If you're wondering how my new year's resolution of reading more books is going, it's going great.... Except for the fact that it actually wasn't a new year's resolution, ha. And that's why I don't really care for making resolutions. It seems that most of the time, the goals you really need in your life have a way of developing more organically. But that's a whole other story...
Along with reading more books, one thing I want to do this year is post more reviews. Partly because I love sharing about books I liked, but also because when time passes, these reviews will be a great way for me to remember why I fell in love with certain stories in the first place.
All that being said, I've decided to start with the first book I finished this year: The Tenant of Widfell Hall by Anne Brontë. I've read Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë (actually my favorite novel ever) and Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. So it seemed fitting to finally read a work by their sister, who, while lesser known now, was just as talented.
The Tenant of WIldfell Hall is quite different from Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights though. It features no Byronic hero - in fact, we're given an almost Byronic villain. The story is also told in a more realist style. The language is beautiful, but the style definitely favors realism over romanticism. One way it is similar to Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre, however, is that it takes about 100 pages to get to the "main" story. As with most seventeenth century literature, patience is required. But it's well worth it.
One of the first things I noticed about the protagonist was her feminist ideals, which naturally drew criticism from the people around her. But one of the best things about Helen Graham, the protagonist of this novel, is that she always remained true to her ideals. Without giving anything away, I will say that Helen reminded me a lot of Jane Eyre, though she was more outspoken and stubborn.
But I think the main reason The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is worth reading is the message behind the story. Anne Brontë did a spectacular job of portraying the plight of a woman in an unhappy or abusive marriage during the seventeenth century. And yet this wasn't done in a preachy, dramatic way. All of her characters, even the difficult ones, were given great dimension and complex motives. It's such a well written and realistic portrayal, that it was even condemned by critics of her time (mostly men) who thought women shouldn't be allowed to read such graphic stories (it's truly not graphic by the way, though I can't say the same for the BBC series it inspired).
In conclusion, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is worth the patience it first takes to get through. It wasn't as dark as I initially feared it would be, and my favorite section of the book was Helen's diary, where the mystery of her past life is revealed. Perhaps the only part I didn't really like was the end. I liked the resolution well enough, but wasn't too crazy about the new love interest. Or maybe I just liked Helen so much that I thought she deserved better...
Anyway, if you're looking for an underrated classic book to read, I highly recommend The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.
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