Oh, to be part of the early 19th century landed gentry. Helen, you are the heroine of my heart, and Anne Brontë, I love you. She refused to romanticize toxic men. I’m looking at you, Rochester and Heathcliff…can’t help but still love you, though. *cries*

I have the lovely Chiltern edition pictured here with the yellow flowers for my keeper shelf. Also, there are fabulous audiobook performances from Alex Jennings and Jenny Agutter on the Audible edition. ( )

The second and final novel of Anne Brontë, the youngest of the Brontë sisters, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is not my favorite Brontë book, but has a lot to like. It is easy to see Anne reacting to criticism of her first novel, Agnes Grey as being too short and moralistic, along with the influence of the nested narration of her sister Emily's Wuthering Heights and the runaway success of the complicated romance in her sister Charlotte's Jane Eyre.

A beautiful young widow and her young son move into a long abandoned manor house in the neighborhood of our narrator, Gilbert Markham, who is telling us this story in the form of a (VERY LONG) series of letters to his friend. Helen Graham is secretive and mysterious and Gilbert is very smitten. The neighbors, however, soon start gossiping about her relationship with her landlord and the lack of information about her origins. Helen decides to give Gilbert her (VERY LONG) diaries that explain everything, and they make up a big chunk of the novel. Things swing back and forth and Anne keeps us on the hook until the very end to learn if the romance can work out. Gilbert is a truly goofy and not very likeable dude, and Anne's sense of humor really runs wild in showing us his personality. As we learn more about Helen, we are pulled into a world of alcoholism, mental illness, debauchery, and bad decisions. At the time of publication, the Victorian reading public was scandalized by the frank look at the darker side of society, but Anne came by her knowledge through the sad reality of her brother, who was an opium addict and alcoholic with some mental health issues. The scenes between Helen and her husband are pretty brutal when you think of their inspiration.

Anne and Emily both had a rather fly-by-night publisher and this book in particular could have benefitted from the more professional editor/publisher that Charlotte worked with. The pacing is inconsistent and Anne's moral lessons and religious teachings are sometimes shoehorned in awkwardly, and her humor (one of her best points) often gets drowned in the text. She also doesn't have Emily's deftness with nested and unreliable narrators. Still, this is a worthwhile read as a companion to Agnes Grey and her sisters' novels. ( )

Anne Bronte isn’t as much fun as her sisters, but I won’t hold that against her. ( )

What a surprisingly good read The Tenant of Wildfell Hall was.

I think when you read a Classic like this you have to immerse yourself in the time when it was written and this one goes back to the mid 1840s, a time when the pace of life was slower, and when there was no Television or social media and a time when snail mail and word of mouth were the facebook and twitter of the time. I think if you have the ability to do this you would love and enjoy this novel as I am sure this was a rocking good read for any reader back in 1848.

The novel is divided into three volumes and begins with the arrival of the beautiful and mysterious Mrs Graham in a sleepy country neighborhood. Mrs Graham causes quite a stir as she gives the country folk something new to talk and gossip about but the talk soon turns to nasty rumors about her and her son. The book's setting is the English country side with its isolated sprawling manors, rugged good looking gentlemen and cackle of young women on the hunt for well to do husbands.

The story is edgy and fresh for its time with likable and dislikable characters and a plot that was suprisingly engrossing. The writting is descriptive but very readable and while I read this one at a slower pace than normal I thoroughly enjoyed my time spent with this classic.

So if you enjoy classic literature, but have been putting this one off I advise putting it on your winter reading list, cosy up by the fire and take yourself back in time to get the best out of this book. ( )

I properly LOVED Wildfell Hall. It took me a while to get through it; it's not that thick, but it's somewhat dense. I've read Charlotte and Emily, but I'd never read Anne, and it's a shame that Anne doesn't seem to get as much of the spotlight, because I think in many ways, Wildfell is a far more impressive accomplishment for the times (don't get me wrong, I'm an equal Brontë Sisters stan; I adore them!).

Unlike her sisters, Anne's writing is much more firmly footed in realism, without the sweeping gothic romanticism or heightened melodrama and her stark portrayals of emotional abuse, alcoholism, and the restricted agency of Victorian women were all the more impactful for it.

At the core of Wildfell is Helen Graham, and I was immediately taken with her. She shares a similar resolve and internal strength to that of Jane Eyre, however where Jane has a quieter approach to her determination, Helen is much bolder and outwardly willful, which causes some of the initial conflicts at the beginning of the novel, and nicely prepares the reader for discovering Helen's journey.

I've read in other reviews that some people found Helen to be a little unlikeable, and a bit frosty, but I didn't find that to be the case at all (or perhaps ice queens are just my jam lol). As soon as the story switched to Helen's perspective, I immediately fell in love with her. She came across to me as very no-nonsense, shrewd, and honest, which I can see perhaps being interpreted as being a bit cold, but she was also incredibly generous, tolerant, forgiving, and compassionate. I felt she was a beautifully realized character; complex and flawed, but ultimately, relatable and easy to cheer for.

Has it knocked Jane Eyre out of my top spot for fave novel of all time? Mmm not yet, I'm still processing... But it's a possibility ( )