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4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
This book is about a farmer who is intrigued by the new tenant that's moved into the nearby Wildfell Hall and manages to get her to tell him the story of how she came to reside there. I really enjoyed this book. It is rather slow paced and very character driven but I liked the plot and I am interested in reading Anne Bronte's other novel. I liked both the main characters and I enjoyed reading from their perspectives. The book could be a little dense in places but on the whole I found it easy to read. Overall, I think that this was a very good book that I would recommend if it is something you feel like you might enjoy.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I tore through this - it's so gripping and vivid, but it's a Harrowihg depiction of emotional abuse and spousal control. I also honestly think Helen would have been better off not marrying Gilbert frankly - he prioritises his romantic attachment to her above all else, including her desires. At points he straight up lies to her!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship
Moderate: Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Alcohol
Moderate: Addiction, Infidelity, Violence
hopeful
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
"You too have suffered, I suppose."
"I suffered much, at first."
"When was that?"
"Two years ago; and two years hence you will be as calm as I am now-- and far, far happier, I trust, for you are a man, and free to act as you please."
As many, many people have remarked before me, this is no Jane Eyre, but it is an exceptionally well-written novel that places Anne Brontë among not only among the premier novelists of her day, but also among the striking visionaries (along with her sister Charlotte) who were communally asserting that women had independent minds and wants, and deserved to be written in literature as they existed in real life. I love Jane Eyre, so I may be very biased on this point, but I can see that Anne is trying to imitate the full, intimate nature of Jane's mind in the character of Helen, but only fails by conveying her to us at a narrative distance too far to deliver the same impact. But I know that reading reviews about classic literature can be overwhelming (and often unhelpful if you don't know the other works with which the reviewer is analyzing and comparing the present one), so I'll instead give a basic list of positives and negatives about this admittedly long and ambitious novel.
Likes:
The fleshed-out web of characters makes the story seem more real and avoids the sort of tunnel vision that 19th-century British novels often succumb to because of isolated social situations.
As a heroine, Helen strikes a near-perfect balance of playing out her patient and loving character but still being reasonable in her limits. She seems very real (in being a woman of her time and station in life). It's also clear that Anne put a lot of thought into how someone as traumatized as Helen would behave henceforth around strangers.
Although the dialogue struggles sometimes, Anne is a wonderful writer. Surprisingly, she seems more comfortable writing from Gilbert's point of view than Helen's, despite the latter having much more of her personality as well as obviously sharing more similar experiences.
Dislikes:
Because the narrative jumps around, it is rather difficult to keep up with the characters (Who is who, who is related to who, where each person lives and what their occupations are, etc.) especially when we return to the present at the end of the novel.
The second volume, which is entirely taken up by Helen's diary, is far too long and pulls us out of the present for too long for us to return without feeling out of place and confused.
Gilbert, despite supposedly being the patient hero, can be very dramatic and irritating (when he flings himself over the wall and has a fit on the ground, I had to put the book down and stare into the distance for a minute).
General comments:
This is not a light read. Although nothing conventionally triggering actually occurs, one of the characters is so deplorable that you may still want to look up the content warnings.
This is not a love story. Romance is a part of it, but if you are looking for something more like Jane Eyre, steer toward Jane Austen and not the other Brontë sisters. The "romance" in this story has about three pages of payoff at the very end out of the 383 pages in my edition.
If you think the first volume is dragging so much that you might not finish the novel, I would say you could skip to the second volume (where Helen's diary is introduced) and not miss much of anything other than the romance mildly building.
TL;DR: A great classic, but not exactly pleasure reading, and I would recommend you start with Jane Eyre if you're venturing into Brontë literature! :)
"I suffered much, at first."
"When was that?"
"Two years ago; and two years hence you will be as calm as I am now-- and far, far happier, I trust, for you are a man, and free to act as you please."
As many, many people have remarked before me, this is no Jane Eyre, but it is an exceptionally well-written novel that places Anne Brontë among not only among the premier novelists of her day, but also among the striking visionaries (along with her sister Charlotte) who were communally asserting that women had independent minds and wants, and deserved to be written in literature as they existed in real life. I love Jane Eyre, so I may be very biased on this point, but I can see that Anne is trying to imitate the full, intimate nature of Jane's mind in the character of Helen, but only fails by conveying her to us at a narrative distance too far to deliver the same impact. But I know that reading reviews about classic literature can be overwhelming (and often unhelpful if you don't know the other works with which the reviewer is analyzing and comparing the present one), so I'll instead give a basic list of positives and negatives about this admittedly long and ambitious novel.
Likes:
The fleshed-out web of characters makes the story seem more real and avoids the sort of tunnel vision that 19th-century British novels often succumb to because of isolated social situations.
As a heroine, Helen strikes a near-perfect balance of playing out her patient and loving character but still being reasonable in her limits. She seems very real (in being a woman of her time and station in life). It's also clear that Anne put a lot of thought into how someone as traumatized as Helen would behave henceforth around strangers.
Although the dialogue struggles sometimes, Anne is a wonderful writer. Surprisingly, she seems more comfortable writing from Gilbert's point of view than Helen's, despite the latter having much more of her personality as well as obviously sharing more similar experiences.
Dislikes:
Because the narrative jumps around, it is rather difficult to keep up with the characters (Who is who, who is related to who, where each person lives and what their occupations are, etc.) especially when we return to the present at the end of the novel.
The second volume, which is entirely taken up by Helen's diary, is far too long and pulls us out of the present for too long for us to return without feeling out of place and confused.
Gilbert, despite supposedly being the patient hero, can be very dramatic and irritating (when he flings himself over the wall and has a fit on the ground, I had to put the book down and stare into the distance for a minute).
General comments:
This is not a light read. Although nothing conventionally triggering actually occurs, one of the characters is so deplorable that you may still want to look up the content warnings.
This is not a love story. Romance is a part of it, but if you are looking for something more like Jane Eyre, steer toward Jane Austen and not the other Brontë sisters. The "romance" in this story has about three pages of payoff at the very end out of the 383 pages in my edition.
If you think the first volume is dragging so much that you might not finish the novel, I would say you could skip to the second volume (where Helen's diary is introduced) and not miss much of anything other than the romance mildly building.
TL;DR: A great classic, but not exactly pleasure reading, and I would recommend you start with Jane Eyre if you're venturing into Brontë literature! :)
challenging
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
informative
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
Though I started skipping entire paragraphs and sometimes pages of the author going n and on relentlessly about the états d’âmes of the characters, I really enjoyed this book. Though incredibly frustrated at them idiots lack of communication skills- though I guess there’d be no conflict without it.
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes