We start our adventure in the mid to late 1840s, on a family estate known as Coulibri located on the British colony of Jamaica in the Caribbean. Here, we find a young girl named Antoinette Cosway, who is coming to womanhood against a crumbling white aristocracy (emancipation was recently given to the black slaves of Jamaica, this will later cause tension in Antoinette's life). Her mother, Annette Cosway, is a penniless widow, and the family estate that was once sprawling and prosperous has fallen into decay.
From the beginning, it is obvious that Antoinette has experienced an unloved childhood, a similarity shared by her and Jane Eyre from Bronte's book. However, Antoinette's early stresses result from a neglecting mother, who seems more upset about loosing her old life then providing for her children.
The Cosway Family has managed to keep some slaves as new "servants." There is Christophine, a Martinique woman that was a wedding gift to Annette when she married Alexander. Others include Godfrey and Sass. Annette herself is not from Jamaica, but is of Martinique descent, which causes the other white nobles of Jamaica to shun and ostracize her along with her children, Antoinette and Pierre, the younger and sickly brother of Antoinette. Other figures in Antoinette's childhood include Aunt Cora, Tia (Antoinette's only friend for some time), and Sandi, a half-brother of hers.
After some time, Annette meets an Englishman known simply as "Mr. Mason." They elope and eventually get married, bringing new life and energy to Annette and Coulibri. Throughout their time together, Annette constantly urges Mr. Mason to take the family and leave the estate, though Mr. Mason declines and instead renovates and cleans up the grand house.
One night, a large group of newly freed black slaves approach Coulibri carrying pitchforks and torches. Discontent with the large economic gap between blacks and whites (this includes the Creoles, whom Antoinette is considered one). The rioters then set the estate on fire while Antoinette, Mr. Mason, Annette, Aunt Cora, Christophine, and Pierre flee. While the house is set ablaze, a burning parrot falls dead out of the house. In Caribbean culture, this is considered a bad omen, and after witnessing the death of a parrot many rioters leave. It is later revealed that Antoinette was taken to Aunt Cora's home, where she was ill for nearly six weeks. Pierre, due to his already critical condition dies before the ordeal is over.
Annette, who had already showed signs of mental instability, becomes demented and mad. Mr. Mason leaves her in the care of a black couple (who torment and abuse her). When Antoinette visits her mother, she is violently swung to the ground by Annette. Later, Antoinette enrolls into a convent and stays there until the age of seventeen. By that time, Mr. Mason has already made arrangements to have her married to an Englishman (Edward Rochester, though he is unnamed in the book).
After Antoinette leaves the convent, a shift in narration occurs. We now hear from the Englishman who is to be married to her.
The Englishman, who is most likely Mr. Rochester, is marrying Antoinette out of desperation for money. A deal made by Mr. Mason's first son promises that Rochester will receive 30,000 Pounds and the rights to Antoinette's inheritance. The two have only met but a few times before the ceremony, and they decide to honeymoon at Granbois, an estate inherited by Antoinette. Unfortunately, Granbois is located near a town by the name of Massacre.
While at Granbois, Rochester begins to doubt his marriage to Antoinette, and tense relations grow between him and the new servants, including Antoinette's favorite, Christophine. While honeymooning, Rochester receives several letters from a man by the name of Daniel Cosway, a bastard child of the Cosway family. He tells Rochester of the madness that runs in the family. Rochester later schedules a meeting with Daniel.
Soon it is obvious that Rochester possesses no real love for Antoinette, and Antoinette (whose duty as a 19th century woman is to please her husband) is trying her best to seduce and love her new husband. However, relations become tense, as Rochester gives Antoinette a new name, "Bertha." This upsets Antoinette, who knows that her name stems from her mothers and that Rochester must know about her insanity. Situations become so strained that Antoinette flees to Christophine and persuades her to use obeah, or black magic to make Rochester fall in love with her. With the plan ultimately fails.
As the story progresses, we find that Antoinette has inherited her mother's madness (at least from Rochester's view). Rochester, feeling embarrassed by the scandal, decides to take Antoinette "Bertha" Mason to England with him where he locks her up at Thornfield Hall. She is left in the care of a woman named Grace Pool.
At the conclusion of the story, the narrative switches back to Antoinette. Her speech and thoughts are less complete in cohesive, though they are understandable. It appears as though she is constantly haunted by dreams and visions of Coulibri and Granbois. Delusional and ill, Antoinette believes that she is not in England, that her boat must have arrived at the wrong European port.
One night, a dream comes to Antoinette. In her dream, she is stalking the halls of Thornfield when she accidentally sets it on fire by knocking over a candle. Despite her initial panic, Antoinette decides to make the fire into a blazing inferno that consumes the dreaded house. From that point, Antoinette wakes from her sleep and proceeds down the hall with a candle.
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