Has anyone checked on Emily Brontë?

Book Review: Wuthering Heights

After I finished reading the last page and closed the book I turned to my husband and said, “Has anyone checked on Emily Brontë? Is she okay?”

Chances are, if you’ve not read Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, you might have been misled to believe, as I was, that it’s a romance novel. Maybe it was my own ignorance that had me mentally shelve this Victorian-era novel next to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice because I went into this novel expecting a light romance story, but what I ended up reading was a haunting story of destructive love and brutal revenge.

Before I picked up a copy of this nearly 200-year-old Gothic novel, I only knew two things about it. The first being that it was written by one of the Brontë sisters (although I couldn’t remember which one). The second was a quote from the story, “He’s more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.”

Out of context from the rest of this novel, this quote makes it easy to assume that this is a gentle love story and that their souls are made of devotion, tenderness, and passion. In reality, their souls are made of malice, obsessive love, and violent vindictiveness.

After reading the last page and closing the book, I turned to my husband and said, “Has anyone checked on Emily Brontë? Is she okay?” Listen, I understand that Emily has been dead for 175 years, but this book is so twisted, dark, and violent that it made me want to hop into a time machine and check on the mental health of the 30-year-old British woman who wrote this book.

And, while you’re at it, maybe someone should check on me too because I loved everything about this dark tale and its very unlikeable characters. I kid, I’m totally fine! No one worry about me. Admittedly, I’m just a sucker for a dark novel with complex themes.

Wuthering Heights hadn’t been on my radar until I saw it suggested for people who love East of Eden by John Steinbeck. East of Eden has long been one of my favorite books. Steinbeck’s magnum opus explores the devastating consequences that are handed down within a family to the next generation because of the sins of their fathers.

Both books beg the question of whether some are born evil or if they are a product of their experiences, and if the violent and tragic cycle can be broken. Seeing Wuthering Heights compared to East of Eden made me cock my head to the side and say, “Hmm…maybe I’m wrong about this book.” The very next day, I ran straight to my local bookstore to pick up a copy.

Wuthering Heights is a love story, but it’s not a feel-good cozy “will they, won’t they” romance. It’s a tragic, brutal tale about obsessive love and violence, and it’s packed full of characters ranging from deeply flawed to shockingly detestable. It’s about a love unfulfilled and how it can rot a person to their core. It’s about how bitterness and anger can fester, turning a person who was once a victim into the very person who brutalized them. Wuthering Heights is haunting and dark but somehow still horribly beautiful.

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⭐️ Book Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

• This book is for you if you…

  • Love dark, moody novels

  • Don’t mind flawed characters

  • Like a story that spans generations

  • Find beauty in tragic storylines

  • Like unreliable narrarators

  • Like when the setting of a book feels almost like another character in the story.

• Book suggestions if you like Wuthering Heights:

  • East of Eden by John Steinbeck

  • The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

  • Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton

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In the comment section, let me know if you have read Wuthering Heights before. If so, did you love it or hate it? I promise there are no wrong answers.