Thomas Hardy

Tess of the d'Urbervilles Thomas Hardy

Tess of the D'Urbervilles tells the story of Tess Durbeyfield, a young woman forced by her family's poverty to claim kinship with the wealthy D'Urberville family. Violated by the son, Alec, her hopes of rebuilding her life with the gentle and bookish Angel Clare fall apart when he learns of her past.

Set among the lush pastures and bleak uplands of Hardy's imagined Wessex and filled with unforgettable images of tenderness and tragedy, the story examines conventional morality through Tess herself--one of the best-loved characters in English literature.