The Book Whisperer

What Goodreads say: “He looked up wistfully in my face, and gravely asked – “Mamma, why are you so wicked?”‘ The mysterious new tenant of Wildfell Hall has a dark secret. But as the captivated Gilbert Markham will discover, it is not the story circulating among local gossips. Living under an assumed name, ‘Helen Graham’ is the estranged wife of a dissolute rake, desperate to protect her son from his destructive influence. Her diary entries reveal the shocking world of debauchery and cruelty from which she has fled. Combining a sensational story of a man’s physical and moral decline through alcohol, a study of marital breakdown, a disquisition on the care and upbringing of children, and a hard-hitting critique of the position of women in Victorian society, this passionate tale of betrayal is set within a stern moral framework tempered by Anne Bronte’s optimistic belief in universal redemption. Drawing on her first-hand experiences with her brother Branwell, Bronte’s novel scandalized contemporary readers. It still retains its power to shock.”

What I thought:  I am reviewing The Tenant of Wildfell Hall as it is the group read for my Victorians Group in Goodreads for Feb and March. It was chosen by the group. I read this book last year and here is what I thought:

 The Bronte’s have a way of pulling you in, making the characters jump off the page. For the first 200 pages of The Tennant I was in love with this book. I loved Gilbert, the narrator, and I was intrigued with the mysterious Mrs Gilbert, the tennant of Wildfell Hall. Who was she? What was she doing there? At this point I fully intended to give this wonderful book full marks. From the point that Helen Graham’s diary starts, I confess I wasn’t as eager to pick the book up at every available opportunity, as I had been. The characters from Helen’s earlier life were almost all vile and I was unable to like (or care) about any of them. I know that this is the point and that we were meant to see them for what they were but I sort of know where Charlotte was coming from when she declared that she didn’t like her sisters book. Back in the 19th century this book would have been pretty shocking.

While I agree that this book is way ahead of its time in terms of writing about domestic abuse and Helen was clearly a woman who stood up for herself in times when it was unheard of, I actually found myself not liking even her as much as I had done in the first half. The ending did redeem itself for me though and while, for me, her books (I have also read Agnes Grey) will never match the brilliant Charlotte’s, I still found this a really worthwhile read.

If anyone would like to join in with reading this book, we will open the discussions here on Feb 1st.