"Becoming Jane Eyre," by Sheila Kohler, is a tale of the creation of Charlotte Bronte's 1847 novel, "Jane Eyre."

The story begins with Bronte sitting vigil by her father's sickbed. She uses the long, silent hours to craft an amalgam of experience and imagination, dreams and disappointments, which becomes "Jane Eyre."

Kohler also crafts an amalgam of fact and imagination. In her story, Bronte is beset - with financial concerns, with an addicted sibling and with the quest for a distant parent's affection.

"Jane Eyre" won acclaim for its unstudied tone; Kohler's story pays homage to its predecessor in atmosphere and cadence, but the lack of artifice -
of structure - here is not without cost.