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.
Set in the heart of the Wessex, this book charts the rise and downfall of a single 'man of character'. It's moving and contrived narrative is Shakespearian in its force, and features some of the author's episodes and passages of description.
The wilds of Egdon Heath seem like a prison to Eustacia Vye, cut off from the world in her grandfather's lonely cottage. So, to find some excitement, Eustacia decides to get married.
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.