When Tess Durbeyfield is driven by family poverty to claim kinship with the wealthy DUrbervilles & 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 DUrbervilles" is one of the most moving & poetic of Hardys novels."