Jane’s ad got a bite. This week, our heroine makes the acquaintance of her suspected employer, Mrs. Fairfax; Jane takes on the education of one Adèle Varens; and what’s the deal with Thornfield Hall?
Holidays are hitting different this year, what with all the plague, but we at Whoa!mance are pledging to keep our Christmas humor to the last. This week, Morgan and Isabeau shack up with this festive friends-to-lovers novella, One Bed for Christmas by Jackie Lau. Our hero, Wes Chang, a freelance artist and barbershop quartet mascot, is thrown by fate or meteorological happenstance into close proximity with his college friend, long time crush, and successful dating app CEO, Caitlin Ng, when a sudden snow storm leaves her stranded in Wes' modest working person’s apartment. What began as a convenience of warmth blossoms into a confirmation of long held desires, as Wes and Caitin are imbued with the magic of both holidays and snow days. Does capitalism prevent us from keeping the holiday spirit alive year round? Does the kaleidoscopic nature of Christmas belie a dragon chase of toxic nostalgia? Is the “one bed” a metaphor for our singular planet hurtling toward climate destruction, leaving us to grasp and cling to whomever happens to be closest? This one's dedicated to all the bars we wish we could close this holiday season. Stay home and stay safe.
Who knew bungling a health crisis could lead to a change in leadership? This week, conditions at Lowood improve when Mr. Brocklehurst files for unemployment, eight years fall away like a cartoon calendar, and our heroine has an epiphany about the classified ads.
This chapter hits way different during a global pandemic y’all. This week, Spring brings typhus to Lowood, Jane, in good health, is free to wander the grounds, and the harsh reality of Helen’s health comes into sharp focus.
Did you ever watch those Geico caveman commercials and think, “I bet that hoss can really lay some club?” This week, Morgan and Isabeau plow for answers in Transcendence, a prehistoric romp by Shay Savage. It opens with our heroine and unaccompanied minor, Beth, traveling tesseract-style through millennia to arrive in the welcoming and paternally minded arms of our hero, a Homo savage known only by the guttural proclamation of, “Ehd”. Beth, similarly truncated to just “Beh” for the ease of her new partner, must navigate a preverbal relationship, find footing in a vastly undeveloped world, and acquiesce to a blossoming love affair that only the threat of death can provide. Where would you journey to in a personal time machine? Does Beth being 15 make it weird? When you picture a prehistoric man, what do you see, and why is it a tan Brendan Fraiser? Tune in for questions and commentary guaranteed to make your bed rock.
Few things are worse than a poorly fact-checked public shaming. This week, Helen comforts our girl Jane in her post-Brocklehurst woes, Ms. Temple offers solace and a seed cake, and Jane finally gets to bask in the warm glow of absolution.