Reviews - The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

3.68k reviews for:

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

Anne Brontë

4.07 AVERAGE

lara_vd_burg's review against another edition

4.0

emotional slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

echiddicks's review against another edition

5.0

(Most) men are trash, so choose wisely, but Victorian. More seriously, this story and writing style has a maturity and realism that *ahem* other Brontës lack. I enjoy that this was thought to be a wildly inappropriate story back in the day, because now it comes off as, somewhat sadly, timeless.

bagdriwicz's review against another edition

5.0

4.5 stars

I can’t explain why I like this book, but I did enjoy the reading of it. This is one of those rare books where I’m not particularly fond of the characters, but I was still riveted by the story. I do like our titular tenant for the most part, but she has the wooooooorst taste in men. Arthur obviously sucks, but Gilbert is such a child. He ignores her wishes and throws tantrums. But I still found his side of the story interesting. The first half of the book feels a bit Austen-y, with the cast of characters made from a country neighborhood and everyone intrigued by a new mystery tenant in the ruined Wildfell Hall. The romance and the mystery kept me interested despite constant frustration with Gilbert’s antics.

anabellejhol's review against another edition

4.25

slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

lapsedmarxist's review against another edition

4.0

probably the most feminist of all the brontë books. anne is definitely the least romantic of the brontë sisters. she has a gritty realist approach to her writing. she is a lot more realist thus in turn far more critical of men which are usually rugged and dashing. this does mean the book lacks in gothic atmosphere; with a couple of exceptions. i liked the early parts of the book which are set in a rural town and you get this pastoral setting which is very nice. anne does have some romantic tendencies and sometimes she even indulges in them. but she is not as brooding and foreboding as her sisters. nonetheless her characters are still very compelling and interesting. helen is an amazing character. her relationship with her husband is extraordinary. meticulous and slow, it took her a long time to realize the horrible man her husband is. this was amazing writing. there is some moralizing at the end of the book which does hamper the story. all in all, great novel.

oldbee's review against another edition

3.0

Had it been shorter, it would have been much easier to forgive its faults, though I'm reluctant to call them out as such since most of what irked me could be attributed to the time period it was written in.