Young ladies reading Jane Eyre

According to The Mary Sue both Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre are among 'the Best Gothic Horror Novels'.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

Immortalized in a, shall we say, banger, by the notable songwriter Kate Bush, the Gothic flight of fancy Wuthering Heights tells the tale of a passionate but destructive relationship between Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff. Set in the wild and desolate moors of Yorkshire, Brontë delves into themes of social class, the supernatural, and the destructive power of emotions unresolved. It is a haunting and atmospheric masterpiece. [...]

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

I shudder to think what childhood horrors the Brontë sisters must have endured that allowed both of them to pen some of the most horrifying works of Gothic fiction in the English canon. Jane Eyre follows the life of well, Jane Eyre, an orphan who becomes a governess at Thornfield Hall, owned by the enigmatic Edward Fairfax Rochester. As Jane and Mr. Rochester begin to form an emotional bond, a dark secret from his past emerges … specifically from the attic above. Speaking of which, if you hear banging sounds coming from the attic or walls of this mansion during your stay, you would do well to ignore them. (Jack Doyle)

The Times recommends 'The best new thrillers for August 2023' and one of them seems to have Brontë echoes.

My Husband: A Novel by Maud Ventura, trans by Emma Ramadan

The French narrator of Maud Ventura’s sharply written debut loves her husband deeply. Truly. After 15 years together, she seems to have a perfect life. Two lovely kids, a good amount of cash and her looks still, not to mention a partner who has the hots for her.

Yet as she relates every detail of her week, it becomes clear this is a brittle façade, at least in her eyes. While she veers between obsessively professing her love and revealing her irritation at her husband’s apparent failure to return it, we wonder if she is merely just insecure about her own worth. She is appalled when, in a game with friends, her husband compares her to a clementine, which she thinks is a cheap “supermarket fruit”. Is she, in fact, bananas?

This is not a conventional thriller as such, but there is plenty of suspense and the stakes are high. A bestseller and prizewinner in France, this cool Gallic examination of the balance of power in a marriage comes over as the screwed-up offspring of Marguerite Duras’s The Lover. That there is a final twist is the only predictable aspect of a skilfully manipulated psychological drama. Emily (Brontë) in Paris. (James Owen)

Commenting on Jacqueline Wilson's take on censorship (apparently suitable for children but not for adults), a reader of The Times makes a point with which we don't quite agree either:

Sir, Jacqueline Wilson is happy to see the works of Roald Dahl hacked up so long as publishers don’t touch “adult classics”, especially her favourite book, Jane Eyre (“Children’s author calls for age-appropriate book editing”, Aug 15). However, she has missed a crucial irony. Classics were also once children’s books. Jane Eyre would have been read by adults and teens on its publication. Only recently has there been such a thing as an “age-appropriate book”. Furthermore, removing words (from 20th-century books) such as “queer” and “gay”, which are prevalent in Shakespeare and Victorian literature, which all children will end up studying for GCSE, is not useful or even necessary.

In fact, this is precisely why young people don’t have “a sense of history” — because people keep editing it.

Ben Wolfin

English teacher, London NW7

Many young ladies of good families were certainly not allowed to read Jane Eyre on its publication due to its 'immoral' content. There wasn't a label on the cover but there was no need for it either.

Wealth of Geeks reminds readers that reading Wuthering Heights is one 'of the most common dark academia hobbies you might want to consider'.