The Timeless Provocations of "Wuthering Heights" (the Novel)

"A few days after Emerald Fennell's film adaptation of "Wuthering Heights" came out, a friend sent me an Onion headline about a bookseller frantically pulling classics off the shelf before Fennell enters the store. No beloved novel could be safe from the dangers of the director introducing anachronistic costumes, original songs by Charli XCX, selectively color-blind casting, and explicit B.D.S.M. scenes for its Byronic hero."

"In mid-February, Publishers Weekly reported that a hundred thousand copies of Emily Brontë's 1847 novel had sold in the first two months of this year, compared with a hundred and eighty thousand total last year, attributing the increase to book clubs and influencers of all stripes embracing it."

"But in rereading it for my own Substack book club, in advance of the release of Fennell's film, I came to respect both its discipline and its perversity, though not in the way Fennell's movie might make you think."

Emerald Fennell's film adaptation of Wuthering Heights generated significant cultural attention through its anachronistic choices, including modern costumes, Charli XCX songs, color-blind casting, and explicit scenes. The adaptation paradoxically drove massive book sales, with 100,000 copies of Emily Brontë's 1847 novel selling in the first two months of the year compared to 180,000 total the previous year. The surge reflects book clubs and influencers embracing the classic. Upon rereading the novel, the text reveals both disciplined structure and perversity that extends beyond Fennell's cinematic interpretation. The narrative presents itself as a conservative tale despite its nihilistic core, exploring the complex relationships between Heathcliff, Catherine Earnshaw, and subsequent generations.

Read at The New Yorker