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4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
slow-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
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The tenant of Wildfell Hall is a re-read - again - decidedly, 2020 has been my re-reading year ! And this is a beautiful novel, a bit too religious for non-religious me, but a wonderful feminist novel.
Recently, I re-read Agnes Grey and even if I loved it, I prefer this one. Because here, I found the fire that is to me related to the Brontë family. Helen had fire and Gilbert had fire (a bit too much : the fight with Lawrence). What I mean by that is that they are not flawless characters, but completely believable and human, passionate persons who don't care what people might think of them as long as they act according to their conscience. In this place and time, it's a brave attitude.
This novel produced a shock when it was published, for in this well bred society where reputation was everything, that a wife should refuse herself to her husband, or run away with her son, was completely scandalous ! But Anne, having witnessed her drunken/addict brother's behaviour, seeing this woman in her village who left her violent husband, thought that she should write about the subject, something that wasn't talked about, that was tolerated, whatever you might think of it. It was so easier to look the other way.
That a younger clergyman's daughter, living in a small village far from everything, was able to write something like that always amazes me and makes me giddy with enthusiasm. Agnes Grey talked about the condition of governesses, those ghosts between worlds in Victorian society, here she wrote about women's dignity and right to freedom : she wrote to change the world, to make a difference. That she should be considered the lesser of the Brontë sisters is incomprehensible and will remain a mystery to me. All this because she was reported to be meek and shy ! But she had personality and a backbone, her writings prove that. Go Anne !
Recently, I re-read Agnes Grey and even if I loved it, I prefer this one. Because here, I found the fire that is to me related to the Brontë family. Helen had fire and Gilbert had fire (a bit too much : the fight with Lawrence). What I mean by that is that they are not flawless characters, but completely believable and human, passionate persons who don't care what people might think of them as long as they act according to their conscience. In this place and time, it's a brave attitude.
This novel produced a shock when it was published, for in this well bred society where reputation was everything, that a wife should refuse herself to her husband, or run away with her son, was completely scandalous ! But Anne, having witnessed her drunken/addict brother's behaviour, seeing this woman in her village who left her violent husband, thought that she should write about the subject, something that wasn't talked about, that was tolerated, whatever you might think of it. It was so easier to look the other way.
That a younger clergyman's daughter, living in a small village far from everything, was able to write something like that always amazes me and makes me giddy with enthusiasm. Agnes Grey talked about the condition of governesses, those ghosts between worlds in Victorian society, here she wrote about women's dignity and right to freedom : she wrote to change the world, to make a difference. That she should be considered the lesser of the Brontë sisters is incomprehensible and will remain a mystery to me. All this because she was reported to be meek and shy ! But she had personality and a backbone, her writings prove that. Go Anne !
dark
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
emotional
mysterious
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
hopeful
inspiring
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:
No
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
read and reviewed by: sept 2025
read this book in order to have read a book by each bronte sister, and partly because of the scandal caused at the time. but i mostly picked this out on a bit of whim.
i give this book credit for having the heroineactually leave the guy when she realizes he's messed up unlike jane eyre. much as i loved charlotte bronte's masterpiece a few years back, something about this touched me much more deeply than that more lauded, critically acclaimed work by the author's more well-regarded sister. sure, the language isn't as much of a treat as jane eyre (or wuthering heights, from the little i remember of it - that reread is imminent in my future) but holy hell, anne bronte does not hold back. i can only imagine the backlash this book went through, if emily and charlotte's books sparked such ire at the time. anyway, i'm surprisingly pleased with how well this went - what with anne's books having much more negative sentiment compared to the two sisters. one of the most pleasant experiences with one of my random reading whims.
read this book in order to have read a book by each bronte sister, and partly because of the scandal caused at the time. but i mostly picked this out on a bit of whim.
i give this book credit for having the heroine
slow-paced
emotional
slow-paced