Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte Book Review

Released: 1847

Genre: Gothic, Drama

Number of pages: 402

Emily Bronte's only surviving novel, Wuthering Heights, is considered a classic of English literature for its darker story and characters.

Taking place in the late 1700s and early 1800s, Ellen Dean is a servant to a wealthy but deeply dysfunctional family. She tells the story of growing feuds between the Earnshaws and the Lintons that lead both families to ruin. The book is notable for its darker themes of domestic abuse, addiction and mistreatment under Britain’s class system with many violent arguments along the way. Most of the chapters are dedicated to conversations which swap between the eloquent family members and less literate servants.

The major players on the titular estate are richly detailed. Mr Heathcliff is adopted from an unknown origin and soon grows into a bitter and violent man. Cathy's teenage obsession with her cousin Linton is presented in intimate detail and the slow degradation of the older family members hangs over the narrative. Even the most well-off members of society are not spared by events. With the story taking place over three decades, we get plenty of detail on how they change.

As with all novels from the Victorian period, every piece of the novel is very wordy and often requires some extra mental finesse from the reader to follow. Sometimes changes in the perspective are hard to pick up. Only those who have studied older literature will feel completely at home, but the novel still succeeds at conveying both attitudes and the class structure of its time period. The atmosphere of the Yorkshire hills also shines through, marked by detailed descriptions of both weather and the surrounding environment.

Recommended?

YES: While the older language will be very unwieldy, Wuthering Heights remains an absorbing tale that immerses you in the darker story and characters. Their interactions and underlying tensions are greatly emphasised, showing the estate breaking apart at the seams.