Mark Matheson, English Professor at the University of Utah, invites you to attend his discussion on the classic British novel Jane Eyre:

"I look forward very much to seeing 'Books and Bridges' friends in November and to discussing Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. I’m rereading the book now with a specific question in mind: 'Why do great Victorian novels remain enduring and powerful for 21st Century readers?' I invite you to ponder this and to bring your thoughts to our gathering. I’m finding Jane Eyre as compelling as ever—in the complexity of the central life that its first-person narration represents, in the unfailing energy of the prose, and in its remarkable evocations of English weather and landscapes. I plan in my remarks to highlight these and other aspects of the novel that establish for me its continuing immediacy. And I’m excited to hear your accounts of your own engagement with Brontë’s extraordinary work."

A Q&A and refreshments will follow. The lecture is free, open to the public, and made possible by a grant from Utah Humanities.

This event is organized by Books & Bridges — a community institute of ideas and conversation. Our mission is to facilitate discussion on the best of human thought. We explore the wisdoms of the world and apply them to modern life. We have no political, religious or ideological affiliation. In a society divided by uncivil discourse, the beauty of the humanities—novels, history, philosophy, poetry, ethics and epics—lifts us to our better angels. In our busy world we need space for friends and fellow learners to do a little more heart-to-heart and mind-to-mind.