The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

The mysterious new tenant of Wildfell Hall has a dark secret. But as the captivated Gilbert Markham will discover, it is not the story circulating among local gossips.

Living under an assumed name, ‘Helen Graham’ is the estranged wife of a dissolute rake, desperate to protect her son from his destructive influence. Her diary entries reveal the shocking world of debauchery and cruelty from which she has fled. Combining a sensational story of a man’s physical and moral decline through alcohol, a study of marital breakdown, a disquisition on the care and upbringing of children, and a hard hitting critique of the position of women in Victorian society, this passionate tale of betrayal is set withing a stern moral framework tempered by Anne Brontë’s optimistic belief in universal redemption.

Drawing on her first hand experiences with her brother Branwell, Brontë’s novel scandalised contemporary readers. It still retains its power to shock.

About the Talking Classics

These audio books represent some of the greatest works of fiction ever written in the English language. Each expertly abridged novel has been selected for its narrative power, range of characters and its place in our literary heritage. Authors span the full spectrum from the brooding romance of the Bronte sisters and George Elliot to the gothic charms of Charles Dickens and Henry James.

Talking Classics is narrated by assembly of well-known and prolific actors, including Martin Shaw, Hannah Gordon, Jenny Agutter, Martin Jarvis, Joanna Lumley and Robert Powell. Originally issued on audio cassettes in the early 1990s, each story is presented over a double CD, running at approximately 2 hours and 20 minutes each.