Author: Thomas Hardy
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Released: 1891
Pages: 592 (Hardback)
Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US
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When Tess Durbeyfield is driven by family poverty to claim kinship with the wealthy D'Urbervilles and 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 and 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 and powerful criticism of social convention, Tess of the D'Urbervilles is one of the most moving and poetic of Hardy's novels.
I haven't been posting a lot on the blog lately. Why? Blame this book. I've recently started my English Literature A-Level course, and this is the first required reading book we were set. At first, I didn't think I'd enjoy it - for those of you who don't know, Victorian literature language is quite different from modern novels, and Hardy especially loves this circumlocutory style which means he can sometimes go off on tangents for ages until he actually gets to the point. Long story short, it took me a while to read. But I've finally finished it, and actually, I rather enjoyed it.
