I am intrigued by today's featured book, Heathcliff by Sue Barnard. It seeks to answer a few questions as to what happened to Heathcliff in the three years he was away, in Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights. I also have a great Giveaway for you - details on how to enter are at the foot of this post.
It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now…”
Cathy’s immortal words from Wuthering Heights change
Heathcliff’s life. At just seventeen
years of age, heartbroken and penniless, he runs away to face an unknown
future.
Three years later, he returns – much improved in manners,
appearance and prosperity.
But what happened during those years? How could he have made
his fortune, from nothing? Who might his parents have been? And what fate
turned him into literature’s most famous anti-hero?
For almost two centuries, these questions have remained
unanswered.
Until now…
My Thoughts
There is so much to delve into in this short novella. It is clear that Sue Barnard has researched the period and there is a lot of detail in the depiction of life in Liverpool and the ways of the traders. Some of this is quite shocking. You see Heathcliff in a different light as he develops, not always in a good way.
The author has also tried hard to mesh the story within the original book. It is split into periods of Heathcliff's life and has a possible hypothesis for his origin. It is written through the eyes of a whole range of characters although there is no overall narration. You therefore see the same scene through different perspectives. If you love the original and are interested in the nineteenth century, you will find something to love in this writing.
In short: Unanswered questions about Heathcliff lead to possibilities.
About the Author
Sue Barnard is a British novelist, editor and award-winning
poet whose family background is far stranger than any work of fiction. She
would write a book about it if she thought anybody would believe her.
Sue was born in North Wales but has spent most of her life
in and around Manchester. She speaks French like a Belgian, German like a
schoolgirl, and Italian and Portuguese like an Englishwoman abroad.
Her mind is so warped that she has appeared on BBC TV’s Only
Connect quiz show, and she has also compiled questions for BBC Radio 4's
fiendishly difficult Round Britain Quiz. This once caused one of her sons to
describe her as "professionally weird." The label has stuck.
Sue’s first novel, The Ghostly Father (a new take on the
traditional story of Romeo & Juliet), was officially released on St
Valentine's Day 2014. Since then she has
produced five more novels: Nice Girls Don’t (2014), The Unkindest Cut of All
(2015), Never on Saturday (2017), Heathcliff (2018), and Finding Nina (2019).
Sue now lives in Cheshire, UK, with her extremely patient
husband and a large collection of unfinished scribblings.
Giveaway UK only
Giveaway to win a signed copy of Heathcliff (UK Only), just follow the link below and good luck!
*Terms and Conditions –UK entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box
below. The winner will be selected at
random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter
and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random
Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all
entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal
data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and
will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’
information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for
fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete
the data. I am not responsible for
despatch or delivery of the prize.
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