The publication of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848) drew such opprobrium from Anne Brontë's critics that she felt compelled, in the preface to the second edition, towrite a belated defence of the novel. She begins with a modest acknowledgement of ‘the praises’ the novel ‘has elicited from a few kind critics’, before turning to more negative responses. These Brontë describes as ‘more bitter than just’ (TWH 3), rebutting them in the remainder of her preface by emphasizing the moral and religious imperatives which govern her writing.

Echoing the sentiments of her fictional ally, Agnes Grey, Brontë first expresses the hope that her narrative will ‘amuse’ as well as ‘benefit’ her readers but goes on to revise the apparent endorsement of such balanced objectives. More defiant than Agnes, she announces a willingness to sacrifice her own reputation and, if necessary, the ‘reader's immediate pleasure’ in order to fulfil her ‘duty to speak an unpalatable truth, with the help of God’ (TWH 5).

The subject of Brontë's epistolary novel is the life of Mrs Graham, a woman of unknown origin who, accompanied by her young son, takes up the tenancy at Wildfell Hall. Pursued by Gilbert Markham, the son of a neighbouring farmer, Mrs Graham reveals the history which drove her to seek refuge at Wildfell Hall. She does so by allowing Gilbert to read her journal. It reveals her real identity as Helen Huntington, the estranged and fugitive wife of the aristocratic, alcoholic and debauched Arthur Huntington. The journal details Helen's years of mistreatment by her wayward husband along with her escape to the relative isolation of Wildfell Hall where she supports herself and her son through her artwork. Following the revelation of Helen's history she hears her husband has been injured in a riding accident and returns, dutifully, to nurse him through his final days. His death eventually frees Helen to marry Gilbert.

An overview of contemporary responses to The Tenant suggests that it is not only the text which receives harsh critical judgement but also the author herself.