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A review by melisdelicate32
The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- 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
Anne Brontë is considerably considered the forgotten sister living in the shadow of masterpieces such as “Wuthering Heights” and none other than “Jane Eyre”, however, I would call this book her ultimate literary signature (in spite of the many disagreeable references Charlotte made once her sister died). Wildfell Hall is a modern discovery for sure, it explores a wide variety of “scandalous” themes for its time approaching the movement of realism, theme as in alcoholism, marriage and separation, domestic abuse…
Right away the book catches the eye through the “feminist” messages our protagonist, Helen, shares in a highly strict and gossipy society; there is definitely an initial theme of isolation from the male community (which we later understand) that creates such a diverse atmosphere for the period it was written in, even though, the story pretty rapidly encapsulates the importance of the male point of view (since Gilbert is the actual narrator).
The male pov does actually offer something a classic lover looks for, it’s new and fascinating until the scene hits where Gilbert has to read all about Helen’s past through her very long and laborious letters; I believed the letters would be a secondary event which would sometimes appear to add context to the present plot line, but, they ended up taking the main spot by making the book re enter the typical Victorian structure following Charlotte and Emily style (in her very own way of course). The mid part definitely slowed the book down since it loses its purpose to achieve a final conclusion about Helen and Gilbert relationship, the book could’ve and should’ve been way shorter and just made points more efficiently.
The last part of the book (which is basically around 100 pages) loses the satisfactory effect it should have given to the reader’s intrigue, the reader ends up wanting to fast forward through it because of the subplot that just derails everything Anne set us up for, that why my rating doesn’t reach a full four stars.
It lost me in the middle despite the great potential it held in the first hundreds of pages, however, it remains a good book of great innovation for its literary moment, Anne did a great job; the writing is among the easiest and smoothest ones in classics which makes the book appropriate to any beginner wanting to explore literature.
Right away the book catches the eye through the “feminist” messages our protagonist, Helen, shares in a highly strict and gossipy society; there is definitely an initial theme of isolation from the male community (which we later understand) that creates such a diverse atmosphere for the period it was written in, even though, the story pretty rapidly encapsulates the importance of the male point of view (since Gilbert is the actual narrator).
The male pov does actually offer something a classic lover looks for, it’s new and fascinating until the scene hits where Gilbert has to read all about Helen’s past through her very long and laborious letters; I believed the letters would be a secondary event which would sometimes appear to add context to the present plot line, but, they ended up taking the main spot by making the book re enter the typical Victorian structure following Charlotte and Emily style (in her very own way of course). The mid part definitely slowed the book down since it loses its purpose to achieve a final conclusion about Helen and Gilbert relationship, the book could’ve and should’ve been way shorter and just made points more efficiently.
The last part of the book (which is basically around 100 pages) loses the satisfactory effect it should have given to the reader’s intrigue, the reader ends up wanting to fast forward through it because of the subplot that just derails everything Anne set us up for, that why my rating doesn’t reach a full four stars.
It lost me in the middle despite the great potential it held in the first hundreds of pages, however, it remains a good book of great innovation for its literary moment, Anne did a great job; the writing is among the easiest and smoothest ones in classics which makes the book appropriate to any beginner wanting to explore literature.