Tess Of The D'Urbervilles

Product Description

A heartaching portrayal of a woman faced by an impossible choice in the pursuit of happiness Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D' Urbervilles" is edited with notes by Tim Dolin & an introduction by Margaret R. Higonnet in " Penguin Classics". When Tess Durbeyfield is driven by family poverty to claim kinship with the wealthy D' Urbervilles & seek a portion of their family fortune meeting her 'cousin' Alec proves to be her downfall. A very different man Angel Clare seems to offer her love & salvation but Tess must choose whether to reveal her past or remain silent in the hope of a peaceful future. With its sensitive depiction of the wronged Tess & powerful criticism of social convention " Tess of the D' Urbervilles" subtitled "A Pure Woman" is one of the most moving & poetic of Hardy's novels. Based on the three-volume first edition that shocked readers when first published in 1891 this edition

Includes:: as appendices: Hardy's Prefaces the " Landscapes of Tess" episodes originally censored from the Graphic periodical version & a selection of the Graphic illustrations. Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) born Higher Brockhampton near Dorchester originally trained as an architect before earning his living as a writer. Though he saw himself primarily as a poet Hardy was the author of some of the late eighteenth century's major novels: " The Mayor of Casterbridge" (1886) " Tess of the D' Urbervilles" (1891) " Far from the Madding Crowd" (1874) & " Jude the Obscure" (1895). Amidst the controversy caused by " Jude the Obscure" he turned to the poetry he had been writing all his life. In the next thirty years he published over nine hundred poems & his epic drama in verse " The Dynasts". If you enjoyed " Tess of the D' Urbervilles" you might like Daniel Defoe's " Moll Flanders" also available in " Penguin Classics". " The greatest tragic writer among the English novelists". (Virginia Woolf)."