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Aimee Lou Wood lends her voice to audiobook of Wuthering Heights – here’s where to listen
Revisit Emily Brontë’s classic in audio form ahead of the movie’s release
Starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, Wuthering Heights is finally here – and it’s dividing audiences and critics. Early reviews are split (The Independent gave it one star, while The Telegraph gave it five), and many have lambasted writer Emerald Fennell’s screenplay of Emily Brontë’s book. Others have praised its stylistic aesthetic, ‘bodice-ripping’ intensity and fresh take on the classic.
The source material has captured directors for more than a century, inspiring more than 30 adapations across TV, film and theatre. Published in 1847 under the pseudonym Ellis Bell, it was Brontë’s only novel before she died at the age of 30. Considered one of the greatest stories in English literature, its themes of love, possession and revenge challenged Victorian morality, while its unconventional structure was ahead of its time. The book was controversial upon its release, but Fennell’s adaptation is sparking a different kind of controversy.
“With its title stylised in quotation marks, and a director’s statement that it’s intended to capture her experience of reading the book aged 14, it uses the guise of interpretation to gut one of the most impassioned, emotionally violent novels ever written, and then toss its flayed skin over whatever romance tropes seem most marketable,” The Independent’s film critic said. “Adaptation or not, it’s an astonishingly hollow work.”
The public verdict is still out, and audiences are sure to turn out in droves this weekend to watch it. The hysteria and anticipation for the movie has had a direct impact on the publishing world, too. According to Penguin Classics, sales of Wuthering Heights have surged by 469 per cent in early 2026, with many revisiting Brontë’s novel in preparation. For those who would rather listen to the classic, Penguin Classics’ audio adaptation of Wuthering Heights is evocatively read by the British actor – and proud northerner – Aimee Lou Wood. Here’s everything you need to know.
'Wuthering Heights' by Emily Brontë, by Penguin Classics
Recorded in 2020, Aimee Lou Wood’s narration of Wuthering Heights was met with acclaim from critics and listeners alike. The story is famously set in the brutal but beautiful Yorkshire Moors, with Wood’s northern accent lending itself well to the classic story.
The familiar tale opens with Mr Lockwood visiting his mysterious and moody landlord, Heathcliff. After getting snowed in one evening at Heathcliff’s remote farm house, he discovers the diaries of the late Catherine Earnshaw, where she confesses her love for the orphan her father brought back from Liverpool. Beset by curiosity, he asks Nellie the housekeeper to share their doomed love story with him.
Whether you want to revisit the novel after studying it at school, or read it for the very first time before seeing Fennell’s adapation, the Wuthering Heights audiobook offers a new way to experience the classic Victorian tome.
What to know
- Narrated by: Aimee Lou Wood, Kristin Atherton
- Length: 13 hrs and 58 mins
Margot Robbie channels Brontë’s Cathy with unexpected jewellery
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