"Reformed rakes make the best husbands."This is the maxim that governs the universe of historical romance novels. That a puerile assumption regarding dissolute cads turning into paragons of puritanical goodness on being administered the vital dosage of a virgin's 'love' fuels women's fantasies in this day and age depresses me to no end. In a sense, this is the dialectical opposite of Kerouac's On the Road in that it systematically demystifies a contrived notion of masculine 'coolness' - the bastard child of a vile solipsism and unchecked aggression - that the latter romanticized. Women writers of today, particularly those who are laughing all the way to the bank by mass-producing this unforgivable blather, wake the hell up! The youngest Brontë sister saw the evil the cult of machismo breeds in young male children and portrayed it without inhibitions, without holding anything back. 150+ years ago. What are you still waiting for? It is all very well to talk about noble resistance, and trials of virtue; but for fifty-or five hundred men that have yielded to temptation, show me one that has had virtue to resist. And why should I take it for granted that my son will be one in a thousand?-and not rather prepare for the worst, and suppose he will be like this-like the rest of mankind, unless I take care to prevent it?Reading this nearly made me experience that same nightmare that is encapsulated in Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. Of course the horrors that Atwood delineated with an unsettling composure make you break out in gooseflesh while Helen's traumatic experiences are merely unpleasant. But there's the same sick feeling of being held against one's will, the same revulsion that threatens to overshadow all other emotions. A blow by blow account of an abusive marriage and a woman being condemned to tolerating a melee hosted by drunken, wife-and-child-abusing reprobates day after infuriating day, year after agonizing year will do that to you. Especially when this picture of oppression is completed by the inexorable professions of love from overenthused admirers who do not take the matter of consent all that seriously. Does that seem harrowing enough?Marriage may change your circumstances for the better, but, in my private opinion, it is far more likely to produce a contrary result.That I am choosing to hold back a star is because Anne's writing lacks Emily's verve and Charlotte's intellectual rigour and that certain something which makes one wish to prolong the act of reading a book. Her characterization is a bit wobbly as Helen is inconsistent throughout the length of the novel - she is stringently insular against Gilbert's growing affection for her and suddenly she isn't, she secures an escape route from her husband's den of debauchery and suddenly returns to that same hell when he is dying in an act of Christian compassion. Besides the repeated attempts at making doctrinal virtue a crutch on which to balance her self assertion wearied me. (Yes yes this was the Victorian era, I understand!)The narrative is a bit lacking in an overall structural integrity. This is particularly evident in the presence of certain generic plot devices and cliches that Anne employs to effect a reconciliation between Gilbert and Helen. I would have been most happy if Gilbert had just been a mildly nosy townsman narrating the events because as a character he may not have been there at all. __P.S.:-Mary A. Ward's introduction mentions how Branwell's alcoholism and reckless behaviour inspired Emily and Anne Brontë to recreate the same kind of violence in their fiction. Heathcliff and Huntingdon were the results.

[4.5 stars]Move over, Charlotte. Make room for my new favorite Brontë!It is inevitable for me to compare Anne Brontë with her sisters, and Helen Graham with Jane Eyre particularly, but I shall momentarily do so anyway. Some said this was better than any Brontë novel published, some claimed it deeply overhyped. After reading this, I shall have to agree with the former claim as I thought this book surpassed, to quite an extent, the love I had for Jane Eyre.The Tenant of Wildfell Hall shook me from the first page, when I discovered that rather than the conventional female perspective, the narrative opens with a letter penned by a male protagonist, Gilbert Markham. I am not the biggest fan of framed stories but this one was deeply engaging all the way through. Through Gilberts letter, we then dive into Helens diaries and her life, which forms the majority of the novel.Helen Graham is by far of the strongest female protagonist I have ever had the pleasure of reading about. Its not simply because she has been through an abusive relationship and needs to be pitied, but because she bears through a lot of nonsense from her husband with such grace that there were points at which I was infuriated at her calmness. She takes everything in strides,my bliss is sobered, but not destroyed; my hopes diminished, but not departed; my fears increased, but not yet throughly confirmedWhile this sort of pacifism is clearly harmful to her and her sons existence, in reality, I have a difficult time criticizing her for bearing through so much before she finally decided to do what was right. In such cases, things were most certainly easier said than done. So though I was angered by her mild reactions at times, I cannot fault her in her decisions because I cannot claim something as definitively right or wrong given that I havent been through any sort of similar experience as she.But generally though, how could I not love Anne for shaping a character that is constantly being tested and yet never letting that deteriorate her from her and her sons happiness. In the end, I wouldve completely understood Helen if she had given up on everything in life, on striving to make peace, but in the end she doesnt let anyone destroy her existence. And I just had to sit back and admire that for a moment. Her patience was tested by more than just one character, and multiple times throughout, but she always responds in a clear, sensible manner. Her hushed posture can easily be misconstrued for indifference by readers but I dont think she is indifferent to anything, merely aware of the prejudices against her and cynical of her environment because of it.I cannot say whether I really liked or disliked Gilbert Markham, but I have to argue that I was somewhat disappointed that we did not get to see a lot of interaction between him and Helen once the story is coming to an end. Given all that Helen has gone through by the end of her diaries, I expected her to be a bit more cautious with her affections. Similarly, I was also a bit unsatisfied with the ending of Jane Eyre so I suppose its something that I will eventually have to get past.And lastly, of course, the controversial aspect of this novel, and what makes it so fantastic, is Helens relationship with her husband. Anne Brontë is unflinchingly honest in her depiction of alcoholism and how that leads to an abusive marriage. She is ruthless in her assertion of how women are shoved into a corner without a voice, abused, mistreated, and exploited in their silence. Brontë writes things which are hard to read about, but even harder to comprehend as the realities of womenthen, and now. Despite knowing that all of these things still continue to happen in our society, and how much for the sake of propriety we force women into mute beings, Brontë still managed to craft some sentences which punched me right in the gut.How could I not love something like this?

What a surprisingly good read The Tenant of Wildfell Hall was.I think when you read a Classic like this you have to immerse yourself in the time when it was written and this one goes back to the mid 1840s, a time when the pace of life was slower, and when there was no Television or social media and a time when snail mail and word of mouth were the facebook and twitter of the time. I think if you have the ability to do this you would love and enjoy this novel as I am sure this was a rocking good read for any reader back in 1848.The novel is divided into three volumes and begins with the arrival of the beautiful and mysterious Mrs Graham in a sleepy country neighborhood. Mrs Graham causes quite a stir as she gives the country folk something new to talk and gossip about but the talk soon turns to nasty rumors about her and her son. The book's setting is the English country side with its isolated sprawling manors, rugged good looking gentlemen and cackle of young women on the hunt for well to do husbands.The story is edgy and fresh for its time with likable and dislikable characters and a plot that was suprisingly engrossing. The writting is descriptive but very readable and while I read this one at a slower pace than normal I thoroughly enjoyed my time spent with this classic. So if you enjoy classic literature, but have been putting this one off I advise putting it on your winter reading list, cosy up by the fire and take yourself back in time to get the best out of this book.

This was a beautiful love story with one of the most interesting narrative styles I've ever encountered. Without saying too much, the narration of this story shifts, and the overall style is not your typical narration style of a novel. Does this make sense? :P I hope not, because I want for you to read this book and see for yourself what I'm talking about (also I'm really tired when writing this, so bear with me). Anne Brontë has a way of creating very complicated and also mean characters, and I love it. I did see some ressemblances between this book and "Wuthering Heights", and I liked it. As a matter of fact, I think I like "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" just a little bit more, because to me it read more easily and had a beautiful storyline. The characters of this book come with a heavy background, and it's the gradual revelation of this background that makes the story so interesting. While this book is my favourite by Anne Brontë so far, I did have some minor problems with it. The middle part dragged on a bit too long for my taste, and I started questioning one of the characters' behaviour and lack of decision-making (yes, I just made that a word!). But all in all, I admire Anne Brontë's talent and way of telling a compelling story that will drag you in and leave you with a smile on your face :)

All the stars for this book! For me, it is on a par with Jane Eyre and better than Wuthering Heights. What a talented bunch of writers these sisters were! I can imagine jaws dropping all over victorian England at the publication of this book; a woman standing up to her abusive husband and slamming the bedroom door firmly shut in his face! What a spirited woman Anne was and she obviously wrote with some knowledge of the damage alcohol does to a person, as it is well known her brother was addicted.