Publishedin1847，WUtheRINGHEIGHTSwasnotwellreceivedbythereadingpublic，manyofwhomcondemneditassordid，vulgar，andunnatural--andauthorEmilyBrontewenttohergravein1848believingthatheronlynovelwasafailure。Itwasnotuntil1850，whenWUTHERINGHEIGHTSreceivedasecondprintingwithanintroductionbyEmily'ssisterCharlotte，thatitattractedawidereadership。Andfromthatpointthereputationofthebookhasneverlookedback。TodayitiswidelyrecognizedasoneoftheGREatnovelsofEnglishliterature。
Evenso，WUtheRINGHEIGHTScontinuestodividereaders。Itisnotaprettylovestory;rather，itisswirlingtaleoflargelyunlikeablepeoplecaughtupinobsessivelovethatturnstodarkmadness。Itiscruel，violent，darkandbrooding，andmanypeoplefinditextremelyunpleasant。Andyet--itpossessesagrandeuroflanguageanddesign，asenseoftremendouspityandGREatlossthatsetsitapartfromvirtuallyeveryothernovelwritten。
thenovelistoldintheformofanextendedFLASHback。Afteravisittohisstrangelandlord，anewcomertotheareadesirestoknowthehistoryofthefamily--whichhereceivesfromNellyDeans，aservantwhointroducesustotheEarnshawfamilywhoonceresidedinthehouseknownasWutheringHeights。Itwasonceacheerfulplace，butOldEarnshawadopteda"Gipsy"childwhohenamedHeathcliff。AndCatherine，daughterofthehouse，foundinhimtheperfectcompanion:wild，rude，andasproudandcruelasshe。ButalthoughCatherineloveshim，evenrecognizeshimashersoulmate，shecannotlowerherselftomarrysofarbelowhersocialstation。Sheinsteadmarriesanother，andinsodoingsetsinmotionanobsessionthatwilldestroythemall。
WUtheRINGHEIGHTSisabitdifficultto"getinto;"theopeningchaptersaresodarkintheirportraitoftheendresultofthisobsessivelovethattheyaresomewhatoff-putting。Buttheyfeedintotheflowoftheworkinaremarkableway，settingthestageforoneofthemostremarkablestructuresinallofliterature，astorythatcirclesuponitselfinaseriesofrepetitionsasitplaysoutacrosstwogenerations。CatherineandHeathcliffareequallyremarkable，bothviciousandcruel，andyetneverabletoshedtheirimpossiblelovenomatterhowbrutallyonemaywoundtheother。
Asthenovelcoilsfurtherintoalcoholism，seduction，andoneofthemostelaboratelyimaginedplansofrevengeitgathersintoaghostlytone:Heathcliff，driventomadnessbyawomanwhoisnottherebutwhoseemsreflec7332tedineverypartofhisworld--dragginghercorpsefromthegrave，hearinghercallingtohimfromthemoors，escalatinghisbrutalitynotforthesakeofbrutalitybutsothathermemorywillneverfade，sothatshemayneverleavehisminduntildeathitself。Yes，thisismadness，insanity，andthereisnopeacethissideofthegraveorevenbeyond。
Itisastunningnovel，frightening，inexorable，unsettling，filledwithunbridledpassionthatmakesonecringe。Evenifyoudonotlikeit，youshouldreaditatleastonce--andthosewhodolikeitwillreturntoitagainandagain
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