Wuthering Heights - First Impressions

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë Genres: Classic, Historical Romance

     OK, I don't like to go into a lot of details about plots of books, I'm always afraid of giving too much away, and spoiling any surprises. I chose to start Wuthering Heights because one of my book groups has already read it and the other doesn't plan to read it. Plus the fact that it is written by Emily Bronte while I am also reading Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte seemed ironic.

     This is another classic that I'm almost positive that I read it in high school but doesn't seem at all familiar. Well, I'm not going to admit how long ago high school was, but it isn't too surprising if my memory fails me.

     I'm close to half done with it and just now getting into the story. I found it quite confusing at first, as you are just thrown into the situation and most of the story is disclosed through a narrative by the housemaid to a new tenant. I'm also just starting to get used to the way people were referred to back in those times. One character can wear many names: Miss Earnshaw, Miss Catherine, Missy, Cathy, Mrs. Linton; makes it appear there are five characters right there instead of just one. Although I did eventually figure out that Cathy was actually Catherine's daughter, but I still have a hard time keeping characters straight in classic books.

     While I probably wouldn't classify this book as a page turner, when I do set it down, I don't set it down for long. I often can't wait to pick it up and hear more of the story, hoping it will all makes sense eventually. One is told the characters at the present time of the book, the housekeeper starts her story with a completely different situation, and as the story unfolds I cannot help but wonder what could possibly transpire to get the cast of characters where they are "today".

     As with most classics, this novel is within the public domain and available for download as a free ebook on both Amazon and Goodreads.

I give it 3 stars.