The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte: book review

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848, this edition 2014) is set in rural England in the 1820s in the Wildfell Hall mansion. The author, writing under the male pseudonym Acton Bell, is the youngest sister of Charlotte Bronte (who wrote Jane Eyre) and Emily Bronte (who wrote Wuthering Heights). Anne Bronte died in 1849 at the age of 29 of flu and tuberculosis.

The novel is in the form of letters. Gilbert Markham, a gentleman farmer, writes to his brother-in-law J. Halsford, about how he met his wife, Helen Graham.

Helen arrived at the Wildfell Hall mansion, next to Markham’s property, with her young son and maid, after her husband’s death. No-one has lived in the mansion for many years and no-one knows about the former life of the current tenant. Helen lives in strict seclusion. The local villagers gossip about her and are critical of her home-schooling her son Arthur, lest it turn him into a ‘girl.’

With his sister Rose, Gilbert is invited into the mansion, and sees Helen painting—not for pleasure, but to sell in London to ensure an income to live independently while raising her son as a single mother.

Her diary reveals the difficult life she left behind.

From independent verve to stoic calmness, extraordinary optimism, and domestic defiance, this novel is revolutionary for its time. Described as the ‘most shocking’ of the Bronte sisters’ novels, it was initially a big success. However, after Anne Bronte’s death, Charlotte refused to re-publish it. If she had published it, in my view it would have been a greater success than the work of her sisters.

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of: The Paris Residences of James Joyce (2020), Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

Comments

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. ...

Flaws in the Glass, a self-portrait by Patrick White: book review

The manuscript, Flaws in the Glass (1981), is Patrick Victor Martindale White’s autobiography. White, born in 1912 in England, migrated to Sydney, Australia, when he was six months old. For three years, at the age of 20, he studied French and German literature at King’s College at the University of Cambridge in England. Throughout his life, he published 12 novels. In 1957 he won the inaugural Miles Franklin Literary Award for Voss, published in 1956. In 1961, Riders in the Chariot became a best-seller, winning the Miles Franklin Literary Award. In 1973, he was the first Australian author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for The Eye of the Storm, despite many critics describing his works as ‘un-Australian’ and himself as ‘Australia’s most unreadable novelist.’ In 1979, The Twyborn Affair was short-listed for the Booker Prize, but he withdrew it from the competition to give younger writers the opportunity to win the award. His autobiography, Flaws in the Glass...

Sister cities discussed: Canberra and Islamabad

Two months ago, in March 2015, Australia and Pakistan agreed to explore ways to deepen ties. The relationship between Australia and Pakistan has been strong for decades, and the two countries continue to keep dialogues open. The annual bilateral discussions were held in Australia in March to continue engagements on a wide range of matters of mutual interest. The Pakistan delegation discussed points of interest will include sports, agriculture, economic growth, trade, border protection, business, and education. The possible twinning of the cities of Canberra, the capital of Australia, and Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, were also on the agenda (i.e. called twin towns or sister cities). Sister City relationships are twinning arrangements that build friendships as well as government, business, culture, and community linkages. Canberra currently has international Sister City relationships with Beijing in China and Nara in Japan. One example of existing...

FEAST OR FAMINE

Search This Blog