What name does Helen use as the mysterious tenant at Wildfell Hall?

Helen uses the name Helen Graham as the mysterious tenant at Wildfell Hall.

In Anne Brontë’s novel, Helen arrives at the isolated Elizabethan mansion with her young son, Arthur, and her servant Rachel. Her secrecy fuels gossip in the surrounding community, where residents know her only as the reserved Mrs Graham.

Helen Graham is an alias rather than her birth name. She was born Helen Lawrence and later married Arthur Huntingdon, becoming Helen Huntingdon. She adopts her mother’s maiden name, Graham, while escaping her abusive husband and protecting her child from his influence.

The novel gradually reveals her identity through her diary, which she gives to Gilbert Markham. The other options are easy to confuse with characters connected to the story: Frederick Lawrence is Helen’s brother, while the Hargraves are another family in the novel. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall was published in 1848 under Anne’s pen name, Acton Bell.