The Book Club – Episode 1

Wuthering Heights: Passion, Violence, and Revenge on the Moors
Released: February 17, 2026
Hosts: Dominic Sandbrook and Tabitha Syrett

Episode Overview

Dominic Sandbrook and Tabitha Syrett launch their new podcast, The Book Club, by diving into Emily Brontë’s iconic and wildly misunderstood novel, Wuthering Heights. They go far beyond the surface reputation of the book as a tempestuous love story, examining its darkness, violence, structure, and the enigmatic figure of Emily Brontë herself. The conversation blends humor, sharp literary criticism, and an engaging exploration of the Brontë family’s history, ultimately challenging preconceptions about Wuthering Heights and literary romance.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Opening Reading: The Novel’s Chilling Tone

• Memorable Dramatic Scene: Dominic and Tabby begin with a theatrical reading from Lockwood’s chilling ghostly encounter at Wuthering Heights (00:39).
• Dominic jokes about his own performance skills, Tabby playfully defends her “melodrama” (02:21).

2. What Makes Wuthering Heights a Classic?

• Described as “one of the absolute canonical classics,” but with a reputation that is often misunderstood (04:30).
• It is “famously wild,” with “unbridled emotions,” and “a very, very famous love story at the heart” (Tabby, 04:30).

3. Plot Overview and Structure

• Two Families, Two Generations: The Earnshaws and the Lintons live near each other on the Yorkshire moors. The narrative is “driven by Heathcliff’s crusade of vengeance” (Tabby, 05:37).
• Doubling and Repetition: “A huge part of the story is the doubling… It shows you that you’re trapped in these dark webs of hatred and obligation” (Tabby, 12:03).
• Greek Tragedy Elements: The cycles of revenge and repeating names enhance the sense of fate (Dominic, 12:14).

4. Narrative Complexity

• Multiple Narrators: Begins with outsider Lockwood, who “adds a bit of comedy” due to his outsider status (Tabby, 08:19). He is soon joined by Nelly Dean, the housekeeper, whose reliability is questioned (Tabby, 26:28).
• Unreliable Narration: Critic James Haffley suggested “maybe Nelly is the villain of the story... all her puppets” (Dominic, 27:36; Tabby, 28:04).

5. Emily Brontë: Sphinx of the Moors

• Brontë is “an enigma, such a riddle. We know so little of her inner life” (Dominic, 13:23).
• Family Tragedy: Orphaned young, lost two sisters before age seven (Tabby, 13:59).
• Odd Childhood & Close Siblings: The Brontës were literary, isolated, and constructed complex imaginary worlds (Tabby, 17:33).
• Personality: Portrayed as “the patron saint of difficult women” (Dominic citing Catherine Hughes, 19:20). Socially awkward, fiercely independent, recalcitrant toward fashion and rules.
• Violent Streak: Famous anecdote—she repeatedly punched her dog, Keeper, for climbing on her bed (Dominic, 20:12).
• Political Views: Not a proto-feminist; described as “high Tory,” she “would have set the dog on suffragettes” (Tabby, 21:16).

6. Publication & Reception

• Published under a pen name (Ellis Bell) shortly after Charlotte’s Jane Eyre (Dominic, 21:49).
• Scandalized Critics: Initial reactions focused on the “violence and aggression,” calling it a “fiend of a book... action is laid in hell” (Tabby, quoting Rossetti, 22:45).
• Early Death: Emily died young, possibly from tuberculosis and “graveyard water” (Tabby, 23:30), after which Charlotte tried to recast her sister’s image, “she did not know what she had done” (Dominic, 24:16).

7. Character Analysis

• Narrators: Lockwood (outsider, lost in the moors) and Nelly Dean (intimately involved, possibly manipulative).
• The Lintons: Seen as “sanest” but drip-like, representing “the Jane Austen side” (Tabby, 28:33).
• The Earnshaws and Heathcliff: Cycle of abuse and revenge; abusive upbringings.
• Doubling & Incestuous Entanglement: Names repeat (Cathy/Cathy; Linton/Linton), with “slightly incestuous” pairings (Dominic, 31:00).
• Comparisons to Pop Culture: Linton likened to “Joffrey Baratheon” (Tabby, 31:25).
• Hareton and Young Cathy: Representative of redemption, return to gentility, “straining to return to their gentility always lost at Wuthering Heights” (Tabby, 33:18).
• Catherine Earnshaw (“Old Cathy”): “The fulcrum,” combining beauty, selfishness, wildness; dies unexpectedly quickly (Tabby & Dominic, 34:07–34:39). Quintessential line:

  “He’s more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.” (Tabby, 35:11)

8. Heathcliff: Monster, Outcast, or Romantic Hero? (36:02–44:00)

• Origins & Otherness: Dark-skinned, Irish undertones, “swarthy gypsy,” Liverpool foundling. “He occupies a similar sort of space to Byron... both compelling but dangerous” (Dominic, 37:23).
• Nature of His Obsession: His love for Cathy borders on pathological. “She dominates his every waking thought. To call it an obsession is to massively underplay it” (Dominic, 38:17).
• Villain or Victim?: Comparisons to Satan (“Milton’s Satan”), Byronic hero, and even vampire/necrophile as he digs up Cathy’s body. “I don’t think Heathcliff has any moment of redemption. There’s no good in him, really” (Tabby, 39:53–40:03).
• Modern Re-readings: Discussion about readings focused on race, class, and outsider status but concluded Emily was “not that interested in his past” (Tabby & Dominic, 41:24–41:36).

9. Violence & Abuse

• Brutality: “Immensely brutal man”—reviews called it depraved and full of “unnatural horrors” (Dominic, 41:40).
• Heathcliff’s Actions: Hangs dogs, abuses Linton, threatens Catherine, necrophilic incidents.
• Other Characters’ Violence: Hindley’s violence toward Hareton and Nelly; Cathy (Margot Robbie’s character in the film) herself is violent and entitled; even Isabella lashes back.
• Abuse as Central Theme: Both physical and psychological abuse, especially of women (“how can it be a romance?” Tabby, 49:36), with lived experience from the Brontë family’s circle influencing these themes.

10. The Book’s Feminism – Or Lack Thereof (44:47–47:20)

• “Wildness of female characters led critics to see it as feminist,” but Tabby argues this is both yes and no:

  “They are unusually independent... but to enshrine Catherine Earnshaw as a feminist heroine is overplayed... they can’t help but be very strong, fiery women, but they also suffer abuse and coercive control.” (Tabby, 45:24–47:20)

11. Romance and Misreading

• Not a Love Story After All:

  “How can it be a romance, a love story, with all this abuse and violence?” (Tabby, 49:36)

• The attraction of impossible, soul-consuming love for teenage readers vs the adult realization of its toxicity.

  “They want to be each other. They want to own each other’s souls.” (Tabby, 51:27)

• No sex, only possession and merging of identities; reflective of Emily Brontë’s own inexperience (Dominic, 52:35–53:03).

12. Final Reflections & Ratings (53:14–56:47)

• Dominic’s Change of Heart: Admits to previous dismissals (“bit of a book for teenage girls”) but now sees it as “raw, unpolished... bearing their soul to the world” (Dominic, 53:27–54:15).
• Tabby’s Shift: Loved it less upon this reading; no longer sees it as a love story; instead, admires its artistry and emotional boldness (Tabby, 54:19–55:36).
• Ratings:
  • Dominic: 7/10 “dead dogs”
  • Tabby: 7.5/10 “dead dogs”
• Invitation for listeners to share their own “dead dogs” ratings for the book.

13. Preview of Upcoming Episodes (57:17–58:33)

• Each week alternates between classics and modern/contemporary novels.
• Next up:
  • Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
  • The Great Gatsby
  • The Secret History by Donna Tartt
  • Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
  • Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
  • 1984 by George Orwell
  • Northern Lights (The Golden Compass) by Philip Pullman

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the violence of the book:

  “What he tries to do, Mr. Lockwood, is he tries to basically slit the child’s wrist on some broken glass… That sets the tone because there’s a lot more violence and abuse to come.”
  — Dominic (09:25)

• On repetition and family cycles:

  “It’s deliberate, I think. It shows you that you’re trapped in these dark webs of hatred and obligation and it goes on and on and on.”
  — Tabby (12:05)

• On Heathcliff’s appeal:

  “To call it an obsession is to massively underplay it.”
  — Dominic (38:17)

• On romance and recognition:

  “He’s more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.”
  — Catherine Earnshaw (quoted by Tabby, 35:11)

• On the misreading of the book as a love story:

  “How can it be a romance? How can it be a love story with all this abuse and violence?”
  — Tabby (49:36)

• On the artistic quality:

  “The repetition, the doubling, the strangulating domestic spaces… her imagination stretches over these vast expanses and encompasses such depths of feeling and torment and emotions.”
  — Tabby (55:23)

• On the Brontë family’s strangeness:

  “Their father… used to walk around with a loaded gun… a fun guy, he’s a good time.”
  — Tabby (15:54)

• On rating the book:

  “You can have half a dead dog. If it lives with Emily Brontë, it’s definitely half a dead dog.”
  — Tabby (56:42)

Key Timestamps

• [00:39] – Opening reading: Lockwood’s nightmare
• [04:30] – What makes Wuthering Heights “canonical”
• [05:47] – Plot summary and structure
• [13:59] – Emily Brontë’s life and childhood
• [21:49] – Publication and shock reception
• [26:28] – Narrators & unreliable narration
• [34:07] – Catherine Earnshaw analysis
• [35:11] – Iconic quote: “He’s more myself than I am…”
• [36:02] – Heathcliff: Outcast, villain or hero?
• [41:40] – The book’s brutality and reviews
• [44:47] – Is Wuthering Heights feminist?
• [49:36] – Romance, abuse, and the problem of “the love story”
• [53:27] – Hosts’ final verdicts
• [56:07] – Book ratings: “dead dogs out of 10”
• [57:17] – Upcoming episode previews

Tone & Style

True to their premise, Dominic and Tabby’s banter is erudite but irreverent, marked by playful one-upmanship and a refusal to treat even revered literature as sacred. They combine historical context with sharp criticism and personal reflections, making for a conversation that is both informative and highly entertaining.

In Short

This debut episode questions everything you think you know about Wuthering Heights. It is not just a doomed romance, but a saga of violence, obsession, and societal collapse, penned by a brilliantly strange author living on the moors. The hosts argue—often hilariously—about its meaning, its artistry, and its standing in the literary canon, while plotting the course for a podcast that promises both serious insight and fun.