When Charlotte Bronte gave the last words of Jane Eyre to the uncertain fate of the ardent missionary St John Rivers, she invited readers to imagine unfinished business. A Marble Column takes Jane, Rochester and his daughter Adele to Southern India, to discover what has become of him. The novel develops the characters and themes of Bronte's original in language which echoes her style but pares down its Victorian elaborations. Set against a rich background in which the patterns of Imperial rule have not yet hardened, this lively and far-reaching sequel is a voyage of inner discovery which puts great loves to the test.