Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë: Penguin Classics | Iconic Victorian Gothic Romance | Now a Major Motion Picture Starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi

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'Wuthering Heights is commonly thought of as "romantic", but try rereading it without being astonished by the extremes of physical and psychological violence' Jeanette Winterson Emily Brontë's novel of impossible desires, violence and transgression is a masterpiece of intense, unsettling power. It begins in a snowstorm, when Lockwood, the new tenant of Thrushcross Grange on the bleak Yorkshire moors, is forced to seek shelter at Wuthering Heights. There he discovers the history of the tempestuous events that took place years before: the intense passion between the foundling Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw, her betrayal of him and the bitter vengeance he now wreaks on the innocent heirs of the past. Edited with an Introduction and notes by PAULINE NESTOR Preface by LUCASTA MILLER Review: Perfect condition - No smeared corners Review: Loved revisiting this classic! - How do I even review Wuthering Heights? Twenty years after reading Emily Brontë’s only published masterpiece for the first time, it wasn’t surprising to note that the novel stirred up the same emotions. However, a wiser me also sympathised with the wronged innocents. I am trying to pen a review for those who are yet to read this. Readers accustomed to reading modern literature might find the language a tad archaic. The paragraphs are lengthy, as was the norm in that era. Thankfully, this book came with a glossary. I found, to my surprise, that it was helpful to me as well. Joseph’s dialogues were a bit tricky, but once I got the hang of the words, it became easier to navigate the book. For the uninitiated, he is a servant at Wuthering Heights and speaks in a Yorkshire dialect. The characters are a reviewer’s (and a critic’s) delight. Catherine Earnshaw is the headstrong heroine of the novel. Her oscillations between her sympathy for Heathcliff and the newfound admiration for the rich Lintons are believable. Plagued by depression, her behaviour in the later stages evokes sadness from the readers. Heathcliff is the brooding, vengeance-driven anti-hero. Despite his unforgivable deeds, I couldn’t but wonder how things would have panned out if Hindley had been kind to the foundling or if Heathcliff had overheard Catherine’s passionate line, “Nelly, I am Heathcliff—he's always, always in my mind—not as a pleasure, anymore than I am always a pleasure to myself—but, as my own being—so, don’t talk of our separation again…” Rereading this made me think of the two primary narrators, Mrs. Dean and Mr. Lockwood. The novel also features a few fleeting ones, like Isabella and Zillah, but I will concentrate on the major ones. How reliable was Mrs. Dean as she recounted the tale to Mr. Lockwoood? How much bias might have crept into her narrative? Seeing the way she took liberties while conveying (or not) the messages to their intended recipients, she also had a hand in steering the wheel of the plot. Coming to Heathcliff, I am in a quandary. Here was an orphan, shunned by many. Did that justify his revenge by committing despicable deeds? That, I believe, is the beauty of his characterisation—the antihero with not just feet of clay but immense and irredeemable flaws. Wuthering Heights, as a result, remains a classic to this day, and I still love it to bits.