Sofa Spotlight - The Tenant of Wildfell Hall - Anne Bronte

Not long ago I wrote about Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte, and I said that you should read that first as an introduction to her writing. And the reason for that is when I read The Tenant of Wildfell Hall I was blown away by it. 

EG and I have discussed this book a lot because she’s not a huge fan of the Brontes but she has read this one. The narrator is male, who writes a series of letters telling the story, and EGs thoughts were that Anne Bronte wrote that voice in a very convincing way.

So the story. In essence it’s the story of Gilbert Markham who is a gentleman farmer I think. In his neighbourhood arrives a widow, Mrs Graham, and her young son, Arthur. Misunderstandings abound as Markham finds himself being drawn in and ultimately falling in love with Mrs Graham. Who actually does everything that she can to repel him, not because she doesn’t return his feelings but because she has a secret.

The other side of the story is about the life of Arthur Huntingdon, a wealthy land owner who is squandering his wealth on a dissolute lifestyle in London. What is interesting about Huntingdon is that he is not led astray by this lifestyle, rather he is the one who is leading others astray. There’s an excellent exchange between Huntingdon and his friend, Lord Lowborough, who wants to make a clean start and break free from the addictions and vices that he has. He tells Huntingdon that in order to do so he must break free from Huntingdon because he has such an influence on him that it would be impossible otherwise. 

Anne Bronte portrays with astonishing accuracy her characters that are so real you have no problem in believing in them. I would say that she certainly rivals if not surpasses Jane Austen in her perception of human character. 

Other characters breeze in and out, many of them are snake like, such as Annabella Wilmott and Walter Hargrave, and are exasperating in their scheming and lack of concern for others. But there are also characters such as Millicent, who you feel sorry for because she is caught up in the traditions and expectations of the times and gets married almost against her will. 

By the time you get to the last section of the book you’re glad of the calm that it seems to bring. You’re now out of the frenetic atmosphere of the out of control characters in the rest of the book. But misunderstandings still abound and there’s a low level tension right until the end. But the end, when you get there, feels like the morning after a terrible storm. Although not a dramatic ending it is pleasing and takes into account all that as happened. The simplicity of it works in great contrast with the rest of the book. 

If you never read any other classic in your life read this. It was way ahead of its time in the way it challenged the social norms of its day and I’m sure that not many would dispute that this is an important work of literature.

Sofa Spotlight - Agnes Grey, Anne Bronte

Again this is on that I listened to on Audible. And to my shame it is the first time I’ve read/listened to Anne Bronte. Up until this point Charlotte Bronte had always been my fave Bronte sister, and although she will always have a special place in my heart, she has now been surpassed by Anne. 

Now before you start saying “Hey what about Emily,” I should say that I’m intrigued by Emily but couldn’t get on board with Wuthering Heights. I must admit that I’ve not read any of her poetry but that is something that I intend to correct one day.

Anyway back to Agnes Grey.

It’s only short, but it packs a punch. The story line is fairly straightforward - young girl wants to help the financial situation of her struggling family so goes out to work as a governess.

The power of this book is not in the story line but in the raw emotion that can only be said to thunder through the text. If you knew nothing about Anne Bronte you would have to conclude that she knew something of teaching entitled, privileged children. I was left wondering where the line between fiction and reality was because the scenes are vividly real. 

Given how short this book is, it’s a perfect introduction to Anne Bronte’s work and like I say the story isn’t hard to follow but it needs to be read. I think this is the best example of what it would have been like to have been a governess in 19th century England. Anne’s work opens a door not only on that but also on the thoughts and feelings that she must have had in her experiences as a governess.

Sofa Spotlight - The Jane Austen BBC Radio Drama Collection

Audio books can take forever to listen to and can be hard to follow. These are great because there are different voices for different characters, rather than one person doing all the voices. So it’s a radio play rather than straight audio book.

I started to listen to them when I’ve had migraines. Horrible as they are, terrible as the pain is, and sick as you feel, I can handle all that, I just can’t stand the boredom. I wasn’t built for doing nothing, or using all my concentration to stop myself from throwing up.

I’ve lost count of the hours I’ve spent staring at the ceiling or wishing that if I could shut my eyes tighter so that I might feel a little less sick. And when it’s all over you can’t rush back into everything because you feel like you’ve had all the energy drained out of you. The one good thing is the shower at the end of it all that washes the whole thing off you. And if like me you’ve take medication you get the best sleep afterwards. Who knows if it is the medication or because the world has gone quiet now that the hammering in your head has stopped?

So when I’m lying there, too ill to move but well enough that my mind is working again, audio books are, at that moment, the best invention! 

But back to Jane Austen.

In the collection are:

•  Sense and Sensibility 

•  Pride and Prejudice

•  Emma

•  Persuasion

•  Northanger Abbey

•  Mansfield Park

Lady Susan is missing as is Love and Friendship. The thing with Austen is that you can spend all day discussing the merits of your fave or what you love most about your fave character. So if you have all day comment below and let me know your thoughts.

For me Sense and Sensibility is by far the best. Followed closely by Persuasion. What clinches it for me though is Willoughby. If you’ve not read Austen’s novels before or don’t know the stories then skip to the last paragraph. 

I love Willoughby. He is the most believable character in the collection. Even more so than Wickham. His speech to Eleanor when Marianne was ill had so much feeling in it. You could feel the tearing in Willoughby’s soul. Which is maybe why I like Sense and Sensibility so much, because the characters express so much. 

Northanger Abbey, although excellent, makes me cringe too much. It’s the kind of book that makes me want to shout at it because of the poor decisions made by the main character. Thus it doesn’t make it to the top of my list. Emma is also on the cringe part of the list because of all the interference in other people’s lives etc that goes on. Just glad it all ended well! 

Persuasion is high up there because of the brilliant portrayal of characters. I mean it cannot be denied that Austen nailed human nature in all her novels but I feel Persuasion gets overlooked and sort of lives in the shadow of Pride and Prejudice. I put forward the character of Captain Benwick as evidence for my case.

Speaking of P&P it’s about mid-way up the list for me. Yes it does have incredible lines from the Bennet’s and Darcy, but the character that stole the show for me was Mr Collins. What a guy. I remember writing an essay for my GCSEs about his marriage proposals and I, like I’m supposed to, felt so sorry for Charlotte Lucas. Sometimes I don’t think we know that we’re born. 

Mansfield Park is down the bottom of the list. Partly for cringe factors - not a fan of the Crawfords and then by association Edward. But I do find the backstory interesting, or rather the social context of the slave trade that I missed picking up on when I read these in my teens.

Anyway would definitely recommend listening to these. If you’ve read the books they are great just to enjoy the stories again. And if Austen has intimidated you and put you off reading them then let the tones of David Tennent and Benedict Cumberbatch bring them to life.