by Anne Bronte, Rated B
The story of Helen Graham, a headstrong and independent young woman, who marries against the advice of her family. She reminded me very much of my Granddaughter Emily. She is one of those who loves not wisely but too well. (think obsessively) Arthur is a selfish and irresponsible drunk and womanizer. Helen thinks that she can "save" Arthur who under her good influence will turn his life around. Arthur couldn't care less about changing one single thing about himself, and his drinking and adultery right under her nose eventually repels her to the point where she despises him as much as she once loved him. It is only when she sees him attempting to influence her young son to become a chip off the old block, that she realizes her responsibility as a mother to save her son from his father trumps her duty as a wife to stand by her husband. With the help of her brother, she runs away to a Wildfell Hall, a rather Gothic type crumbling mansion in small village. Here she meets Gilbert Markham, who falls in love with her, but realizes that their relationship has no future as long as her husband is alive. Arthur's ultimate death from alcoholism not only frees Helen from an abusive and degrading marriage, it also leaves her free to find happiness with Gilbert.
The blurb on the back of the book calls this the first popular novel to espouse feminism and I guess that in it's day it probably was. You could also say that this book was an ancestor of the 1970/80 style Gothic Romance novel. I found the writing very prosy and Victorian (duh) and thought that Helen was often preachy and sanctimonious to the point where I wanted to start skimming. But overall I really liked it and am surprised that given the popularity of her sisters this novel isn't better known.
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