‘Wuthering Heights’ by Emily Brontë episode artwork

EPISODE · Mar 24, 2025 · 26 MIN

‘Wuthering Heights’ by Emily Brontë

from Novel Approaches · host London Review of Books

When Wuthering Heights was published in December 1847, many readers didn’t know what to make of it: one reviewer called it ‘a compound of vulgar depravity and unnatural horrors’. In this episode of ‘Novel Approaches’, Patricia Lockwood and David Trotter join Thomas Jones to explore Emily Brontë’s ‘completely amoral’ novel. As well as questions of Heathcliff’s mysterious origins and ‘obscene’ wealth, of Cathy’s ghost, bad weather, gnarled trees, even gnarlier characters and savage dogs, they discuss the book’s intricate structure, Brontë’s inventive use of language and the extraordinary hold that her story continues to exert over the imaginations of readers and non-readers alike. Non-subscribers will only hear an extract from this episode. To listen to the full episode, and all our other Close Readings series, subscribe: Directly in Apple Podcasts: ⁠https://lrb.me/applecrna⁠ In other podcast apps: ⁠https://lrb.me/closereadingsna⁠ Read more in the LRB: David Trotter: Heathcliff Redounding https://lrb.me/nabronte1 John Bayley: Kitchen Devil https://lrb.me/nabronte2 Alice Spawls: If It Weren’t for Charlotte https://lrb.me/nabronte3 Patricia Lockwood: What a Bear Wants https://lrb.me/nabronte4 Audiobooks from the LRB: ⁠⁠⁠https://lrb.me/audiobooksna⁠⁠⁠

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Mar 24, 2025

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‘Wuthering Heights’ by Emily Brontë

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