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4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
Loved this so much. Great character development, compelling and poignant portrayal of a toxic relationship that seemed beyond it’s time, Anne Brontë’s insight into human relationships and introspection is on point, and great vehicle for the novel’s recurring themes of life after death and salvation. Dare I say favorite Brontë novel I’ve read?
challenging
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Strong entry in the Bronte sisters' efforts. Comes across melodramatic and heavy handed at times now, but you can see Anne Bronte felt strongly about her themes.
you know it’s a good book if you despise a character by heart. yes, i’m talking to you artuhr huntingdon
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
What a joy to read! I wish I’d read it sooner!
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It's a great feeling to go into a novel that was 'shocking' in its time and still be genuinely shocked by it. As the social comedy of blundering Gilbert Markham folds seamlessly into Helen's impassioned and chillingly foreshadowed account of her husband's decadence and abuse, I found myself as appalled as I was gripped. Reading the Brontës gives you the feeling of being in intimate and sometimes uncomfortable proximity to reality, for better or worse. With few other novels of the time do you get the same powerful sense of its author's lived experience informing their sharpest insights and darkest episodes. It's Anne's masterstroke that Arthur Huntingdon is not an archetype of irredeemable demonic cruelty, but something more painfully human than that: a shell of aristocratic, boyish debauchery wrapped around a void of purpose. As a proxy for her alcoholic brother Branwell, she imbues the character with a nuance that only someone with personal experience could comprehend and relate. It's no wonder that the book was so controversial at the time of its publication, nor (however crushing the betrayal) that her sister Charlotte sought to suppress it after Anne's death. It's simply so real, so raw and so painfully accurate in its observation of human (and uniquely male) devastation that it leaves an indelible, lingering mark: one that is easier to reproach and ignore than willingly confront.