Transference: A Short Story from the collection, Reader, I Married Him

Esther Freud trained as an actress before writing her firstnovel, Hideous Kinky, which was shortlisted for the JohnLlewellyn Rhys prize and made into a film starring KateWinslet. After her second novel, Peerless Flats, she waschosen as one of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists.Her other books include The Sea House and Lucky Break,and her most recent, Mr Mac and Me, was shortlisted forthe New Angle Prize and the East Anglian Book Awards.She contributes regularly to newspapers and magazines,and teaches creative writing for the Faber Academy. Shefirst read Jane Eyre as a teenager, and although it remainsone of her favourite novels, she accepts its influence overher early life wasn’t always healthy, especially when, asa lovelorn fourteen year old, she hung out of her window,convinced that someone, somewhere was calling to her.

Praise for the full collection, READER, I MARRIED HIM: -

”'Dazzling” - DAILY MAIL

”'The success of this book owes much to [Chevalier’s] enthusiasm … it’s quite amazing to see the quality of work on show” - EVENING STANDARD

”'A terrific set of stories by some of our leading novelists, each of whom engages with a chosen aspect of Jane Eyre” - THE NEW STATESMAN

”'A clever idea well-executed; a treat for fans of short fiction and for Brontë's many ardent fans” - KIRKUS REVIEWS

”'Exemplary…written by some of today's best female writers” - THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE

”'These pieces create a beguiling picture of women and men and desire, in which everyone is searching, like Jane, for happiness and wondering whether marriage is really an answer. The book acts as a prism spreading all kinds of literary and historical refractions, and it’s a reminder that Charlotte Brontë, too, has many sides” - GLOBE AND MAIL