Emily Brontë
"Wuthering Heights" - 1847
"Wuthering Heights" - 1847
#6Degrees of Separation:
from Wuthering Heights to Villette
from Wuthering Heights to Villette
#6Degrees is a monthly link-up hosted by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. I love the idea. Thank you, Kate. See more about this challenge, its history, further books and how I found this here.
This is an exceptional month as I have indeed read the starter book. However, it is by far not my favourite Brontë book. I love those by her sisters a lot more. Therefore, I decided to present them here this month. I'm sure most people and all readers know about Jane Eyre. But do you know all the other novels by this talented family?
Before I go into them, here is the description to our book of the month:
"Lockwood, the new tenant of Thrushcross Grange, situated on the bleak Yorkshire moors, is forced to seek shelter one night at Wuthering Heights, the home of his landlord. There he discovers the history of the tempestuous events that took place years before; of the intense relationship between the gypsy foundling Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw; and how Catherine, forced to choose between passionate, tortured Heathcliff and gentle, well-bred Edgar Linton, surrendered to the expectations of her class. As Heathcliff's bitterness and vengeance at his betrayal is visited upon the next generation, their innocent heirs must struggle to escape the legacy of the past.
"Lockwood, the new tenant of Thrushcross Grange, situated on the bleak Yorkshire moors, is forced to seek shelter one night at Wuthering Heights, the home of his landlord. There he discovers the history of the tempestuous events that took place years before; of the intense relationship between the gypsy foundling Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw; and how Catherine, forced to choose between passionate, tortured Heathcliff and gentle, well-bred Edgar Linton, surrendered to the expectations of her class. As Heathcliff's bitterness and vengeance at his betrayal is visited upon the next generation, their innocent heirs must struggle to escape the legacy of the past.
Emily Brontë's only novel, a work of tremendous and far-reaching influence, the Penguin Classics edition of Wuthering Heights is the definitive edition of the text, edited with an introduction by Pauline Nestor. In this edition, a new preface by Lucasta Miller, author of The Brontë Myth, looks at the ways in which the novel has been interpreted, from Charlotte Brontë onwards. This complements Pauline Nestor's introduction, which discusses changing critical receptions of the novel, as well as Emily Brontë's influences and background.
Emily Brontë (1818-48), along with her sisters, Charlotte and Anne, was one of the most significant literary figures of the 19th century. She wrote just one strikingly innovative novel, Wuthering Heights, but was also a gifted and intense poet."
Brontë, Anne "Agnes Grey" - 1847
Agnes Grey is partly autobiographical, Anne Brontë added a lot of her own life here.
We learn about the hard life of a governess. If parents don't really want to be involved, want to discipline their children but also don't want others to discipline them but want those others to teach their children, you are always the piggy in the middle. How is the poor governess to instill the love of learning in children who are not told to follow the teacher? I know that teachers have a similar problem nowadays with parents who think their kids are little angels and little Einsteins at the same time while at the same time … well, let's not go there.
Brontë, Anne "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" - 1848
Of all the Brontë novels, this is my favourite. It reminds me of Jane Austen, though in a different direction.
The novel is exciting from the beginning. The description of the mysterious woman moving into Wildfell Hall, the suspicious neighbours, the generous landlord ... everything is quite interesting already. Then she disappears and the mystery gets even bigger.
If you are a fan of English classics (like me), Jane Eyre is a definitive must.
Charlotte Brontë has created a wonderful, strong young woman. If she had lived today, she certainly would have gone exploring and conquering the world. But she doesn’t live now. She is an orphan in Victorian England who lives with an aunt who doesn’t like her. After attending a school, she has to work as a governess.
Brontë, Charlotte "The Professor" - 1857
I have yet to find a book by any of the Brontë sisters that I don't like at all, they are all fascinating and gripping (except for Wuthering Heights, maybe. I must admit, I might like it even more because it takes place in Brussels but it would have been just as interesting had the protagonist lived elsewhere.
Shirley and her friend Caroline show us the situation of women in the 19th century just as well as Jane Eyre. The story might not be as dramatic but it certainly is interesting. Charlotte Brontë shows quite a bit of humour in her narrative.
This novel is not just about a young girl who lost her family and has to look after herself, not easy at a time where the only decent way for women to keep alive is to get married. But Lucy is not someone who gives up easily, who gives in to her despair. She goes abroad and hopes to find something. And she gets rewarded for her courage. Her life still isn't easy but at least she knows she will not starve. And she finds some wonderful friends who stand by her.
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This one is easy, the connection between the first and the last novel (as well as all the others) is, that it was written by sisters.
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Great idea! As you would expect, I have only read Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre.
ReplyDeletehttps://wordsandpeace.com/2026/03/07/six-degrees-of-separation-next-in-line/
Thanks for your link, Emma. I'll have a look at it soon.
DeleteAnd no, I didn't expect anything, but I guess that is what most people have read.
It's a fun Bronte bookish chain. :D
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lark. I just couldn't help myself.
DeleteI quite liked 'Jane Eyre' - mostly (I think) for the main character herself. I *really* didn't like 'Wuthering Heights'! I understand that the new movie adaptation is getting VERY mixed reviews.....!!
ReplyDeleteYes indeed, Kitten. I just read this hilarious "conversation" on Instagram where they were supposed to say only positive things and the funniest comment was this (presumably by "Jane Austen" ;)):
Delete"The best I can offer is that the end credits were a reasonable font size and easy to read."
If you are on Instagram, have a look here:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DVljBwVCKjy/?img_index=1
This chain was really useful for me to read because I was not aware of some of the works by Charlote Brontë. After I read my current Classics Club Spin, I plan to read Jane Eyre (which I may have read before), but I will also look into the last three you mention here.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this list.
Nice to know, Tracy. If you are a fan of the Brontës, you will love all of them. Enjoy.
DeleteWell, I thought I'd read everything, but now I see that there is The Professor to read!
ReplyDeleteThat's great, Lisa. I always love to find a book by one of my favourite authors that I hadn't known before.
DeleteHave you ever read The Return of the Twelves by Pauline Clarke? I will keep my eyes open for a copy for you.
ReplyDeleteNope, Constance. I never even heard of it before. That's probably because I'm not much into Fantasy, but the description of this sounds more like a fairy tale. Thanks for letting me know.
DeleteOh, lovely! Well done.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Davida. I think, like me, you also like to see how other chains go.
DeleteSo fun to read about the novels of the Brontë sisters. I still have yet to read Shirley, but it is definitely on the TBR list. Thanks for giving me a heads up that you had posted your Six Degrees on the Brontës.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome Jane. I had just prepared this post when you wrote about them here:
Deletehttps://janegs.blogspot.com/2026/02/the-brontes.html
I can recommend your post to anyone who is interested in the writing of the sisters. Thanks for that.
I can't remember at this point if I liked Wuthering Heights or not, I read it back in maybe middle school. I didn't know that all of the sisters were writers, just Charlotte and Emily.
ReplyDeleteIf I don't remember much from a book, I usually did not like it, Sarah.
DeleteI don't think it's so commonly known that there were three sisters who wrote. And the brother. But many of the siblings died young, so there might have been more.