Wuthering Heights

A powerful gripping tale written by Emily Brontë - a girl whose life was as bleak as the sombre Yorkshire Moors where the story is laid.

Her short thirty years was spent in almost cloistered simplicity on the moorlands of Yorkshire, England, yet Emily Brontë's rich and sombre imagination created its own world, and one of the most compelling novels in the English language. 

Wuthering Heights was published in 1847 under the pseudonym Ellis Bell and is a novel based on a tragic love story, and one bitter man's quest for revenge. 

Set on the moors of Haworth in the North of England during the 19th century, it's really a book of two halves, and is definitely one of those "you'll either love it or you'll hate it" novels, with several of the characters being unlikeable. In fact, some are downright monstrous!

Mr Earnshaw is the master of Wuthering Heights, the farmhouse where the story begins. He is a kindly man, with a bit of a reputation for adopting waifs and strays, after returning from London or Liverpool with surprising additions to the family. 

One of these is Nelly Dean, who became the Earnshaw's trusted housekeeper, but the most upsetting arrival to the household, was a dirty, black haired boy who Mr Earnshaw had picked up from the streets of Liverpool.

Christening the boy Heathcliff, Mr Earnshaw's desire was for him to grow up as a brother to his two children Catherine and Hindley. However, as he grew older, tensions grew between him and his adopted brother Hindley, who had hated him from the very beginning...

Quite the opposite, Catherine has always loved Heathcliff, and as children they were inseparable. But, as an adult she gave up her love and married the prosperous Edgar Linton for wealth and standing in society, even after admitting to Nelly Dean that Heathcliff is the one who she truly loves. Heathcliff overhears some of this conversation, but only the part where Cathy admits that it would degrade her to marry him, and so runs away in despair.

He later returns to live at Wuthering Heights, now a wealthy and educated man, and Cathy is filled with hope that they will rekindle their friendship. She soon learns that things between them have changed, and Heathcliff's mind is set upon destroying all who have wronged him...

There have been several other dramatizations of Wuthering Heights which are available to download or listen to online. I have listed the links to these below:-

Lux Radio Theater

Ford Theater

Favorite Story

CBS Radio Mystery Theater

Weird Circle

Matinee Theater

As always, I'd love to know your thoughts about the latest book in the RUSC Literary Challenge, so please do comment below.

Happy listening my friends,