Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (1847)

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (1847)

The only novel by Emily Brontë published a year before her death.

Laura’s Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

Plot: Young Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff are in love but destined for heartbreak and tragedy in the Yorkshire Moors. 

Analysis: I read this in preparation to see the recent movie. I genuinely thought I would hate this and surprisingly, I didn’t. I didn’t love it either, but I could actually follow the plot and remained interested (which I can’t say for similar books from the era like Sense and Sensibility or Jane Eyre). 

For the time, the questions of race, agency, and legacy were relevant and provocative. The story is scandalous and drama filled, which keeps the reader interested on the surface while more layered events unfold simultaneously under the surface. I will say that quite literally all of the characters are unlikeable, terrible people. Even the plot lines I was rooting for were morally questionable. 

Many people (in my opinion) misinterpret this story as a yearning romance, but it’s more about being trapped by circumstance and societal expectations. I’d recommend it for someone looking to get into a gothic romance story.