Wuther by V.J. ChambersPublication date: July, 2013
Genre: New Adult Retelling
His new adult retelling of Wuthering Heights is intended for mature readers due to explicit sexual content and coarse language.
Instead of storms tearing through Yorkshire moors, the sounds of ’90s grunge rock whisper through backwoods American cornfields…
And give new life to the Bronte characters you love to hate.
A gypsy orphan, Heath Galloway adores Cathy Earnshaw, his childhood sweetheart. He would do anything to protect her from her drunken, abusive father–even push the man down a flight of stairs to stop him hitting her.
But with her father dead, Cathy’s older brother Matt runs the Earnshaw farm and both of their lives. And Matt despises Heath. Forced to drop out of school and work the fields, Heath is separated from Cathy and the two begin to drift apart.
When Cathy meets the rich, blond, and suave Eli Linton, she finds herself torn between Eli’s charm and Heath’s brute potency.
Fiercely proud and stubborn, Heath doesn’t take well to being brushed aside. He’ll get what he wants, or he’ll get revenge. No matter how long it takes.
V. J. Chambers likes bad boys, but she likes them to be actual bad boys, not misunderstood weaklings who cover up their emotional scars with a thin veneer of pretend bad-boy-ness.She likes to tackle difficult philosophical questions. She likes to push fiction to the edge, to go just a little farther.
She writes stories about difficult people living difficult lives in difficult situations. Usually, there’s magic. Or monsters. Or space. Or gun fights. A lot of times, there’s also L-O-V-E. (Or at least uncomfortable conversations about sex.)
“A compound of vulgar depravity and unnatural horrors.”
“Burn Wuthering Heights.”
“Wuthering Heights is a strange sort of book, yet, it is impossible to begin and not finish it; and quite as impossible to lay it aside afterwards and say nothing about it.”
“In Wuthering Heights the reader is shocked, disgusted, almost sickened by details of cruelty, inhumanity, and the most diabolical hate and vengeance.”
“Heathcliff… a creature in whom every evil passion seems to have reached a gigantic excess.”
Thus read the reviews of Wuthering Heights when it was first released in December 1847. It was obvious that Emily Bronte had written something polarizing. Some people were disgusted with the book. Others were impressed with it.
It was horrifying but fascinating. And I think if the book is read today, the same phenomenon occurs. The characters in the book are intriguing, but they are also difficult to, well, like.
No character is more difficult than Heathcliff himself. Even Emily Bronte’s sister Charlotte was made uncomfortable by Heathcliff. She wrote that Heathcliff’s love for Cathy was “a sentiment fierce and inhuman.” She called Heathcliff an “evil genius.” To Charlotte, Heathcliff’s “ever-suffering soul… dooms him to carry Hell with him wherever he wanders.”
Is Heathcliff tortured and damaged like a modern-day romance hero? You betcha.
Is Heathcliff the titular bad boy, the one whose masculine power is absorbing and exciting? Oh, heck, yes.
Heathcliff is a character unlike any that we’ve seen before, but he’s not completely foreign to us. He has aspects of a hero, but he also has aspects of a villain. We root for Heathcliff as he struggles to overcome the class barriers that keep him from marrying Cathy. We feel sorry for him when he is beaten by Hindley. And we are utterly caught up in his passion, his deep love for Cathy. But at the same time, Heathcliff disturbs and frightens us. He’s violent. He’s cruel. He’s obsessed with revenge. And he seems irredeemable.
When I set out to retell Wuthering Heights, I wanted to capture that with my book. I took some pretty heavy liberties with Bronte’s tale, but my goal was always to be able to provide the kinds of characters that she does—confusing, deep, real characters, full of flaws but still captivating.
A retelling can never truly hope to encapsulate the brilliance of the original, so I know that my book is not even close the masterpiece of Wuthering Heights. But I hope that my Heath is absorbing. I hope that he inspires your pity and your anger. And I hope you fall in love with him just a little bit, despite how awful he is.
The event was organized by Giselle from Xpresso Books Tour
Cărți nemuritoare 
dupa descriere pare o carte ok
Descrierea suna chiar foarte bine,iar coperta este superba. 😀 Sper sa apara si la noi!!
descrierea suna delicios. Acum stau sa ma intreb un singur lucru, vor aparea prejudecati din punct de vedere ale natiei? da stiu suna ciudat dar am sa imi argumentez parerea. In roman avem parte de un tigan orfan. El se indragosteste de o fata bogata. ma intreb cum este descris din punct de vedere comportamental. Este genul acela de poveste in care el o rapeste si isi croiesc o familie ( da am mai vazut la americani interpretarea asta) sau el este o bruta de om in realitate facand orice sa o cucereasca pe tanara .din cate am vazut in descriere tinde spre varianta b. oricum sunt tare curioasa de continutul acestei carti , iar coperta da pot spune ca intareste dorinta de a lectura tipul acesta de carte
Dupa ce am citit descrierea am impresia ca este mai mult pentru un anumit tip de cititori, nu oricine se aventureaza in aceasta calatorie printre randurile cartii Wuther by V.J. Chambers o poate intelege. Mie mi-a placut descrierea (si coperta -evident :)))) ) si astept sa apara si la noi in tara.
Nu cred ca o sa apara la noi in tara. Este o carte care nu a aparut de mult timp dincolo. Autoarea inca nu are un renume atat de mare.
Sunt multe carti care noi o sa le facem cunoscute in romania, dar nu stim daca va exista vreo posibilitate sa apara si la noi. Poate doar daca dam de una foarte buna si infintam ungrup care sustine publicarea ei si la noi.
din nefericire ai mare dreptate alexa, putine carti bune apar la noi , si tot valul acesta de …oricum ideea de baza e ca oameni incearca sa evadeze prin intermediul carti, croindu-si tot felul de fortarete atat de bine pazite de suflete si de ganduri pure , din pacate putina lume citeste . Ar fi superb sa se aduca carti in Ro, dar e o munca asidua sa se traduca iar aici se traduc in general carti doar pentru o anumita categorie si cei mai favorizati in ultima perioada sunt adolescentii deoarece anumite aparitii de natura fantastica i cheama la lectura ceea ce oficial ma bucura .
N-am citit-o, dar m-ai convins s-o fac….offf vii cu atâtea cărți bune când eu sunt în toiul pregătirii pentru examenul de la anul. Cred că sunt paranoică atunci când mă gândesc că n-am timp și pentru alte cărți decât noaptea 😀 :_
Wuthering Heights mi-a placut tare mult cand am citit-o (in mod bizar), de aceea sunt sigura ca o rescriere a povestii este bine venita. Heathcliff este un personaj complex care, odata patruns in minte, te macina putin cate putin. Simti atat mila, cat si repulsie pentru situatiile in care se afla acesta pe parcursul romanului. Greu mai gasesti un asemenea amestec de sentimente in ziua de azi. Felicitari autoarei pentru initiativa. Sper ca a facut o treaba buna.
e chiar interesanta cartea:D iar coperta e minunata:D
Recenzia suna al naibii de bine si, chiar daca raspunsul meu nu va fi tot in engleza pentru ca sincer in momentul asta abia vorbesc coerent si in romana :)) mi-ai dat impresie ca trebuie citita cartea, nu doar datorita copertii :-„
Nu trebuie sa dati un raspuns in engleza.
Si puteti sa va inscrieti la Giveaway pentru a castiga o copie eBook a cartii.
Imi place cartea,e foarte interesanta.Si coperta e frumoasa. 😀 😀
SI mie imi place coperta. 😀
Ce provocare delicioasa ai lansat draga Alexa cu aceasta carte! si cu recenzia in engleza! Sa inteleg ca ai vrea pareri tot in engleza?!? hai sa incerc…
Every fierce reader that has the slightest self respect has read (at least once!) Wuthering Heights! And as V. J. Chambers says, you can’t help but to feel disturbed and frightened but also strangely attracted by Heathcliff, a character which seems to weake up the animal inside us; this is the detail that brings brilliance in Wuthering Heights: the paradox of being attracted and/or captivated by Heathcliff, the paradox of becoming strangely addicted by his cruelty, violence but also fierce love for Catherine! I understand that V. J. Chambers tried to bring us a present – day Wuthering Heights story, a contemporaneous Heathcliff… it should be interesting to read; there were also Romeo and Juliet present – day stories that were succesfull (and a lot more! this was the first example that came to me); If this is a feature of today’s literature, to bring old stories to life, then I wish for a present – day Pride and Prejudice story!
Multumesc pentru parere. Nu trebuie sa scri in engleza la astfel de posturi, daca nu vrei. Recenzia nu este scrisa de mine, deoarece la Book Blitz nu primim cartile pentru a le recenza. Doar la Book Tour-uri. Desi mi-as dori foarte mult sa o citesc.
Book Blitz-urile se organizeaza pentru a face cartea cunoscuta in mai multe colturi ale lumii, si ca blog gazda, gazduim cateva cuvinte scrise de autor sau de un critic literar, alaturi de descrierea cartii si de cateva lucruri despre autor.
Dar voi aveti ocazia sa castigati o copie electronica a cartii. Dati click pe „a Rafflecopter giveaway” si va faceti inscrierea acolo.
Hei, se presupunea ca trebuie sa aratam un interes si o preocupare reala in comentariile noastre! evident ca daca nu voiam nu scriam in engleza, am incercat doar sa ma raportez la anumite cerinte…. asa puteam si eu sa ma rezum la a spune ca Heathcliff-ul de pe coperta e intr-adevar „reprezentant”… si atat!
Sunt foarte multe rescrieri ale cartii „Mandrie si prejudecata”, am citit cateva, dar cred ca niciuna nu se ridica la aceeasi valoare. Din punctul meu de vedere, perioada istorica in care se petrece actiunea ofera un impact deosebit pentru poveste, spre deosebire de realitatea in care traim. Poti incerca insa, poti fi surprins/a.
Evident ca nici o rescriere a niciunei capodopere nu se ridica la valoarea originalului! Si mai ales cand ne raportam la o „masterpiece” ca Mandrie si prejudecata sau La rascruce de vanturi! Ceea ce incercam sa spun in comentariul meu este ca daca totusi s-a adus un Heathcliff in prezent, ar fi interesant de vazut si cum se descurca un Edward in prezent!
Bridget Jones’ Diary is based on Pride and Prejudice, I believe. (There’s a whole crazy conversation going on here, but I only speak English, because I’m a big dork. Very cool for me, however, seeing my name popping up in the middle of a language I don’t understand.) I hope Wuther doesn’t disappoint if you get a chance to read it, and if you read English. 🙂
Thank you for popping in for me here, even if you don’t understad the conversation! But is not so much conversation though: they – the bloggers put reviews of books here and we have to write opinions on them, if we have read the books or not or something like this… some just write that the covers of the books are nice …. and this is a contest, the ones who have shown their interest win some books; I enjoy the conversations most – when I get some…
I saw the Bridget Jones movie, nice but not what I expected from it; I would like to try Wuther too, IF I get a chance to read it! (yes I read English, I have to because there are so many wonderful books that weren’t translated yet in Romanian; It happened to me so many times to read a first volume of a series in my language then continue the following volumes in English because weren’t translated yet…)
Your English is wonderful! Oh, and I found this list. You might be interested. 🙂 http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/pride-and-prejudice-retellings
Thanks for the list. I will probably enjoy Prada & Prejudice soon. I find it very interesting.
Oh my God! so many Pride and Prejudice retellings! Thank you VJ! And I am highly honored to have spoken with you! Now I can’t wait to find your book and read it! I wish all the success to you and your Wuther and hope to hear about a new book from you! (please, write as many books as you can because I believe people these days need to read)
I’m a big fan of Bridget Jones’ Diary, but I had no clue that is based on Pride and Prejudice.
And don’t worry about the language. Everybody says nice things about the book.