Reviews with content warning for Domestic abuse - The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

I did not expect to be as invested in this book, but I could not stop reading it.

The way this story was told was interesting to me. It starts out very mysterious, and we meet the reclusive widow Helen Graham through Gilbert's point of view. Helen is new in town, and attracts some attention mostly because she is reluctant to interact with their town's society and is very attached to her young son.

Gilbert presents very immature throughout the story, even though I think his developing acquaintance with Helen is supposed to be helping him mature. I think what I personally least like about him is that he uses Helen's son as a pawn to win over Helen or to "punish her" when he thinks she's carrying out an affair. He's obsessive and gives in to his worst impulses - like his attack on Frederick. I think he's supposed to be more sensible by the end of the book, but I wish we had gotten more of that Gilbert to make up for the foolishness we get in the first half.

Helen is, by contrast, a much better character in terms of development throughout the story. Even though the book is not told chronologically. We start with Helen in hiding, and reclusive, then we get to know her past through her journal (which she gives to Gilbert to help him understand her better), and then we return to follow the conclusion of Helen's story. Each time we can see her growing as a character. As a young girl, we see her learn a hard lesson in life as she chooses to marry a very fickle man because she's attracted to him and she doesn't want to believe what others have to say about his character, only to become acquainted with his true character too late. Even in hiding, you see her develop from a recluse who wants to shut out all relationships to someone who is opening up her heart (more cautiously this time) to new friendships and love.

The full story is revealed to us from Gilbert's point of view, and we learn more about Helen's past at the same time he does, but I did like that we learn about Helen's past through her voice (via her journal).

Even though this book was published 175 years ago, I think it can resonate with modern audiences. Though Helen's actions are governed by different social rules that exist today, the depiction of emotional and financial abuse isn't unfamiliar to us. As I was reading this, I often compared it to Tyler Perry's Diary of a Mad Black Woman.

Content Warnings

remuslibrary's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

sienasarah's review against another edition

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dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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jasschumacher's review

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emotional slow-paced

4.0

So you wrote a book of almost 500 pages to your friend Halford, spanning several years, but never once thought to see your friend in person in all this time?

Jokes aside, I didn’t expect this book to be as emotional as it was. And the importance to today’s world regarding domestic violence, toxic masculinity and many more themes is very sad and alarming.

Content Warnings

sayhar13's review against another edition

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dark hopeful sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

Content Warnings

mikarala's review

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

Mr. Huntingdon has to be one of the most odious, despicable characters I've encountered. Anne Bronte so accurately captured the behaviour of an abuser that I can't believe she didn't personally experience that kind of relationship. The little ways that Hundington manipulates Helen made me so angry I had to put the book down at times. Bronte also managed to capture the essence of The Nice Guy so perfectly in Mr. Hargrave, so this novel really does a lot in terms of showing women what kind of men to avoid.

The narrative drags at times (the conclusion is a bit drawn out when we can already see where all of the characters are going to end up like 40-50 pages earlier), but altogether a really impressive work that shouldn't be forgotten in the English literary canon. Compared to Jane Eyre, I found this novel's plot and message to stand the test of time much better. I think the depiction of abuse and the essons learned from this novel feel highly relevant today and would definitely recommend it.

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traeumenvonbuechern's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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