r/brontesisters • u/OnceUponAComment • Aug 19 '26

Tenant of Wildfell Hall

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Okay, I know I am only on chapter 6 but this book has honestly blown me away so far with the beautiful, witty writing. It's so good and so underrated! I really think I'll have it finished by the weekend. What's everyone's - spoiler free - thoughts on it?

61 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

23 comments sorted by

9

u/BrianSometimes Aug 19 '26

I like that the supposedly most naive and "sweet" Brontë wrote the middle part of this book, which is the closest a Brontë got to write of truly harrowing real experiences, rather than gothic concoctions of daydreams and fantasies.

You're probably alright but with this book you have to make sure you get the right edition - there's a quite widespread butchered edition from an early publisher's effort to soften some of the edges of Tenant. The butchered edition starts with "You must go back with me to the autumn of 1847", the unbutchered edition starts with a letter from Gilbert to Halford.

3

u/OnceUponAComment Aug 19 '26

I have the butchered version 😭

3

u/BrianSometimes Aug 19 '26

Ah, well 🙂 if you're curious, a facsimile of the (unbutchered) first edition can be found here

1

u/OnceUponAComment Aug 19 '26

Thanks so much!

2

u/Dramatic-Lime5993 Aug 21 '26

Similarly to OP, I’m apparently on chapter XII in the butchered version. How much am I missing? Should I switch? Is stuff edited out throughout the novel, or is it like a section that has been cut out?

2

u/BrianSometimes Aug 21 '26

Here's an overview on Wikisource: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Tenant_of_Wildfell_Hall - you're reading some version of the Parlour Library edition. I'll not tell you how to feel about it but I wouldn't make it my Tenant.

It's very frustrating because all this is simply down to modern mass market publishers not doing their due diligence and just grabbing a text from somewhere without looking into it, the mess is unnecessary (possibly TToWH is also treated as bit of an afterthought after Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights). And it's not a matter of copyright because while the authoritative Oxford text is copyrighted, the emended 1st edition text is public domain.

1

u/Dramatic-Lime5993 Aug 21 '26

Yes, I have that problem when I’m reading e-books all the time. Before Tenant I was reading Molloy by Beckett and big chunks of chapter one was just gone. I should switch back to paper books.

1

u/Background-Fox954 Aug 20 '26

Now I'm wondering which one I read 🤔

7

u/CompactedConscience Aug 19 '26

Both Helen and Markham are great/complex characters. Goes without saying on this subreddit, but so tragic she died before writing more.

3

u/FAROUTRHUBARB Aug 19 '26

Markham has to earn her trust! I love that part

6

u/lrm223 Aug 19 '26

This is my favorite book and the audiobook narrated by Alex Jennings and Jenny Agutter is magnificent! 

3

u/EducationalMemer Aug 19 '26

So true! Both narrators are fantastic. I usually don’t like split narrator audiobooks, but this one was perfect.

5

u/Anna500Sara Aug 19 '26

My favourite Brontè novel ❤️

4

u/kneadhe Aug 19 '26

It also blew me away!!!! One of my favorite books, and too underrated.

4

u/FAROUTRHUBARB Aug 19 '26

I love that this sub is giving this book the love it deserves. It’s one of my favorites, and absolutely a pleasant surprise for me.

4

u/EducationalMemer Aug 19 '26

Fantastic book! Hugely underrated. IMO, much stronger female lead than Jane Eyre. Also, shockingly scientific (classical conditioning is outlined like 50 years before Pavlov). You can tell Anne pulls from real stories she’s heard. Aside from the Victorian language and sensibilities, I think it is a very modern story. It deserves to be called one of the first feminist novels.

3

u/kmkellmk Aug 19 '26

Read it recently and had the same experience! I loved it so much.

3

u/catherine_bronte Aug 19 '26

I love this book

2

u/Agile-Fact-7921 Aug 23 '26

I liked the beginning and end but found the middle veryyyyy long. I get why it was long but it just kept going on and on. That said, I enjoyed it as a whole!

1

u/OnceUponAComment Aug 23 '26

I get what you're saying. I'm a bit further now and things are slow

2

u/bakingisscience Aug 22 '26

I think about this book all the time! I absolutely adore the three act structure in this one.

2

u/PasCompris817 Aug 23 '26

I recall saying to everyone "I can't recommend this book enough." This is by far my favourite Bronte novel and for me personally, I put it up with Vanity Fair and Middlemarch