Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights is a loose (very loose) adaptation of Emily Brontë’s novel. The film is, as the director has attested, the intense, “unhinged”, gothic story she remembers reading as a 14-year-old. As such, it is full of imagined passages and heightened romance and violence. It’s truly Fennellian in its excess – if you’ve seen Saltburn, her story of class envy, you know what that means (bathtub scene, grave scene, so many other scenes).

This new film version is not alone in marketing the story of star-crossed lovers as “the greatest love story of all time”. However, if you’ve ever read the book you know that it’s not really the sort of love anyone should strive for. It’s cruel and abusive. Heathcliff is not some broody prince but a violent tyrant. Cathy is spoiled and manipulative. Everyone around them suffers in the pair’s maddened need for each other. If you’re looking for love, this is perhaps not one you would want to emulate.

So this Valentines day we bring you recommendations that counter some of the worst traits found in Wuthering Heights.

Do you remember Wuthering Heights as romantic? Let us know in the comments what struck you most of Emily Brontë’s books the first........

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