An Unforgettable Book Gift: Wuthering Heights
I received my first copy of Wuthering Heights during my freshman year of college. It was technically an assignment, not a gift, but I’ll never forget my maiden voyage to the remote English countryside. I was caught up in the craggy moors and shameful misbehaviors almost instantly, intrigued and often appalled by the story as it turned and unfolded. Completely unable to put it down. I suppose a modern expression would be, I was hooked.
I return to Wuthering Heights for Christmas most years, but my love affair with the tempestuous Catherine and mysterious (okay – rotten) Heathcliff has never ended. There’s just something about all the angst and anguish and awfulness that keeps me turning pages. And even though I know the book inside and out, I still get lost in the drama and language and take it all to heart. I read lines like, “Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same…” and I swoon. Not necessarily over the love/obsession between two star-crossed lovers, but the language! Just. Wow.
And there’s another reason I love this novel too. I wrote multiple papers on Wuthering Heights during my college career, always trying to make sense of it and often questioning Emily Bronte’s life and influences. I frequently received A+++’s. Who even knew that was a grade? My professors loved my interpretations and exposition on the topic. They doodled affirmations all over my pages. Things like “Delightful!” and “Profound!” and “Yes! Lovely!” It wasn’t until recently, when I came across those papers during a move, that I realized they fit the expression, “Hindsight is 20/20.” It seems that my desire to entertain and connect with others using my words had begun way back then. Not necessarily at thirty, when I first asked Google how to write a novel. My writing journey began with Catherine and Heathcliff on the moors.
Jacqueline Frost
Jacqueline Frost is a pen name used by Julie Anne Lindsey, an award-winning author of mystery and romantic suspense. She’s published more than twenty-five novels since her debut in 2013 and currently writes series for Harlequin, Kensington, Sourcebooks and Crooked Lane Books. Learn more about Julie at julieannelindsey.com.
Find her at…
About Vanessa Westermann
Vanessa writes feel-good romantic mysteries. She is the author of Cover Art and other books.