THE HEIGHTS

James takes that classic story of obsessive love, Wuthering Heights, and places it in modern-day San Francisco with teen protagonists. Henry (Heathcliff), a Mexican-American, was brought into the wealthy Earnshaw family as a child and has developed a special bond with Mr. Earnshaw’s daughter, Catherine, which generates the hatred of family heir Hindley. Upon Mr. Earnshaw’s death, Hindley reduces Henry to a servant, stripping him of his private education and status and moving to break the tie between Henry and Catherine. Some of the primary characters from the original make an appearance: neighbors Edgar Linton and his sister Isabelle, Hindley’s wife, Frances, and Nelly, confidante to both Henry and Catherine. The story is told in a wooden and predictable way, however, with none of the atmosphere that emboldens its source. Instead of a spoiled, social-climbing Catherine, readers meet an ineffectual female lead easily diverted from her lifelong connection to a relationship with an unexciting Edgar. Despite the infusion of racial hostility, the characters never come alive. This may be mildly entertaining to teens who have read the original, but they’ll find themselves missing the moors. (Fiction. 12 & up)