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The Tenant of Wildfell Hall  By  cover art

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

By: Anne Brontë
Narrated by: Alex Jennings,Jenny Agutter
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Publisher's summary

Fleeing a disastrous marriage, Helen Huntingdon retreats to the desolate mansion, Wildfell Hall, with her son, Arthur. There, she makes her living as a painter. Finding it difficult to avoid her neighbors, she is soon an object of speculation and gossip. Brontë portrays Helen's eloquent struggle for independence at a time when society defined a married woman as her husband's property.

Public Domain (P)2015 AudioGO

What listeners say about The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

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Excellent performances of an abridged version

Performances are great. But take note - this is either an abridged version or there is a recording error. Almost all of Chapter 28 is missing.

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25 people found this helpful

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Relatable Romance and Dialogue

This is only the second Anne Bronte book that I've read, but I enjoyed it more than Agnes Grey. It is primarily told from a man's perspective which I don't usually see! The book is unique because the main character is a man for the first 15ish chapters then switches to a woman for maybe 10 chapters before going back to the man again. The lover's conflicts in this story are surprisingly relatable for being written in 1848, especially if you have ever suffered mental abuse from a spouse or partner. That being said, the story overall is not dark or depressing at all. Nothing so shocking that it is hard to read. It is mild and insightful!

Plus, loved the two narrators in this version! Very elegant accents and portrayed the emotional scenes very well!

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22 people found this helpful

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Beautiful Brontë!

I found Tenant of Wildfell Hall Is a marvelous noble filled with subtle intrigues and not-so-subtle commentaries on both virtuous and despotic personalities. One seldom could find a better comparison between virtue and vice as one finds in this book. The story is entertaining and the narrators are exceptional!

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13 people found this helpful

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Fantastic

I found the narration to be quite delightful and was sorry when the story came to a close. I'd recommend this to everyone!

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10 people found this helpful

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Excellent performances

Alex Jennings and Jenny Agutter share the credit for this beautifully narrated production of Anne Bronte's powerful novel. The story includes within the framework of a traditional courtship plot an unconventional exposure of the plight of a woman trapped in a marriage with an alcoholic abusive man.

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9 people found this helpful

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A really excellent audio version

I’m the sort of person who had tried to read The Tenant of Wildfell Hall once upon a time, before life and other things got in the way and I sort of forgot about it. Honestly this audio book was the best thing to get me back at it again. Where reading the book myself was sometimes a bit tedious, I thoroughly enjoyed having it read to me. I definitely recommend this version to anyone interested in the story. It’s a nice long one for if you do a lot of commuting and the story is, while not always the most exciting, very enjoyable. The two narrators do a good job of helping distinguish between a large cast of characters, and are never dull or monotonous to listen to.

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8 people found this helpful

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Another woman too willing to sacrifice her life

Not so long ago I read the statement by an author, in The New York Times Book Review column "By the Book" that in his opinion this is the best book of all the books by the Bronte sisters. So I added it to my list and listened to it. The story starts out intriguing and the writing is excellent. The performance is excellent. But it turns into one more 19th century story (and I love 19th century literature) about a woman who is willing to sacrifice herself - she'd almost die on a cross - for some kind of distorted sense of loyalty and duty to a man who wronged her and abuses her. We need more women who defy these expectations of a "good Christian" woman. They do exist.
That being said, there are some aspects of how she ended up in that circumstance that still resonate today: women who get too easily taken in by charm and good looks, and end up in bad relationships, and the shame - and many women still suffer that sense of shame in their communities - of admitting to family that you made a mistake, and even that the advice against the man should have been taken (though the alternatives in Helen's case were not very enticing). And then, of course, there are still today women who have no simple means to get out of a bad marriage, whether because their religion forbids it, their religion makes it difficult, or the community they are in makes it difficult. There are still good-for-nothing (and also abusive) men out there, and women would do well to be careful about who they commit themselves to, and protect themselves financially.
Finally, I don't agree with that author interviewed in "By the Book" - though the book is good, I don't think it is the best of the Bronte sisters' books that I have read (or listened to).

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6 people found this helpful

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Not Jane Eyre or Wuthering Heights

In pursuit of educating myself of the classics, my latest endeavors has been the Bronte sisters. I love Jane Eyre. I loved Wuthering Heights: But this novel just didn’t do it for me. It was predictable. The mysterious woman and the man who falls in love with her and the process of revealing her mystery through misleading assumptions and secrets is the storyline. I understand well the Brontë sisters were innovators as female novelists of their times. I believe this novel reflects the scope of life and it’s limited attainable accomplishments for women of the time. But I conclude that this novel was the romance novel of the day and the reinforcement of morality of the period. I read it. Check.

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5 people found this helpful

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19th Century Heroine

To write so honestly about human nature, domestic unhappiness, alcoholism, and adultery must have been shocking and perhaps disturbing to the readers of this novel in the mid to late 1800s.

In 2019, I applaud Brontë for her transparency and authenticity.

I felt for her protagonist, Helen Huntington, and could only imagine the strength and fortitude a woman of the Victorian era needed to persevere as she did and with honor, trust, and faith.

Gilbert Markham was also quite likable. Although moody and quick to anger at times, his morality and character developed beautifully as the story unfolded.

Brontë did an excellent job of weaving the two stories and perspectives into one.

A powerful and intelligent historical fiction.

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4 people found this helpful

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Highly Recommended

I was unfamiliar with Anne Bronte's writings until I listened to this recording. The themes in The Tenant of Wildfell Hall will be familiar to a 21st Century reader - spousal abuse, alcoholism, and a woman's attempt to maintain her own identity - and are more modern than in her sisters' better known Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. Due to the organization of the story, the use of two narrators is very effective and both narrators are outstanding.Although it is a long book and at times disturbing, I highly recommend the book and this recording. I look forward to reading/listening to Anne Bronte's other novel Agnes Grey.

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3 people found this helpful