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 Heathcliff's Tale
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- by Emma Tennant
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- Emma
Tennant's new novel, Heathcliff's
Tale, brings together a chilling ghost story,
a literary mystery, and a satire of Brontë academic
studies. It is the story of the haunting of Henry Newby,
a hapless young lawyer despatched to Haworth Parsonage
shortly after the death of Emily Brontë to retrieve
a novel by Ellis Bell for his uncle, publisher of
Wuthering Heights. He soon finds
himself adrift in a sea of possibilities: are the pages
which burn on the study fire the work of fiction which
his uncle awaits, or, as he believes, do they comprise
the confessions of a wicked man, a murderer who has
brought destruction and misery to all he meets? Who is
this Heathcliff who spills his black soul among the
flames and ashes?
-
- Fact and
fiction are intertwined as we are confronted with the
enigma of Emily Brontë. How could a young woman with
no apparent experience of passion or knowledge of evil,
have summoned up Heathcliff? Can evil be passed from one
generation to the next? Or is it born out of deprivation
and despair? Does it linger, long after the death of the
evil-doer-and can it haunt chillingly through the pages
of a book?
-
- Heathcliff's Tale is grippingly
atmospheric and a rattling good read, and should appeal
to the general reader, literary aficionado and ghost
story enthusiast alike.
-
- Emma
Tennant was born in London and spent her
childhood in the Borders of Scotland. She is the author
of over twenty novels, amongst these The Bad
Sister, a modern reworking of James Hogg's
Confessions of a Justified
Sinner, and Felony, an examination
of the crimes and misdemeanours surrounding the writing
of Henry James's The Aspern Papers. She lives in
London.
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- Jacket
illustration by Fritz Eichenberg
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- Heathcliff's Tale is published
simultaneously as a limited edition of 500 sewn hardback
copies of 213 pages, signed by the author (ISBN
9781872621913 ) and a trade paperback of 167 pages (ISBN
9781872621920 ).
-
- Limited
edition, signed hardback, price £25/$50.
-
 A
paperback edition is also
available, price £8.99/$18.
-
- Reviews:
- "Whether or not you accept all Emma
Tennant's theories, as an imaginative response to
Wuthering Heights her beautifully crafted tale is
wonderfully engaged and engaging." - Lucasta Miller,
Times Literary Supplement, 5th May 2005
-
- "This
ambitious novel . . . is a gothic tale . . . The language
is Brontë-esque and, most importantly, this works
well as a stand alone novel." - The Observer, 27th March
2005
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- "...it is an unalloyed pleasure." - The
Scotsman, 2nd April 2005
-
- "A
provocatively rewritten Wuthering Heights." - John
Sutherland, Financial Times, the 16th April
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- "Glorious... with astute satires on
academic spats, as well as answering John Sutherland's
question: 'Was Heathcliff a murderer?' " - Stuart Kelly,
The Scotsman, 17th April 2005
-
- "Whoever's life or work she chooses to
embellish, Tennant always makes it work. She is one of
the greats, one of the originals." - Sunday Herald, 17th
April 2005
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- Featured in The Independent on Sunday!,
10th April 2005
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- "A
must for Brontë fans" - Rebecca Fraser
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- "Elegant ingenuity . . . a treat" -
Michael Holroyd
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- "Witty, intriguing . . . I couldn't put
it down" - Elaine Feinstein
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Page
updated 23rd March 2008
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