Thomas Hardy

Cruelly seduced by her relative, the cynical Alec D'Urberville, betrayed by the moral Angel Clare and haunted by her guilt and shame, Tess becomes Hardy's indictment of all the crimes and hyprocrisies of 19th century England.

This novel is an unashamed and picturesque portrait of the long-vanished pastoral society of early Victorian England. It is a humorous study of resistance to change, and it enabled Hardy to express his affection and love for the Wessex countryside.

Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) was born in Dorset. He left school at sixteen to work as an apprentice for an architect who specialized in church restoration. He made his reputation as a novelist, and it wasn't until after the publication of his last novel, The Well-beloved, in 1897, that he dedicated himself to writing poetry.