If you are searching for books like Wuthering Heights, you are in the right place. You are likely drawn to intense emotions, gothic settings, and complicated love stories. Emily Brontë’s novel is turbulent, haunting, and emotionally raw. The best books similar to Wuthering Heights explore love at its most obsessive and destructive.
Whether you just finished the novel or are a longtime fan, this list is for you. These classic gothic novels will help you find your next great read.
Rebecca
by Daphne du Maurier
Few novels feel as close to Wuthering Heights as Rebecca. A young woman marries the mysterious widower Maxim de Winter. She moves to his vast estate, Manderley. The memory of his late wife haunts every corner of the house.
Like Heathcliff, the absent Rebecca exerts a haunting power over the living. For readers seeking books like Wuthering Heights, this gothic masterpiece delivers obsession, suffocating atmosphere, and psychological tension in abundance. It is essential reading for fans of dark, brooding romance.
Far from the Madding Crowd
by Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy’s sweeping novel explores love, pride, and consequence through the fiercely independent Bathsheba Everdene. Her entanglements with three very different men mirror the emotional turbulence and tragic undertones found throughout Wuthering Heights.
This story stands out for its vivid rural setting and emotionally complex characters. Hardy never flinches when showing how love can undo even the strongest people.
The Lady of the Camellias
by Alexandre Dumas fils
This iconic novel tells the tragic story of Marguerite Gautier. She is a Parisian courtesan torn between passion and social expectation. Like Catherine Earnshaw, she is forced to sacrifice love on society’s terms.
Readers drawn to books like Wuthering Heights will recognize the intensity here. The emotional devastation is equally powerful. This is one of the most heartbreaking gothic romance novels ever written.
Pride and Prejudice
by Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice is lighter in tone than Wuthering Heights. But it still delivers emotionally charged relationships and slow-burn romance. Pride and misunderstanding shape the dynamic between Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. Personal growth makes their story deeply satisfying.
For readers easing into books similar to Wuthering Heights without fully leaving emotional depth behind, Austen offers a brilliant balance. All the romantic tension, none of the tragedy.
The Sorrows of Young Werther
by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Goethe’s epistolary novel captures emotional extremity through Werther’s consuming, unrequited love for a woman he can never have. Written entirely in letters, it pulls the reader deep into longing, obsession, and despair.
This is one of the most emotionally raw books like Wuthering Heights. It is ideal for readers captivated by Heathcliff’s all-consuming passion.
Books like Wuthering Heights are not simply romances. They explore obsession, social constraint, and love that defies reason. Each novel on this list reflects that same intensity. Gothic settings, complex characters, and devastating choices make these stories unforgettable.
If Wuthering Heights has stayed with you, these five classic novels are the perfect place to go next. And if you have already read them all, drop a comment below. We would love to help you find your next dark, unforgettable read.
Like Wuthering Heights, check out these book-to-screen adaptations.
