Welcome to Litsy!

This premium quality large print edition contains the complete and unabridged classic version of Wuthering Heights, printed on heavy, bright white 60# paper in a large 7.44"x9.69" format, with page headers and a fully laminated full-color cover featuring an original design. Also included in this edition is an original introductory essay discussing the life and work of the author, as well as commentary written by Emily's sister, Charlotte Brontë, discussing the historical context and providing an analysis of the work, written for the 1850 second edition published after Emily's death. Film adaptations have tended to present Wuthering Heights as a tragic romance with gothic overtones, truncating a story which is more about uncontrolled passions, revenge, hatred, cruelty and thwarted desire, and which traces the effects of these forces through two generations.BR> The story centers around Heathcliff, a mysterious "gypsy-like person," from his street-orphan childhood to his death in his late thirties. Comfortable in his adopted family and reduced to the status of a servant following the death of the patriarch, Heathcliff runs away when the young woman he loves decides to marry another. Returning years later, rich and educated, he sets about taking revenge on the two families he believes have ruined his life, heedlessly and maliciously ruining the lives of all around him. Initially puzzling because of its then-unusual structure and regarded dubiously because of its stark portrayal of amoral passion and psychological and physical cruelty, critical reaction to Wuthering Heights was mixed. But by the turn of the 20th century the passage of time and the rise of modernism led to a reappraisal by critics, who began to consider the book a "literary classic" long after the reading public had embraced it. Exploring themes like social class and gender inequality, Wuthering Heights has become a timeless classic, enjoyed by generations of readers. Emily Jane Brontë (July 30, 1818-December 19, 1848) was an English novelist and poet, best remembered for Wuthering Heights, her only novel. Born in a Yorkshire village in Northern England, Emily was the fifth of the six children of Maria Branwell and Patrick Brontë, an Irish Anglican clergyman. Following the death of their mother in 1821 the three oldest sisters, Maria, Elizabeth and Charlotte, were sent to the Clergy Daughters' School at Cowan Bridge, an awful experience which later provided material for Charlotte Brontë's novel Jane Eyre. Emily was sent to join her sisters at the school in November 1824, but when a typhoid epidemic at the school left Maria and Elizabeth sick, Maria was sent home and soon died, and the remaining sisters were brought home in June 1825. Elizabeth died shortly after their return home. Educated at home thereafter the children had access to a wide variety of books. Their imaginations fired by favorites like Scott, Byron, and Shelley, they began writing stories and poems of their own, creating imaginary worlds like "Angria" and "Gondal." In 1846 the three surviving sisters published a combined book of poetry, which contained poems by "Currer (Charlotte)," "Acton (Anne)" and "Ellis (Emily) Bell." The volume of poetry has been traditionally reported to have sold two copies. The use of these pseudonyms would result in later confusion, with the sisters and their works occasionally being mistakenly identified after the publication of their novels in 1847. Emily's personal life remains little-known, at least in part because of her shy nature and almost reclusive habits. She seems to have had no friends outside her family, and much of what is known about her derives from a few well-worn anecdotes. She died of tuberculosis in 1848, having wasted away during her illness to the point where it was reported that her coffin was only sixteen inches in width.