Catherine: A Retelling of Wuthering Heights

by Essie Fox

The greatest tragic love story ever told – but this time, Catherine tells it herself. In Catherine, Essie Fox breathes new life into Wuthering Heights, transforming a gothic masterpiece into a haunting confession of obsession, madness and love that even death cannot end.

With a nature as wild as the moors she loves to roam, Catherine Earnshaw grows up alongside Heathcliff, a foundling her father rescued from the streets of Liverpool. Their fierce, untamed bond deepens as they grow – until Mr Earnshaw's death leaves Hindley, Catherine's brutal brother, in control and Heathcliff reduced to servitude.

Desperate to protect him, Catherine turns to Edgar Linton, the handsome heir to Thrushcross Grange. She believes his wealth might free Heathcliff from cruelty – but her choice is fatally misunderstood, and their lives spiral into a storm of passion, jealousy and revenge.

Now, eighteen years later, Catherine rises from her grave to tell her story – and seek redemption.

Essie Fox's Catherine reimagines Wuthering Heights with beauty and intensity – a haunting, atmospheric retelling that brings new life to a timeless classic and lays bare the dark heart of an immortal love.

358 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication February 12, 2026

About the author

My latest novel is Catherine: A retelling of Wuthering Heights and it's been written as a ghost story. It will be published by Orenda Books on February 12, 2026.

Previous novels have been Dangerous: A Lord Byron Mystery set in the gothic city of Venice.

The Fascination is set in the world of Victorian rural fairgrounds, the glamour of the London theatres and an anatomy museum in a shop on Oxford Street - based on one that did exist! It's a book about deception, obsession, and what it is to be ''different'.

The Last Days of Leda Grey is about an Edwardian silent film actress who has lived in a crumbling cliff top house for more than half a century, until she confides her story to the journalist, Ed Peters ... who rapidly finds himself immersed inside her dark and eerie world.

I've also written three Victorian novels, the first of which - The Somnambulist - was shortlisted for the UK National Book Awards, featured on Channel 4's TV Book Club, and has been optioned for TV/film.

Elijah's Mermaid, features the hypocrisy in Victorian art and literature. It has brothels, asylums, and freak shows...not forgetting the mermaids!

The Goddess and the Thief is an 'oriental gothic', with Indian Maharajahs, Hindu gods and sacred diamonds ... including candlelit seances which are held in English drawing rooms.


My website is: www.essiefox.com

I blog as The Virtual Victorian. www.virturalvictorian.blogspot.com

Reviews

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is over three decades since I read Wuthering Heights and, back then, I probably didn't fully appreciate the complexities of the story. And this, the story of the Earnshaw's and the Linton's is most certainly that. I approached this book with a little trepidation, not because of the author. essie Fox is a beautiful writer whose ability to create atmosphere, intensity and utterly compelling reads is not in doubt. It is more because, from what I can recall, I just wasn't that taken with the story. There. My confession. I did not like Wuthering Heights.

So, it probably comes as a bit of a surprise that I read this book and, what's more, I really enjoyed it. Maybe it is the change of perspective, from Nelly Dean who, when all is said and done, was a witness to the story, rather than the books focus. Maybe, it is just the skill of storytelling that is inherent in all that Essie Fox creates, but something in this book struck me from the start and held me captivated until the end. Considering the gap between reads, Essie Fox has managed to capture and recreate the heart and soul of the original story, triggering in me memories of the original that I had all but forgotten. But in moving the perspective to that of Catherine Linton né Earnshaw, she has given the tale a whole new lease of life, if that is not too strange a thing to say of a book which is oft told from the point of view of a ghost.

This is a pure gothic delight, and I think that fans of the original book will find much to love here. The intensity of the bond between Catherine and Heathcliff is so carefully, but explicitly portrayed, that it is impossible not to be moved. Every scene evokes a clear vision of time and place, and the author's wonderfully lyrical writing lends itself perfectly to the story. As much as Catherine's decisions and actions could often irk me, understanding her thoughts, what caused that steady descent into madness, adds very different context to the story. I felt strangely sympathetic towards Catherine but I also felt like I understood her, far better than I perhaps had before. Her narrative voice is authentic, melancholic even, and delivered with such heartwrenching passion and anguish at times, and unparalleled joy at others, that it works perfectly here.

This is a story of obsession and revenge. A gothic romance uttered as a memory of a spectre who is able to move between time and space to key points in Catherine's life that drew her and Heathcliff to their inevitable tragic ending. A hauntingly incestuous ghost story that, whilst staying true to the original, feels new and vital. Yes, there are a few minor changes and tweaks - that is only right. But, for me, I found this far easier to read, to connect with, and the author's portrayal of Nelly Dean in this book perhaps helps to explain why. If you love historical fiction, a tragedy or romance with wonderfully evocative writing, get this on your TBR double quick. You won't regret it.

[Books By Your Bedside · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

Thanks to Anne at Random Things Book Tours for the copy of this title in return for an honest review.

Hmmmm a retelling of Wuthering Heights...one of the most loved stories with the most loved characters in it. This could spell disaster. But surely in Essie's hands, it can't be anything but magical, right?

There's 47 chapters which makes it roughly 6 pages a chapter, which is good as I like a quick chapter, it helps add to the frenzied pace.

The writing is so lyrical and poetic. It has the same feel of a classical novel, which fits the story, but it's easier to read (as enjoyable as they are, we all admit that classics can be harder to read than more contemporary stories).

You think you know these characters, and their heart is still there, but Essie has given them a new lease of life, without completely stomping over what makes them them.

Some of it is uncomfortable reading, particularly regarding Heathcliff's skin colour, but you do have to accept that this story is of its time and that was the norm then, and Essie has handled it very sensitively.

It's been a long time since I last read Wuthering Heights - we're talking 15+ years - an I thought I had forgotten a lot of it, but something was clearly still there because I kept recognising bits which was lovely to see.

I read this one January evening when it was dark and freezing and it was absolutely hammering it down outside, and it was just the perfect time to get lost in this delightfully dark story.

There were a few bits that were perhaps more drawn out than I personally felt they needed to be but that is the tiniest little thing. Not really a complaint, more of an observation.

I'm not sure there is an historical figure or topic Essie can't write about.

I've read three of Essie's books now and this is hands down her best one.

[ThatBookish_deviant]

Fine, take my money already! Immediately preordered.

[Sally Boocock · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly beautiful retelling of Wuthering Heights by Cathy . It