Wuthering Heights
Emily Bronte
(Independently published, Jan. 1, 2019)
In the late winter months of 1801, a man named Lockwood rents a manor housecalled Thrushcross Grange in the isolated moor country of England. Here, hemeets his dour landlord, Heathcliff, a wealthy man who lives in the ancientmanor of Wuthering Heights, four miles away from the Grange. In this wild,stormy countryside, Lockwood asks his housekeeper, Nelly Dean, to tell him thestory of Heathcliff and the strange denizens of Wuthering Heights. Nellyconsents, and Lockwood writes down his recollections of her tale in his diary;these written recollections form the main part of Wuthering Heights.Nelly remembers her childhood. As a young girl, she works as a servant atWuthering Heights for the owner of the manor, Mr. Earnshaw, and his family.One day, Mr. Earnshaw goes to Liverpool and returns home with an orphan boywhom he will raise with his own children. At first, the Earnshaw children—aboy named Hindley and his younger sister Catherine—detest the dark-skinnedHeathcliff. But Catherine quickly comes to love him, and the two soon growinseparable, spending their days playing on the moors. After his wife’s death,Mr. Earnshaw grows to prefer Heathcliff to his own son, and when Hindleycontinues his cruelty to Heathcliff, Mr. Earnshaw sends Hindley away to college,keeping Heathcliff nearby.Three years later, Mr. Earnshaw dies, and Hindley inherits Wuthering Heights.He returns with a wife, Frances, and immediately seeks revenge on Heathcliff.Once an orphan, later a pampered and favored son, Heathcliff now finds himselftreated as a common laborer, forced to work in the fields. Heathcliff continueshis close relationship with Catherine, however. One night they wander toThrushcross Grange, hoping to tease Edgar and Isabella Linton, the cowardly,snobbish children who live there. Catherine is bitten by a dog and is forced tostay at the Grange to recuperate for five weeks, during which time Mrs. Lintonworks to make her a proper young lady. By the time Catherine returns, she hasbecome infatuated with Edgar, and her relationship with Heathcliff grows morecomplicated.