Which Anne Brontë novel is partly framed by Helen Graham's diary?

Anne Brontë’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is partly framed by Helen Graham’s diary.

The novel begins and ends through letters written by Gilbert Markham to his friend Jack Halford. Gilbert first describes the mysterious widow Helen Graham, who arrives at Wildfell Hall with her young son. After Gilbert learns that gossip has distorted Helen’s story, she gives him her diary.

The diary forms the central section of the novel. Helen recounts her marriage to Arthur Huntingdon, whose drinking, infidelity and reckless behaviour destroy their domestic life. She eventually escapes with her son, an extraordinary act in a period when married women had very limited legal independence.

The structure is more than a storytelling trick. Gilbert’s outside account presents public opinion, while Helen’s diary reveals the private reality behind the rumours. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall was published in 1848 as Anne’s second and final novel, under the pseudonym Acton Bell.