The Tenant of Wildfell Hall in nineteenth-century literature." However, some forty years later, in introduction to "The Essence of the Brontës", Spark radically changed her views on Anne: "I do not now agree with my former opinion on Anne Brontë's value as a writer. I think her works are not good enough to be considered in any serious context of the nineteenth century novel or that there exists any literary basis for comparison with the brilliant creative works of Charlotte and Emily... She was a writer who could 'pen' a story well enough; she was a literary equivalent of a decent water-colourist." Only in the
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall the book title acted out by Lady Mary Crawley in the Christmas charade. The story of Helen Graham is mentioned in Elizabeth George's 1988 novel "A Great Deliverance". Her name is also used as a secret code. Tina Connolly's 2013 novel "Copperhead" was inspired by "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall". The name of the heroine is Helen Huntingdon and she also has a disastrous marriage. Sam Baker's 2016 novel "The Woman Who Ran" takes inspiration from radical themes of Anne's novel. The heroine is a woman also called Helen, who she hides from her past (in an abusive marriage) in