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4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
a really good story that shows a lot about how women really lived and how they were treated back then - demeaned and disregarded in their emotions. helen’s story is likely very similar to many real women at the time of her living… disrespected and mistreated by her husband.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
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
I have finally read something by Anne Brontë, and I regret taking so long. This novel is arguably more progressively feminist than any of her sisters'. Though the start felt slow, I became riveted about a third of the way through and gobbled up the remaining pages in all my spare time. It's been a while since I've been so invested in characters that I felt antsy to know how their stories would end. Gilbert Markham is less likable than Helen Graham, but the latter is so deeply wonderful as a character that it makes up for the lack of any romantically-desirable males in the book. Through Helen's marriage, Anne paints a vivid and uncomfortable inside look at an abusive relationship. I wish Helen would have drawn stronger boundaries once she saw him for what he was (arguably borderline?), but even the little that she did was shocking at the time.
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
hopeful
reflective
sad
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
The overly preachy tone of this book quite spoiled the story for me. This is the first Anne Bronte I have read. What those poor women must have put up with from their addicted brother seems to have darkened the tone all of their novels.
A re-read, but as I didn't remember a word of it, it was like reading anew! (This happened with Jane Eyre too) I got through it quite quickly as it was very engaging. It is a feminist tale and watches how a young woman matures from romantic notions of reforming her husband to leaving him and his abuse behind. Sandwiched by how she deals with a new love interest who has no idea she is married. Makes me want to read again to see where the clues first are that she is not who she seems to be. There are holes in the plot and inconsistencies in the characters but I can ignore them.
The story of what happens after the wedding bells stop and the wedding feast is over, when the heroine has wed the man who swept her off her feet and married her before she could really get to know him. More real-life and less angst than Charlotte or Emily's books, which is very likely why it is so much less popular. I felt like I had been with governess Anne, observing what truly can happen in a wealthy household (and not from governess Jane Eyre's perspective). Which is not to say the story was all negative.
I also found this interesting in the continuum of the 19th century British novel - after Jane Austen's quieter books that end in happy marriages and George Elliot's Middlemarch with its full depiction of marrying couples and village life.
I vacillated between 3 and 4 stars but went with four for its unshrinking depiction of alcoholism.
I also found this interesting in the continuum of the 19th century British novel - after Jane Austen's quieter books that end in happy marriages and George Elliot's Middlemarch with its full depiction of marrying couples and village life.
I vacillated between 3 and 4 stars but went with four for its unshrinking depiction of alcoholism.
Anne is no Charlotte, but The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is entertaining and hints at her sister's (not Emily's) unnatural ability to capture the pain of unrequited love.
This book is one of those books that get better when re-reading.
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-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