Wuthering Heights
I fell in love with the novel ‘Wuthering Heights’ the first time I read it. Looking back now, I was too young really to appreciate Emily Bronte’s passion or the beauty of her writing, but the book completely captured my imagination with the wildness of the moors and the haunting melancholy of Cathy’s ghost. When I first visited the Parsonage I was about 14 and there was not time for us to walk across the moors to find Top Withens, said to be the inspiration for the location of the Earnshaw family house, Wuthering Heights. Since then, however, I have visited the Parsonage many times, always drawn back by the sad story of these remarkable sisters, and have enjoyed walking across the moors that gave them such freedom and inspiration.
To reach Top Withens, you walk along the Pennine Way. Whether you have read the novel or not, it is impossible not to feel inspired by the rugged beauty of the landscape which is as much a part of the story as Cathy and Heathcliff. On the way, you pass the Bronte Waterfall (picture one) which is often little more than a trickle, and the Bronte Bridge (picture three), a small clapper bridge across a stream in a valley near which is the Bronte Chair, a chair shaped rock on which, it is claimed, the sisters used to sit and tell each other stories.
Little remains of the farmhouse today and although claims that Top Withens was the setting for Wuthering Heights were established in the early 1870s, other locations have also been offered as inspiration for the house, although none perhaps in such an atmospheric location. As the plaque says, Top Withens bore no resemblance to the farmhouse in the book, but it makes a wonderful place to walk out to.
I am usually very wary of any adaptation or abridgement of ‘Wuthering Heights’ and I have never managed to watch more than the opening moments of any film or television version. However, Tanya Landman is an excellent author whose writing I always enjoy so I thought I would give her retelling a try- and I was not disappointed!
Re-told from Cathy’s point of view, Tanya has done an exceptional job. She has captured the essence of the story, retaining the dark overtones of the original, the wildness and passion, making this an engaging and powerful read. The complexities of the characters, their motivations, their contradictions and above all, the tangled bond between Cathy and Heathcliff, are all here, yet so much more easily understood and accessible.
For anyone who has struggled with the original or has been reluctant to attempt it, Tanya’s version offers the perfect way in to what is undoubtedly a very complex and demanding novel. It will no doubt be invaluable to those studying the book, supporting understanding and instigating discussions, Barrington Stoke’s dyslexia friendly format making it accessible to all.
I cannot recommend this highly enough!
Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights
a retelling by Tanya Landman
Barrington Stoke ISBN: 978-1781129371
You can read about the Bronte birthplace here.
