Books with author Thomas Hardy

How is this book unique?Font adjustments & biography includedUnabridged (100% Original content)IllustratedAbout The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas HardyThe Mayor of Casterbridge (1886), subtitled "The Life and Death of a Man of Character", is a novel by British author Thomas Hardy. It is set in the fictional town of Casterbridge (based on the town of Dorchester in Dorset). The book is one of Hardy's Wessex novels, all set in a fictional rural England. Hardy began writing the book in 1884 and wrote the last page on 17 April 1885. Within the book, he writes that the events took place "before the nineteenth century had reached one-third of its span". Literary critic Dale Kramer sees it as being set somewhat later—in the late 1840s, corresponding to Hardy's youth in Dorchester.

The Mayor of Casterbridge opens with a shocking and haunting scene: In a drunken rage, Michael Henchard sells his wife and daughter to a visiting sailor at a local fair. When they return to Casterbridge some nineteen years later, Henchard—having gained power and success as the mayor—finds he cannot erase the past or the guilt that consumes him. The Mayor of Casterbridge is a rich, psychological novel about a man whose own flaws combine with fate to cause his ruin.

Thomas Hardy's second to last novel, "Tess of the d'Urbervilles" is the story of Teresa "Tess" Durbeyfield. The plot of the novel is set in motion when a local parson mentions that the Durbeyfields are actually related to the noble family the d'Urbervilles. Trying to capitalize on this knowledge the Durbeyfields send a reluctant Tess to work at the d'Urbervilles estate. There the tragic fate of Tess ensues. "Tess of the d'Urbervilles" challenged the sexual mores of the time and because of this was not well received when it was first published. The novel however has weathered the test of time and is now considered a great classic of English Literature.

Thomas Hardy's second to last novel, "Tess of the d'Urbervilles" is the story of Teresa "Tess" Durbeyfield. The plot of the novel is set in motion when a local parson mentions that the Durbeyfields are actually related to the noble family the d'Urbervilles. Trying to capitalize on this knowledge the Durbeyfields send a reluctant Tess to work at the d'Urbervilles estate. There the tragic fate of Tess ensues. "Tess of the d'Urbervilles" challenged the sexual mores of the time and because of this was not well received when it was first published. The novel however has weathered the test of time and is now considered a great classic of English Literature.

This story of temptation, love and betrayal formed the basis of the scripts of several film adaptations. The young beauty, the daughter of an impoverished descendant of an ancient aristocratic family, seemed to be created for happiness. But suffering persecutes Tess, she becomes a victim of the words of the voluptuous bourgeois, loses her child, experiences the betrayal of her husband... "Once a victim is a victim for life! Such is the law! "She says, but a riot ripens for her soul... ⠀