My Five Favourite Gothic Novels – Stephanie Bramwell-Lawes

Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë

It’s a tough call, but I think Jane Eyre just edges it as my favourite book of all time. As with so many of my favourite novels, it has an incredibly strong sense of place, with Thornfield Hall providing a dark, brooding backdrop to a tale of love, madness, and betrayal. As a protagonist, Jane was very much ahead of her time. She is independent, forthright and principled, and I defy anyone not to root for her!

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

I have read Wuthering Heights several times now, and each time I learn something new. I first read it as a teenager having been promised ‘the world’s greatest love story’, and I will never forget my outrage at Heathcliff’s behaviour! A Romantic hero, he was not! Nevertheless, I’ve gained new understanding from each reading, and I still can’t help but love this collection of flawed, passionate characters.

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

Daphne du Maurier is one of my absolute favourite authors, and I have read almost everything she’s written.  Rebecca, her most famous novel, is right at the top of my list, and it had a profound impact on my own writing journey. From the infamous first line to the windswept clifftops of Manderley, it’s a gripping gothic treatise on class, obsession and the lengths people will go to for those they love. Its exploration of the ambiguity of human nature has always fascinated me.

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

I could be wrong, but I’m always of the opinion that The Woman in White has never truly had the audience it deserves and isn’t shouted about enough! Its author Wilkie Collins was masterful in his creation of outspoken, energetic, intelligent female characters, and Marian Halcombe is an unsung hero. She is crawling around dark rooftops in the pouring rain eavesdropping on all and sundry – as well as any James Bond. The book also has a suitably Bond-esque villain in Count Fosco. I LOVE to see him get his comeuppance!

Love, Sex & Frankenstein by Caroline Lea

A tremendous, gothic exploration of female rage from Caroline Lea, which follows a young Mary Shelley as she journeys to Villa Diodati in 1816, where she would go on to write her masterpiece, Frankenstein. Among other things, what this book so brilliantly underscores is that Mary Shelley was just eighteen years old when she wrote the novel. To have such a complete, nuanced, tender understanding of what it is to be human – at that age – is absolutely confounding! With both Percy Shelley and Lord Byron in tow, this book is also a simmering cauldron of repressed desire. It NEEDS to be made into a film!