Thomas Hardy

DESPERATE REMEDIES IS THE SECOND NOVEL BY THOMAS HARDY, ALBEIT THE FIRST TO BE PUBLISHED. IT WAS RELEASED ANONYMOUSLY BY TINSLEY BROTHERS IN 1871. Plot: Cytherea has taken a position as lady's maid to the eccentric arch-intriguer Miss Aldclyffe. On discovering that the man she loves, Edward Springrove, is already engaged to his cousin, Cytherea comes under the influence of Miss Aldclyffe's fascinating, manipulative steward Manston. Analysis: In Desperate Remedies a young woman, Cytherea Graye, is forced by poverty to accept a post as lady's maid to the eccentric Miss Aldclyffe, the woman whom her father had loved but had been unable to marry. Cytherea loves a young architect, Edward Springrove, but Miss Adclyffe's machinations, the discovery that Edward is already engaged to a woman whom he does not love, and the urgent need to support a sick brother drive Cytherea to accept the hand of Aeneas Manston, Miss Adclyffe's illegitimate son, whose first wife is believed to have perished in a fire however, their marriage is almost immediately nullified when it emerges that his first wife had left the inn before it caught fire. Manston's wife, apparently, returns to live with him, but Cytherea, her brother, the local rector, and Edward come to suspect that the woman claiming to be Mrs. Manston is an impostor. It emerges that Manston killed his wife in an argument after she left the inn, and had brought in the impostor to prevent his being prosecuted for murder, as the argument had been heard (but not seen) by a poacher, who suspected Manston of murder and had planned to go to the police if his wife did not turn up alive. In the novel's climax, Manston attempts to kidnap Cytherea and flee, but is stopped by Edward he later commits suicide in his cell, and Cytherea and Edward marry. Reviews: Blackmail, murder and romance are among the ingredients of Hardy's first published novel, and in it he draws blithely on the 'sensation novel' perfected by Wilkie Collins. Several perceptive critics praised the author as a novelist with a future when Desperate Remedies appeared anonymously in 1871.

Jude the Obscure, the last completed of Thomas Hardy's novels, began as a magazine serial in December 1894 and was first published in book form in 1895. Its protagonist, Jude Fawley, is a working-class young man, a stonemason, who dreams of becoming a scholar. The other main character is his cousin, Sue Bridehead, who is also his central love interest. The novel is concerned in particular with issues of class, education, religion and marriage. The novel tells the story of Jude Fawley, who lives in a village in southern England (part of Hardy's fictional county of Wessex), who yearns to be a scholar at "Christminster", a city modelled on Oxford. As a youth, Jude teaches himself Classical Greek and Latin in his spare time, while working first in his great-aunt's bakery, with the hope of entering university. But before he can try to do this the na ve Jude is seduced by Arabella Donn, a rather coarse and superficial local girl who traps him into marriage by pretending to be pregnant. The marriage is a failure, and they separate by mutual agreement, and Arabella later emigrates to Australia, where she enters into a bigamous marriage. By this time, Jude has abandoned his classical studies.

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At a country fair near Casterbridge in Wessex Michael Henchard, a 21-year-old hay-trusser, argues with his wife Susan. Drunk on rum-laced furmity he auctions her off, along with their baby daughter Elizabeth-Jane, to Richard Newson, a passing sailor, for five guineas. Sober and remorseful the next day, he is too late to locate his family. He vows not to touch liquor again for 21 years. Believing the auction to be legally binding, Susan lives as Newson's wife for 18 years. After Newson is lost at sea Susan, lacking any means of support, decides to seek out Henchard again, taking her daughter with her. Susan has told Elizabeth-Jane little about Henchard, and the young woman knows only that he is a relation by marriage. Susan discovers that Henchard has become a very successful hay and grain merchant and Mayor of Casterbridge, known for his staunch sobriety. He has avoided explaining how he lost his wife, allowing people to assume he is a widower. When the couple are reunited, Henchard proposes remarrying Susan after a sham courtship, this in his view being the simplest and most discreet way to remedy matters and to prevent Elizabeth-Jane learning of their disgrace. To do this, however, he is forced to break off an engagement with a woman named Lucetta Templeman, who had nursed him when he was ill....

A Pair of Blue Eyes is a novel by Thomas Hardy printed in 1873. This is the story of Elfride Swancourt, a blue-eyed heroine. Elfride is divided between two lovers, the young, kind-hearted, socially inferior Stephen Smith, an architect; and much older and honest Londoner, Henry Knight, a literary man and Stephen's mentor. She also has to assure the belief of her father, the Rector of Endelstow. This is a moving and touching story about love, social protocols, limitations women faced in the 19th century, honour, sacrifice and loss. This book is set in Hardy's fictional Wessex of southwestern England. Characters are very well illustrated and developed. A Pair of Blue Eyes beyond its fun romance is Hardy's brand commentary on a rebellious shift in English life and culture. It mainly noteworthy as exclusive work of remarkable boldness and originality. A fascinating feature of this book is that it's nearly based on Hardy's relationship with his first wife, Emma Gifford.

The Return of the Native became one of Hardy's most famous and recognised novels. It was published in 1878. The story is set on Egdon Heath, a fictitious sterile couple in Wessex in southwestern England. The local of the title is Clym Yeobright, who has come back to the area to become a schoolmaster after a successful career as a jeweller in Paris. He and his cousin Thomasin illustrate the conventional way of life, while Thomasin's husband, Damon Wildeve, and Clym's wife, Eustacia Vye, long for the adventure of city life. After a chain of co-occurances, Eustacia approaches to admit that she is liable for the death of Clym's mother. Assured that destiny has fated her to cause others pain, Eustacia runs and is sunk. Damon engulfs trying to save her. It describes the tragic prospects of romantic delusion and how its supporters fall to accept their opportunities to control their own fates. It is a novel that conveys a modern picture of a passing way of life although expressing a tale of the weaknesses of human struggle, but also finds space for the short happiness to be taken along the way. 'The Return of the Native' focuses on two young lovers confined in an unhappy marriage because they wed for the wrong reasons. The book features the difficulty with romantic dignity, and how we often end up in jails of our own making.

Penguin Readers is an ELT graded reader series for learners of English as a foreign language. With carefully adapted text, new illustrations and language learning exercises, the print edition also includes instructions to access supporting material online. Titles include popular classics, exciting contemporary fiction, and thought-provoking non-fiction, introducing language learners to bestselling authors and compelling content. The eight levels of Penguin Readers follow the Common European Framework of Reference for language learning (CEFR). Exercises at the back of each Reader help language learners to practise grammar, vocabulary, and key exam skills. Before, during and after-reading questions test readers' story comprehension and develop vocabulary. Tess of the D'Urbervilles, a Level 6 Reader, is B1+ in the CEFR framework. The longer text is made up of sentences with up to four clauses, introducing future continuous, reported questions, third conditional, was going to and ellipsis. A small number of illustrations support the text. Visit the Penguin Readers websiteExclusively with the print edition, readers can unlock online resources including a digital book, audio edition, lesson plans and answer keys. When Jack and Joan Durbeyfield learn that their ancestors were the d'Urbervilles - a rich and well-known family - they hope it will make their lives better. They send their eldest daughter, Tess, to introduce herself to some "relatives". There, Tess meets Alec d'Urberville, who immediately notices her beauty. The terrible event that follows changes her life forever.

Far From the Madding Crowd (1874) is Thomas Hardy's fourth novel and his first major literary success. It originally appeared anonymously as a monthly serial in Cornhill Magazine, where it gained a wide readership. In Thomas Hardy's first major literary success, independent and spirited Bathsheba Everdene has come to Weatherbury to take up her position as a farmer on the largest estate in the area. Her bold presence draws three very different suitors: the gentleman-farmer Boldwood, the soldier-seducer Sergeant Troy, and the devoted shepherd Gabriel Oak. Each, in contrasting ways, unsettles her decisions and complicates her life, and tragedy ensues, threatening the stability of the whole community. One of his first works set in the semi-fictional region of Wessex, Hardy's novel of swift passion and slow courtship is imbued with his evocative descriptions of rural life and landscapes, and with unflinching honesty about sexual relationships. The novel was listed at number 48 on the BBC's survey The Big Read in 2003. The book finished 10th on The Guardian's list of greatest love stories of all time in 2007. The novel has been dramatised several times, notably in the Oscar-nominated 1967 film directed by John Schlesinger.

A classic novel that explores how the moral standards of Victorian England affected a young woman seeking her place in society. This beautiful flexibound edition also features bright foil on the cover. Thomas Hardy's classic novel Tess of the D'Urbervilles is a masterpiece of late 19th-century literature, presenting the story of Tess, a poor girl from rural England who faces the challenges of modern society while carrying a moral burden that threatens her reputation. As she navigates the difficult path to adulthood, Tess encounters numerous setbacks, each moving her further away from who she was as a young girl. With themes such as humanity's loss of its connection to the natural world and how Victorian morals oppress personal growth, Hardy's novel is an essential read for all lovers of classic literature.

HarperCollins is pround to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics. 'My life looks as if it had been wasted for want of chances! When I see what you know, what you have read, and seen, and thought, I feel what a nothing I am!' Challenging the hypocrisy and social conventions of the rural Victorian world, Tess of the D'Urbervilles follows the story of Tess Durbeyfield as she attempts to escape the poverty of her background, seeking wealth by claiming connection with the aristocratic D'Urberville family. It is through Tess's relationships with two very different men that Hardy tells the story of his tragic heroine, and exposes the double standards of the world that she inhabits with searing pathos and heart-rending sentiment.

Far From the Madding Crowd (1874) is Thomas Hardy's fourth novel and his first major literary success. It originally appeared anonymously as a monthly serial in Cornhill Magazine, where it gained a wide readership. In Thomas Hardy's first major literary success, independent and spirited Bathsheba Everdene has come to Weatherbury to take up her position as a farmer on the largest estate in the area. Her bold presence draws three very different suitors: the gentleman-farmer Boldwood, the soldier-seducer Sergeant Troy, and the devoted shepherd Gabriel Oak. Each, in contrasting ways, unsettles her decisions and complicates her life, and tragedy ensues, threatening the stability of the whole community. One of his first works set in the semi-fictional region of Wessex, Hardy's novel of swift passion and slow courtship is imbued with his evocative descriptions of rural life and landscapes, and with unflinching honesty about sexual relationships. The novel was listed at number 48 on the BBC's survey The Big Read in 2003. The book finished 10th on The Guardian's list of greatest love stories of all time in 2007. The novel has been dramatised several times, notably in the Oscar-nominated 1967 film directed by John Schlesinger.

The Return of the Native is Thomas Hardy's sixth published novel. It first appeared in the magazine Belgravia, a publication known for its sensationalism, and was presented in twelve monthly installments from January to December 1878. Thomas Hardy's novel The Return of the Native (1878) centers on two young lovers trapped in an unhappy marriage because they marry for the wrong reasons. The book highlights the problem with romantic idealism, and how we often end up in prisons of our own making. Hardy was an English novelist and poet. The novel's title The Return of the Native refers to the character Clym Yeobright, who returns home to his native Wessex in southwest England after working for a period in Paris.

First published anonymously in 1872, "Under the Greenwood Tree" is Thomas Hardy's story of the romantic entanglement between church musician, Dick Dewey, and the attractive new school mistress, Fancy Day. A pleasant romantic tale set in the Victorian era, "Under the Greenwood Tree" is the first of Hardy's "Wessex" novels and is one of his most gentle and pastoral stories. Dick falls in love with the beautiful and talented Fancy the moment he meets her and sets out to win her affection. Dick is not her only admirer however, and many men vie for the chance at Fancy's hand in marriage, including a rich farmer and the new parish church vicar. Dick and Fancy eventually become engaged, though they keep this happy news secret from her disapproving father. Endearing, richly detailed, and emotionally satisfying, Hardy's story captures the excitement and drama of young love and the simple charms of small-town life. Written early in his career, "Under the Greenwood Tree" shows Hardy coming into his formidable talent as an author and endures as one of his most uplifting and romantic tales. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.