Review

The Return of the Stranger is a modern retelling of Bronte’s classic Wuthering Heights.  Walker admits in the forward that Heathcliff and Catherine’s love story motivated her interested in romance, though admittedly the original is less a romance and more a tale of possession. Unlike the original, Walker’s novel gives Heathcliff and Catherine their happy ending.  Here Heathcliff is Heath and Catherine is Kat but all the other elements, the Moors of England, the evil brother, and the socio-economic differences, remain the same.  Readers who like Wuthering Heights will probably enjoy this retelling but readers who LOVE the classic story will be disappointed in this bubble gum retelling.

As in the original, Heath steals the story.  Bronte’s Heathcliff is arguably the original brooding romance hero and Heath in this retelling is exactly the same.  Heath has been modernized a bit, as illustrated by his ability to be slightly vulnerable to Kat when she thinks he’s betrayed her but is still the brooding farm boy many romance readers adore.  Walker does a wonderful job of detailing how Heath gains his wealth and polish before returning to the Moors to wreck vengeance on both Kat’s brother and husband, while being powerless to love Kat.  Readers get a real sense of his motivations and thoughts; Heath is a well-rounded character readers will enjoy.

In contrast, Kat is less explored and not nearly as compelling as Heath.  In the first half of the book I nearly turned the phrase “she was cold, distant and icy” into a drinking game!  Walker did explain Kat’s harsh condemnation of Heath when they were teenagers but not until five pages before the novel ends.  Walker’s explanation of why Kat got caught up in the social climbing as a teenager was a nice addition to this retelling.  Also true to the original, readers only know that Kat and Heath are destined to be together, never shown why they complete each other.

Given that this is a Harlequin Presents book the sexuality is mild and flower (“glorious oblivion” anyone?)  The danger of retelling a beloved story like Wuthering Heights is the inevitable comparison—and the equally inevitability of coming up short.  There is more brooding sensuality in the original than in Walker’s retelling but, if nothing else, The Return of the Stranger will enable readers to see Heath and Kat finally get their happy ending.

Reviewed by Janine