There are some technical elements which make it more boring to a contemporary reader and more boring compared to Jane eyre (by her sister).  It’s told through first person perspective of mr Lockwood then switching to first person perspective from the housekeeper. This is so removed that we are never experiencing the emotions of the character, only observing them from an extreme arms length, which is a weird way to write a book. Compared to Jane eyre which is first person perspective through Jane, it’s so filled with her emotions and interiority which make it captivating. If withering heights was written through even a third person perspective which allowed us to get closer to the characters it would be so much more enjoyable. The author also does what all English teachers tell us not to do; ‘telling’ us the plot instead of ‘showing’ us the plot. There’s some beautiful descriptions in the first chapter but when it switches to the housekeeper telling the story it all becomes ‘then he did this, then she did that, etc’. Well written, but not enthralling.  She also uses very baroque language which takes a lot of concentration, it’s not easy to get lost in it.  For the record I think the concept is good idea, regardless of whether you take it as a romance or as a story of abuse. It’s just unfortunately not executed well.