Book Club Monday: Wuthering Heights

Author: Emily Brontë Title: Wuthering Heights Publisher: Thomas Cautley Newby Date Published: 11/24/1847

Read Dates: 09/25/2026- 10/02/2026
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is the second of two library book club picks for October.

Wuthering Heights is a gothic tragedy with horror elements told mostly from the POV of a tenant who is relating to the reader a story the housekeeper shared with him. Told in two parts, it tells the story of young Catherine Earnshaw, her foster brother and first love, Heathcliff, and her friend-turned-husband Edgar Linton. Heathcliff, believing he has been wronged by the romance between Catherine and Edgar, and by the Earnshaw family, begins seeking his vengeance on them in part 1. In part two he continues his vengeful path against their daughter, the Earnshaw heir Hareton, and his own son (a child he had with Edgar’s sister Isabella)

I loved this book while hating most of the characters and being annoyed that so many try to reframe this as a great tragic romance. While it is true that Heathcliff is haunted by his love for Catherine (and eventually by Catherine herself) his heart hardens to so much hatred and vengeance that he is much more villain than tragic romantic hero. It was difficult to find a likeable character in the mix but it was well written and engaging all the same.

Emily Brontë's only novel endures as a work of tremendous and far-reaching influence. The Penguin Classics edition is the definitive version of the text, edited with an introduction by Pauline Nestor.

Lockwood, the new tenant of Thrushcross Grange, situated on the bleak Yorkshire moors, is forced to seek shelter one night at Wuthering Heights, the home of his landlord. There he discovers the history of the tempestuous events that took place years before. What unfolds is the tale of the intense love between Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw. Catherine, forced to choose between passionate, tortured Heathcliff and gentle, well-bred Edgar Linton, surrenders to the expectations of her class. As Heathcliff's bitterness and vengeance at his betrayal is visited upon the next generation, their innocent heirs must struggle to escape the legacy of the past.

In this edition, a new preface by Lucasta Miller, author of The Brontë Myth, looks at the ways in which the novel has been interpreted, from Charlotte Brontë onwards. This complements Pauline Nestor's introduction, which discusses changing critical receptions of the novel, as well as Emily Brontë's influences and background.