The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

Brilliant description of Helen and Gilbert’s thoughts and feelings;I have at times felt each and every one of these feelings; it makes me feel I am not alone.

I was 25 chapters into this before I found out it’s a mutilated and abridged publication. A good book, for sure, but I’m annoyed to find out it’s not even the whole things. Entire passages are missing and even some chapters are almost completely omitted. The opening letter which somewhat serves as a prologue is removed, making the beginning of the book briefly confusing. The cover or somewhere in the description should make it clear that this is not a full edition, as I now am going to have to re-read half of the book. Try to find a download that says “First Edition” or “I. Edition” which has the book in its entirety. If the copy you get doesn’t start with, "To J. Halford, Esq. Dear Halford, when we were together last..." then it is an abridged edition.

Though Anne's second book was actually even more popular than her sister Charlotte's "Jane Eyre" at the time of its first publication, but Charlotte refused to support it; she felt that the character of Anne's husband Arthur was based on a relative who had an opium addiction.  
Regardless, it is a wonderful novel, encompassing so many facets of literature - a love story, the story of a woman's growing into her own person, the community mores and life of an English village in the 1800s and a book about friendship. The female protagonist, Helen, ignores social boundaries when she becomes close friends with her servant. The remarkable thing about this is that this is NOT a book written later about those times; rather, it was written during the 1800s and yet Anne Bronte wrote it that way. The book goes back and forth between Helen's perspective and that of Gilbert, a friend who loves her from afar for many years. Helen depended on her faith in God to get her through her husband's affair with a family friend, and she admirably maintains her moral compass throughout the book. This was so refreshing when we live in a time when "Situationla Ethics" too often reigns supreme.

Through it all, she also maintains her chaste relationship with Gilbert. Will Gilbert and Helen ever surmount their obstacles and be able to enjoy the rest of their lives together? I will not give away spoilers. Suffice it to say that this is a very moving book, and my favorite of all the Bronte sisters' works.