Fiction
535 pages
Gilbert
Markham is deeply intrigued by Helen Graham, a beautiful and secretive young
widow who has moved into nearby Wildfell Hall with her young son. He is quick
to offer Helen his friendship, but when her reclusive behavior becomes the
subject of local gossip and speculation, Gilbert begins to wonder whether his
trust in her has been misplaced. It is only when she allows Gilbert to read her
diary that the truth is revealed and the shocking details of her past.
Told
with great immediacy, combined with wit and irony, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
is a powerfully involving read.
Completion: A
Writing/Style: D
Characters: F
Plot/Pacing: D-
World-building/Atmosphere:
D-
Sub-genres
(Romance, Humor, Mystery, etc.): F
Final Grade: D- At Your
Own Risk
This book nearly killed me. If you were wondering why it
has taken me so long to update with another review, it is because it took me over
a month to finish this one. It took an almost insurmountable effort to
pick it back up after setting it down. The pacing was poor, the characters were
horrible, the romance disgusting and unbelievable, and the narrator absolutely
appalling. I’m going to go into some spoilery details, but since I don’t think
you should read this book I really don’t care and neither should you. There are
three main guys in this story, and they are horrible people (and not in the
good, interesting way). Let’s get a list going of these lovelies, shall we?
Gilbert Markham: main narrator
-suffers from Nice Guy Syndrome (aka won’t
take no for an answer, always views himself as a victim, hurts everyone around
him and then blames others, etc.)
-stalks Helen Graham
-befriends Helen’s son under false pretenses
-beats the crap out of his “friend” who he
thinks is getting too close to Helen and then gets upset when said friend
doesn’t want his help after the beating
-self-justification and major narcissism
-befriends Helen’s brother (the friend he
beat up before) in order to stay close to Helen/get news about Helen
-drama queen
Arthur Huntingdon: Helen’s husband
-a drunk
-a liar
-an adulterer
-makes his friend relapse into gambling and
alcoholism because his friend was “boring” sober apparently
-doesn’t care for his son and views him as a
competitor for his wife’s attention
-tries to turn his son against Helen
Mr. Hargrave: friend to Arthur
-suffers from Nice Guy Syndrome as well
And if these people weren’t frustrating enough, there’s
Helen. While she’s not a “bad” person, her holier-than-thou attitude gets old
real quick and creates a really monotonous and infuriating back and forth
between her and the other characters. It’s as if Anne Bronte was trying to
write a romance without any of the fun or romance. Now of course, Helen
miraculously falls for Markham in the end which is only more disgusting by the
fact that he hasn’t changed in the slightest, and they have zero believable
chemistry between them. Even though Markham says he is nothing like Hargrave, I
really couldn’t tell which of them was worse because they were so similar
(except for some reason Helen likes Markham). Helen is essentially a mix
between a punching bag and a chew toy for the other characters which is
nauseating to read especially for how long this book goes on. The pacing was
slow and sporadic, making this tragedy of a book go on much longer than it
should have. There is nothing appealing about this book, and everything about
it made me want to put it down and never pick it back up. I wouldn’t wish this
book on my worst enemy.
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