The most romantic book I’ve ever read: Wuthering Heights

In the second instalment of our brand new feature on Entice, Editor Lucy Icke remembers the romance of all-time classic, Wuthering Heights . . .

There’s nothing more likely to capture the imagination of a dreamy, hormonal teenager than a story that involves total heartbreak; of two people from different worlds, with everything conspiring against them in their quest to be together.

Before Edward and Bella, there was Heathcliff and Cathy. If you haven’t read Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights before, I really would urge you to do so. I first read it when I was fifteen and it’s one of the few books that I’ve re-read several times, and the only one that I’ve enjoyed even more each time I read it.

Aside from the fact that our hero has, quite possibly, the best name in the history of literature (my goal is to name a child, or at least a pet, after him in the future), the relationship between the two protagonists, which begins when they are children, is so well-realised, you can’t help but be drawn in by the purity of the emotion. And there’s no sugar-coating here; the writing is so visceral that it doesn’t so much pull on your heartstrings as practically rip them out of your chest. In a good way.

Like so many of the best love stories, Wuthering Heights is utterly tragic, but it also shows readers that love transcends everything, unequivocally shaping our lives and who we become, for better or worse.