Romance

"Did you know that Catherine? Did you know that?"
My mistress moaned, but I knew that she apprehended what he said, for she tried to sit up, and her dazed eyes stared up at the frightening aspect of her husband.
"What are you saying Hareton? That Jack..."
"'Aye, he's Heathcliff's bastard. Didn't you ever see the likeness? Of course you did."

Catherine. Hareton. Heathcliff. You'll recognize these as characters from Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, arguably one of our great love stories (I say arguably because I have seen much passionate debate back-and-forth on LT). Unlike H: Heathcliff's Return to Wuthering Heights by Lin Haire-Sargeant, which takes place during Heathcliff's three-year absence, Return to Wuthering Heights by Anna L'Estrange occurs forty years after the original tale. Just like most sequels, this one aims to be bigger and badder than the first... more rendezvous across the moors... more declarations of passion... more... Catherines. Yes. But don't worry, Ms L'Estrange certainly doesn't let you get your generations confused. Passages like this will keep you well informed:

I knew that Colonel Heathcliff had not told her the truth and she knew not that she was wedded to her mother's lover, the father of her own half-brother Anthony, Oh my God, if such wickedness cannot be punished in this world, what hope have we for the next?

Yes, it is tawdry, perhaps a bit like an episode of the Springer show but filmed as a costume drama. It is very entertaining as a gothic romance. I'm not the kind of reader who analyzes and ruminates on whether Edgar was spineless, Cathy selfish or Heathcliff bitter. I let myself be caught up in the maelstrom of it, like I did the first time I read Wuthering Heights. Just like Lockwood junior, I was back in Yorkshire too, feeling the wind coming off the moors. As a guilty pleasure it was a glorious way to pass a few hours curled up on the couch and so I count it as a successful sequel indeed. ( )