Henry and Catherine have been inseperable ever since the day Mr. Earnshaw brought him to live with them at age 5. When Mr. Earnshaw dies suddenly, Catherine's brother Hindley, always jealous of Henry growining up, inherits and makes Henry's life hell. As Hindley works to sever Henry's relationship with Catherine, the violent rage Henry has harbored since childhood begins to bubble to the surface...It should surprise no one familiar with WUTHERING HEIGHTS that this is a heavy novel about obsessive love and revenge or that it ends in tragedy. Even though I never agreed with Henry or Catherine's point of view (the story is told in alternating voice between the two), enough insight was given into their characters that I could completely see where they were coming from. Less clear in their motivations were Hindley (who is portrayed as a vindictive, racist beast without a single redeeming quality) and most of the rest of the characters especially Edgar and Isabelle Linton, neighbors and classmates who pursue Catherine and Henry romantically (why?!).
The atmosphere and foreboding is well done, and I liked modern San Francisco as a stand in for the windswept moors - especially this passage:
"Everyone always says San Francisco is so romantic...they only say that because they don't hear the song this city really sings. It's the sound of something beautiful dying...the last breath of an angel before the ocean swallows her...before an earthquake breaks it off from the rest of the world and drowns it. The romance is there but it isn't what they think. Really it's the romance of saying good-bye forever." (p 197-198 ARC version, may not reflect final text).
THE HEIGHTS is available in hardcover now.
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