Wuthering Heights re-vamped

Forget Romeo and Juliet; was there ever a story of more angst than that of Bella and her Edward? Scribbler of the latest book and film franchise, Stephenie Meyer has inadvertently bitten frenzied vampire groupies with the Brontë bug. As Twilight mania sweeps the globe, exhilarating hordes of excitable teenage girls around the world; another unlikely cultish following has emerged.

Always a morose leading man, Wuthering Height’s Heathcliff looks set to rival even the sullen Cullen for the role of messianic idol as sales of Emily Brontë’s turbulent classic double. French Twilight enthusiasts picked up on the recurring allusions to Wuthering Heights in the third book in the sallow saga, Eclipse. Polished heroine Bella Swan borrows Cathy’s description of Heathcliff one occasion to describes her pallid, gloomy lover, saying "If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger".

In true fan-girl style, many fans of the series in France have been emulating their well-read heroine in her reading habits. "Sales [of Wuthering Heights] went up 50% last year, and since the start of 2009 they have continued to rise," said a spokeswoman for the book's French publisher Le Livre de Poche. French bookshops have seen such great success in sales that they have begun selling Wuthering heights next to Eclipse in an attempt to increase sales to Twilight fans. At chain store Fnac, the novel is described as the "favourite book of Bella and Edward, the two heroes of Twilight!"

Several fans have even gone so far as to draw parallels between Meyer’s bloodless narratives and Brontë’s stormy tale. One fan says "Bella is the dignified descendent of the romantic Victorian heroine, which is seen in her sometimes disproportionate, slightly mad reactions, which are reminiscent of a certain Catherine." Twilight’s heroine, Bella, is torn between her feelings for Edward and her friend Jacob, much as Cathy is wrenched between Edgar and Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights.

The passionately intense reactions from teenage devotees speak volumes. One girl raved about the classic on a fan site, saying she "couldn't stop crying it was so beautiful", whilst another said she'd "adored" it for its "unparalleled violence", its "mad poetry" and "profound passion".

But can Heathcliff fail to carry off Robert Pattinson’s smoldering look; can Cathy stand up to Bella’s high degree of simpering? The question is, can Wuthering Heights measure up to Twilight’s exceedingly lofty standards for other fans around the world? Will it be love at first bite? One thing can be said, this looks like on fad which will be palely slinking around long after death...