Thomas Hardy

Desperate Remedies Illustrated Thomas Hardy

Thrust into poverty at the death of her father, a young girl, Cytherea, is forced to seek employment as a lady's maid, and takes up that station with a woman who turns out to be the love of her father's life who slipped through his fingers under strange circumstances. Cytherea is an exceptionally lovely girl, and she becomes the object of desire for two men; but her love-life proves to be anything but a simple and straight-forward affair. There is a great deal of backroom plotting and inexplicable interference in Cytherea's life by her lady employer, Mrs. Aldclyffe, some false information to overcome and some errors in judgment that make one cringe. The story is neatly tied at the end, no pesky strands left unresolved.