Withering Heights

by Emily Brontë

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Gothic

Hardcover

About the author

Emily Brontë was an English novelist and poet whose singular contribution to literature, Wuthering Heights, is now celebrated as one of the most powerful and original novels in the English language. Born into the remarkable Brontë family on 30 July 1818 in Thornton, Yorkshire, she was the fifth of six children of Maria Branwell and Patrick Brontë, an Irish clergyman. Her early life was marked by both intellectual curiosity and profound loss. After the death of her mother in 1821 and the subsequent deaths of her two eldest sisters in 1825, Emily and her surviving siblings— Charlotte, Anne, and Branwell—were raised in relative seclusion in the moorland village of Haworth, where their imaginations flourished in a household shaped by books, storytelling, and emotional intensity.
The Brontë children created elaborate fictional worlds, notably Angria and later Gondal, which served as an outlet for their creative energies. Emily, in particular, gravitated toward Gondal, a mysterious, windswept imaginary land she developed with her sister Anne. Her early poetry, much of it steeped in the mythology and characters of Gondal, demonstrated a remarkable lyrical force and emotional depth. These poems remained private until discovered by Charlotte in 1845, after which Emily reluctantly agreed to publish them in the 1846 collection Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell, using the pseudonym Ellis Bell to conceal her gender. Though the volume sold few copies, critics identified Emily’s poems as the strongest in the collection, lauding her for their music, power, and visionary quality.
Emily was intensely private and reclusive by nature. She briefly attended schools in Cowan Bridge and Roe Head but was plagued by homesickness and preferred the solitude of the Yorkshire moors, which inspired much of her work. She worked briefly as a teacher but found the demands of the profession exhausting. She also studied in Brussels with Charlotte in 1842, but again found herself alienated and yearning for home. Throughout her life, Emily remained closely bonded with her siblings, particularly Anne, and with the landscape of Haworth, where she drew on the raw, untamed beauty of the moors for both her poetry and her fiction.
Her only novel, Wuthering Heights, was published in 1847, a year after the poetry collection, under her pseudonym Ellis Bell. Initially met with a mixture of admiration and shock, the novel’s structure, emotional intensity, and portrayal of violent passion and moral ambiguity stood in stark contrast to the conventions of Victorian fiction. Many readers, unable to reconcile its power with the expected gentility of a woman writer, assumed it had been written by a man. The novel tells the story of Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw—two characters driven by obsessive love, cruelty, and vengeance—and explores themes of nature, the supernatural, and the destructive power of unresolved emotion. Though controversial at the time, Wuthering Heights is now considered a landmark in English literature, acclaimed for its originality, psychological insight, and poetic vision.
Emily's personality has been the subject of much speculation, shaped in part by her sister Charlotte’s later writings and by Victorian biographies that often sought to romanticize or domesticate her character. While some accounts depict her as intensely shy and austere, others highlight her fierce independence, deep empathy with animals, and profound inner life. She is remembered as a solitary figure, closely attuned to the rhythms of the natural world, with a quiet but formidable intellect and a passion for truth and freedom. Her dog, Keeper, was a constant companion and, according to many, a window into her capacity for fierce, loyal love.
Emily Brontë died of tuberculosis on 19 December 1848 at the age of thirty, just a year after the publication of her novel. Her early death, following those of her brother Branwell and soon to

Reviews

[Ron Howden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely a classic, amazing writing and a great story

[Shannen Rauls · Rating 5 out of 5]

My absolute all time favorite book.. first of all it's Wuthering... that's just me being technical... This book is so beautifully dark. I've read it so many times and I am soon to get a tattoo of a quote from this book. I will never get over this book and I wish every day that I could read it for the first time again.

[Val · Rating 3 out of 5]

At first, I was confused about who‘s the narrator and alle the different names and time skipes, but in the end it was a nice and well-written book about the people and the events happening in Withering Heights.

[claudio cheeky · Rating 3 out of 5]

she’s dramatic like me but girl stand up also the most quoted lines just didn’t feel that impactful

[Isabelle Bastian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kate Bush brought me here with her song, Wuthering Heights. She really encapsulated Kathy, the vibe, and all around feel of this novel.

This was one of my hardest reads in regards to my intellect, but I’m grateful for every second of it. I truly cried when I read this novel. Not just romantically, this story is an all around tragedy. But anyone can find the beauty scattered throughout this entire novel. Emily Brontë is just amazing at portraying raw, unfiltered emotions and making you long for scenery you never thought was deserving of even a second glance.

Emily Brontë made me feel like I’m not alone in my occasional emotional outbursts. It made me really connect with the characters, but especially the author because I feel that she truly understands the most inhumane parts of what we all feel deeply ashamed of about ourselves. She accepts them, understands them, writes them, and you get to read some of the worst parts of what humans are capable of, especially when it comes to love, but it doesn’t deter you from feeling sympathy for the characters in one way or another. Except for Hindley. F*ck Hindley.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perhaps if the book had been told from the first person perspective I would have been able to connect more with the characters and their love. I felt that Heathcliff and Catherine's love was more passion than love, but this could also have happened because of what was mentioned above. I really liked the ending because I felt that it was a very good closing where it transformed the two people who were in love and served to transform the original love or passion of the two main protagonists into a true love that will last in a very beautiful way. In which where it will be able to be enjoyed.

[Sumana Sur · Rating 2 out of 5]

Barring a few romantic comments from Heathcliff and Catherine which are quite frankly verging on insanity, the entire book seemed like a whole lot of extreme incest, children having the same names as their parents which only added to the confusion, and sickly Victorian people dying all over.
This book being a classic was the only reason I picked it up after somewhat liking Jane Eyre, but this led me to my longest book reading slump.

Not picking up another classic in the near future.

[Virginia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Misspelled title on Goodreads. It is Wuthering Heights. Highly suspenseful and dark.

[Ludmila · Rating 4 out of 5]

absolutelyloved this book ,even thought the storyline was very messed up, so many Catherines confuse me a lot ,but the cousins marrying each other was very disturbing.

[Juju · Rating 3 out of 5]

sorbang oa

[Mr SSingh]

Very difficult read and a struggle to get through. What I understood, I liked but I missed a lot of it so didn't put a rating.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

my girlfriend asked me to read it. at the end I was left confused...

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Très originale, où la narratrice est la servante, histoire parfois sombre avec emotions intenses. Une histoire d’amour passionnée, de trahison,la mort et le surnaturelle

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

The characters in this book are very disturbing and unlikable. I found the story to be very entertaining though and there were still lessons and ideas gained from these character's mistakes.

[Grant Trammel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought it was boring and then all of a sudden I was locked in

[Kinga U · Rating 4 out of 5]

A classic. It took me less then 2 days. Its a lovely read! perfect for the girlies who love English literature

[Skankhunt 42 · Rating 1 out of 5]

This made me actually mad at the alphabet and hate reading.

[Cali Cam · Rating 5 out of 5]

J’ai relu ce livre et c’est toujours un chef d’œuvre
🥰🥰🥰

[Aarushi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dark, twisty, toxic, dramatic and all In all romantic!