Nelly Dean by Alison Case

Final Rating: 2.7/5

  Although the attention to period detail, tone of dialogue and spirited aspects of tackling a beloved classic were evident and should be applauded. I’m afraid to say, there may be a reason why Nelly Dean never had her own story. This sensitive psychological homage just wasn’t that absorbing and to be completely honest, I couldn’t wait to shut the cover on Nelly Dean. To be fair, I thought this between the pages narrative, creative and I see exactly what this novel was trying to achieve- answering lingering questions with imaginative flourishes and branching off of the mystery and allure of Wuthering Heights but something was amiss in this book and by the end I just had enough. 

  The various twists of misery, unexpected disclosures and windblown relationship trials although interesting at first became tangled with tedious unnecessary details that had me asking out loud several times “why is this important, what does this have to do with or add to the story?” particularly the sudden vast magical elements, extended wet nursing tangents and a very long chapter on collecting payment from tenants. There was also the portion of when this narrative stepped outside of a fictional setting and into a classroom situation breaking apart the symbolism of a falcon still all in the voice of Nelly Dean but still a very disappointing part for this reader. It may be only me but I want to decipher the hidden messages and symbols, please don’t tell me; that is half of the beauty and dark mystique of Wuthering Heights. I could happily debate and decode that book all day.

  Finally the characters, sadly they were only there in name and many times I wanted to push Nelly Dean aside to revisit those other characters that only walked off into the shadows. This was ultimately the psychological tale of Nelly Dean and Hindley Earnshaw but by the final page I had the oddest feeling that this story could have been called by another title, the names of the characters changed and if the name of the infamous ancestral great house omitted- I honestly wouldn’t have known it was an accompaniment to Wuthering Heights. I may have recognized bits and pieces to compare and the tale had its moments that kept me reading but as I said in the beginning, something was amiss.  I hate to sound harsh and I know my opinion or final thoughts differ from others who have loved this between the scenes narrative and as I said the period details and tone of dialogue were impressive and as a standalone story, it had the bones of something great but I’m very sorry to say this just didn’t end as a keeper for this reader.  

-purchased and read hardback