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wuthering height
181 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 9, 2020
21 people are currently reading
54 people want to read
About the author
Emily Brontë
1,655 books14.1k followersEmily 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
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
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 13, 2026
This is one of those books where I gave it four stars even though it is objectively a five-star piece of literature. The writing is incredible. Like genuinely fantastic. But reading it was also… a deeply unpleasant experience. Which I know is kind of the point, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t suffer a little while getting through it.
It took me a minute to get used to the writing style, but once I got into it, I was IN. The drama in this book??? The tea??? Absolutely relentless. Every time you think things cannot possibly get worse, someone does something even more unhinged.
And the characters… oh my God. These are some of the worst people I have ever read about in my life. And yes, that includes Catherine. I truly do not understand the whole “bring back men who yearn” thing people say about Heathcliff. That man was not romantic. He was a straight-up weirdo psychopath. If I were Catherine I would have called the cops on that man immediately.
Now to be fair, I do appreciate how the book explores how cruelty, classism, and racism can shape a person. Heathcliff was clearly treated horribly and dehumanized from the moment he arrived, and you can absolutely see how that kind of treatment twisted him into the person he became. I get it. I really do. But GODAMN that man took the hater energy to levels I have never seen before.
I also loved how messy and brutal the themes are—obsession, revenge, pride, social status, generational trauma. Everyone is miserable and determined to make everyone else miserable too.
One thing I will say: I genuinely think this book might be better as an audiobook. Because for the life of me I could not understand what that religious freak Joseph, was saying. Hearing someone perform it actually made it make sense.
Overall, fantastic writing, incredible drama, deeply unwell characters. I’m glad I read it, and I’ll definitely be reading more Brontë in the future.
It took me a minute to get used to the writing style, but once I got into it, I was IN. The drama in this book??? The tea??? Absolutely relentless. Every time you think things cannot possibly get worse, someone does something even more unhinged.
And the characters… oh my God. These are some of the worst people I have ever read about in my life. And yes, that includes Catherine. I truly do not understand the whole “bring back men who yearn” thing people say about Heathcliff. That man was not romantic. He was a straight-up weirdo psychopath. If I were Catherine I would have called the cops on that man immediately.
Now to be fair, I do appreciate how the book explores how cruelty, classism, and racism can shape a person. Heathcliff was clearly treated horribly and dehumanized from the moment he arrived, and you can absolutely see how that kind of treatment twisted him into the person he became. I get it. I really do. But GODAMN that man took the hater energy to levels I have never seen before.
I also loved how messy and brutal the themes are—obsession, revenge, pride, social status, generational trauma. Everyone is miserable and determined to make everyone else miserable too.
One thing I will say: I genuinely think this book might be better as an audiobook. Because for the life of me I could not understand what that religious freak Joseph, was saying. Hearing someone perform it actually made it make sense.
Overall, fantastic writing, incredible drama, deeply unwell characters. I’m glad I read it, and I’ll definitely be reading more Brontë in the future.
February 8, 2026
Shocked i loved this. But I loved this. I’m sure anything I say has already been said… but damn these are some crazy people doing crazy shit.
February 22, 2026
This is a rather intense novel. I have heard about the novel since forever, but never known the story behind. Heathcliff is pitiful because of his lower class, but also despicable because of his vengeful plots. His passion for Catherine evolved into spite and hatred to everybody around him. He succeeded in destroying both families, but somehow ended in his own fanciful dreams. The most interesting plot is how the next generation of Cathy and Hareton throw away the class structure and fell in love. This twist of the plot seemed strange to me at the start, but eventually I saw the symbolism behind it. Maybe their union is the final stack that pushed Heathcliff to his own demise. Heathcliff saw himself in their union and thus showed a strange pity for this couple.
March 24, 2026
Listened to the audiobook in anticipation for watching the movie and I ran out of listening hours and then just never got back to it till now oopsie shit. Anyways Cathy and Healthcliff really don’t give an eff about the people around them 😭😭🤣 so much collateral damage because of miscommunications, misunderstandings and stubborn people in love but fighting it.
December 16, 2025
DNF @59%. I tried. I hate it.
March 23, 2026
"Death is often what makes a love story a love story, because it freezes love in time. It's a moment of intensity that becomes immortal," - Vlasta Vranjes, PhD, quoted in "Is 'Withering Heights' Even a Love Story?, Nicole Davis, FordhamNow Feb 12, 2026.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews