Desperate Remedies is a novel by Thomas Hardy, published anonymously by Tinsley Brothers in 1871.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...

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. Because of the novel's controversial themes, Hardy had some difficulty finding a publisher; reviews, however, though somewhat mixed, were generally positive. In the twentieth century, The Return of the Native became one of Hardy's most popular novels, he novel takes place entirely in the environs of Egdon Heath, and, with the exception of the epilogue,...

A Group of Noble Dames is an 1891 collection of short stories written by Thomas Hardy. The stories are contained by a frame narrative in which ten members of a club each tell one story about a noble dame in the 17th or 18th century. Part I-Before Dinner The First Countess of Wessex by the local historian Barbara of the House of Grebe by the old surgeon The Marchioness of Stonehenge by the rural dean Lady Mottisfont by the sentimental member Part II-After Dinner The Lady Icenway by the churchwarden Squire Petrick's Lady by the crimson maltster Anna, Lady Baxby by the colonel The Lady Penelope...

Young Tess Durbeyfield attempts to restore her family's fortunes by claiming their connection with the aristocratic d'Urbervilles. But Alec d'Urberville is a rich wastrel who seduces her and makes her life miserable. When Tess meets Angel Clare, she is offered true love and happiness, but her past catches up with her and she faces an agonizing moral choice. Hardy's indictment of society's double standards, and his depiction of Tess as "a pure woman," caused controversy in his day and has held the imagination of readers ever since. Hardy thought it his finest novel, and Tess the most deeply...

Complete and unabridged, tragedy and true love in the Wessex countryside makes this Thomas Hardy romantic classic a great English novel.

Bathsheba Everdene is pursued by Farmer Boldwood, Soldier Troy, and Shepherd Oak. Who will win her heart, if any? Find out in this worthwhile investment of page turning romance.

The novel takes place entirely in the environs of Egdon Heath, and, with the exception of the epilogue, Aftercourses, covers exactly a year and a day. The narrative begins on the evening of Guy Fawkes Night as Diggory Venn is slowly crossing the heath with his van, which is being drawn by ponies. In his van is a passenger. When darkness falls, the country folk light bonfires on the surrounding hills, emphasising-not for the last time-the pagan spirit of the heath and its denizens. Venn is a reddleman; he travels the country supplying farmers with a red mineral called reddle (dialect term for...

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 naive 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...