The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

First, the most important thing: I couldn't stop reading this. So you know this qualifies as a really good book, no matter what the downsides were.

My reading experience had two layers: at one level, I was just absorbed in the melodrama. The characters are engaging, and somehow even though I knew the basic outcome of Helen's diary flashback, I was still driven to find out what happened next! The story is romantic and shocking; characters develop from ignorant and impetuous to wise and principled; True Love is viewed from various points of view - naive, cynical, selfless, and hopeful. It basically has everything to delight the romantic heart. (Well, the climax is overly complicated and delayed, and uses some romance tropes that are real chestnuts by now, but if you skim Gilbert's silliness toward the end, it's fine.)

On another level, I was reflecting on this as a modern, atheistic feminist. From this point of view, the story often reveals surprising insight into patterns that remain highly relevant (e.g., the “Nice Guy” who tries to maneuver out of the friendzone; the plight of an introvert at a party who is tortured by a well-intentioned extrovert; the dangers of using pantsfeelings to choose a mate; and the horrible choices faced by an abused spouse when their abuser controls their housing and money, and puts their children at risk).

But of course, there's a lot that strained my sympathy as well. Helen is admirable only in the context of the moral code of the time. If one doesn't share her Christian beliefs about salvation, marital sanctity, and the duties of a wife, she comes off as far too eager to play the suffering martyr. She makes you want to tear your hair out with her willful blindness, naivete, and ridiculous devotion to forgiveness.

At the same time, it's clear that the social restrictions of the day set women up for failure - they were sheltered to the point that protective relatives couldn't plainly describe a man's bad behavior and its implications for a marriage. “He has an infamous reputation!” has much less impact than, “He screws anything in a skirt, coerces his friends into alcoholism, abuses puppies, and will probably give you and your children syphilis. Run!” Not to mention that guardians often basically pimped out their charges - shopping for rich men willing to leverage their fortunes for what amounted to ownership of a much younger, virginal girl/woman.

This tension between crafting Helen to be the Most Upright, Most Patient, Most Honorable Epitome of Womanhood, and yet clearly questioning the cultural requirements that put women in so many lose-lose situations, is probably why this is considered one of the earliest feminist novels. And it's done so artfully, and against such a poignant romantic story, that I couldn't put it down.