Hardy tells the story of Tess Durbeyfield, a beautiful young woman living with her impoverished family in Wessex, the southwestern English county immortalized by Hardy. After the family learns of their connection to the wealthy d’Urbervilles, they send Tess to claim a portion of their fortune. She meets and is seduced by the dissolute Alec d’Urberville and secretly bears a child, Sorrow, who dies in infancy. A very different man, Angel Clare, seems to offer Tess love and salvation, but he ...

Here you will find the complete novels of Thomas Hardy in the chronological order of their original publication. - Desperate Remedies - Under the Greenwood Tree - A Pair of Blue Eyes - Far From the Madding Crowd - The Hand of Ethelberta - The Return of the Native - The Trumpet-Major - A Laodicean - Two on a Tower - The Romantic Adventures of a Milkmaid - The Mayor of Casterbridge - The Woodlanders - Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Jude the Obscure - The Well–Beloved

The Trumpet Major was Thomas Hardy's seventh novel, published in 1880 in a censored version in the [I]Good Words[/I] magazine and as the full version by Smith, Elder. It is a historical story set in the Napoleonic Wars from the threatened invasion from Boulogne to the beginning of the Peninsular war, and deals with the relationships of three men and two women and how they are affected by their personalities. It is not as bleak as most of his work.

The Complete Works of Thomas Hardy (Illustrated) gathers the major novels, short fiction, poetry, and dramatic writings of one of Victorian literature's most penetrating imaginations. From the tragic landscapes of Wessex in Tess of the d'Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure to the finely wrought lyrics of loss, memory, and time, Hardy's work blends realism, pastoral elegy, classical fatalism, and modern psychological unease. The illustrations enrich the edition by visualizing the rural setting...

'Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul?' Jude Fawley, poor and working-class, longs to study at the University of Christminster, but he is rebuffed, and trapped in a loveless marriage. He falls in love with his unconventional cousin Sue Bridehead, and their refusal to marry when free to do so confirms their rejection of and by the world around them. The shocking fate that overtakes them is an indictment of a rigid and uncaring society. Hardy's ...

HarperCollins is proud to present one of Hardy's most popular novels, and now a major film, from our range of timeless literary classics.‘I shall do one thing in this life – one thing certain – that is, love you, and long for you, and keep wanting you till I die’Independent and spirited, Bathsheba Everdene owns the hearts of three men. Striving to win her love in different ways, their relationships with Bathsheba complicate her life in bucolic Wessex – and cast shadows over...

One of Thomas Hardy's most powerful works, The Return of the Native centers famously on Egdon Heath, the wild, haunted Wessex moor that D. H. Lawrence called 'the real stuff of tragedy.' The heath's changing face mirrors the fortunes of the farmers, inn-keepers, sons, mothers, and lovers who populate the novel. The 'native' is Clym Yeobright, who comes home from a cosmopolitan life in Paris. He; his cousin Thomasin; her fiancé, Damon Wildeve; and the willful Eustacia Vye are the protagonis...

Experience the enduring allure of Thomas Hardy's masterpiece, Far from the Madding Crowd. Immerse yourself in the sweeping tale of love, desire, and societal conventions. This edition features elegant packaging, vivid imagery, and Hardy's lyrical prose, making it a must-have for literature aficionados. - Thomas Hardy's timeless masterpiece - Sweeping tale of love and societal conventions - Elegant packaging and vivid imagery - Immerse yourself in Hardy's lyrical prose - A must-have edition...

'The first of Hardy's great novels, and the first to sound the tragic note for which his best fiction is remembered' Margaret DrabbleThomas Hardy's novel of swift passion and slow courtship is imbued with evocative descriptions of rural life, and with unflinching honesty about sexual relationships. Its heroine, Bathsheba Everdene, takes up her position as a farmer on a large estate, where her confident presence draws three very different suitors: the gentleman-farm...

'I shall do one thing in this life - one thing for certain - that is, love you, and long for you, and keep wanting you till I die.' Gabriel Oak is only one of three suitors for the hand of the beautiful and spirited Bathsheba Everdene. He must compete with the dashing young soldier Sergeant Troy and respectable, middle-aged Farmer Boldwood. And while their fates depend upon the choice Bathsheba makes, she discovers the terrible consequences of an inconstant heart. Far from the...

'The greatest tragic writer among the English novelists' Virginia WoolfWith its depiction of the wronged 'pure woman' Tess and its powerful criticism of Victorian hypocrisy, Tess of the D'Urbervilles is one of the most moving and poetic of Hardy's novels. When its heroine, Tess Durbeyfield, is driven by family poverty to claim kinship with the wealthy D'Urbervilles, meeting her 'cousin' Alec proves to be her downfall. A very different man, Angel Clare, see...

In the secluded heart of a woodland community, the quiet sacrifices of unrequited love are overshadowed by the arrivals of the sophisticated and the restless. The delicate balance of life is disrupted as social status and fleeting passions collide under the trees. This melancholy narrative captures the subtle aches of the heart and the heavy weight of social expectation.