Wuthering Heights » (REV)

Emily Brontë (1818-1848), one of four surviving children of a clergyman, wrote poetry as well as her novel, Wuthering Heights.

Pauline Nestor is senior lecturer in English at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.

Lucasta Miller is the author of The Brontë Myth.

From Longman's Cultural Editions series, Wuthering Heights, edited by Alison Booth, presents Emily Bronte’s haunting, brilliant novel freshly edited, smartly annotated, and illuminated by various contexts. This illustrated edition is unique in locating Wuthering Heights in its region as well as period, while it follows every phase of the Brontë renown, from tourism to adaptations, from early reviews to recent critical trends.

Children's Literature

More twisted and thorny that the branches of a wild rose, Heathcliff's dark, passionate obsessions consume him—and everyone who crosses his path. Considered one of the greatest works of English literature ever written, this gothic novel's bleak, destructive love story set against the desolate backdrop of England's Yorkshire moors has, for over 150 years, ensnared readers with its complexities, unreliable narrators and characters nearly beyond belief in their harshness. This affordable edition in the Puffin Classics line includes many helpful features that make the story more easily understood by modern readers, including a family tree, an annotated "Who's Who" to distinguish each character's role, an author profile, and two introductions. The first introduction is by S. E. Hinton, author of The Outsiders, and the second is by Charlotte Bronte, who edited the 1850 edition. Astute teachers will capitalize on the glimpse of the time period provided by a "Biographical Notice of Ellis and Acton Bell," which, though slightly confusing, ultimately reveals that all of the Brontes works were originally published under the gender-neutral pseudonyms Acton, Ellis, and Currer Bell. In this notice, penned after the death of her author-sisters Anne & Emily, Charlotte clears what was apparently a great mystery at the time: that Anne was Acton, Emily was Ellis, and she was Currer. This could be used as a springboard into discussions of social customs of the time and how they impacted both the author's life and the novel she wrote. This edition also includes some thought questions and suggested activities based on the novel. Best of all, however, is the book's design. It fits perfectly in one's hands and has easy-to-read type. Reviewer: Keri Collins Lewis