Bronte sisters' work that we so admired growing up (we've also seen the movies, and even the short lived Jane Eyre play on Broadway). The books were gifts given to us by our aunt when we were small and now, as adults, we can appreciate more than ever what once belonged to just the other.

Courtney Allison is an Associate Publicist at Viking Books

View the Ten Essential Penguin Classics

Kendra Levin is an Associate Editor at Viking Children's Books

Penguin Penguin Books Penguin Classics Jane Eyre Wuthering Heights Charlotte Bronte Emily Bronte Courtney Allison