Other editions of book The Hand of Ethelberta: A Comedy in Chapters

"The Hand of Ethelberta" (1876) is a comedy novel by Thomas Hardy. Ethelberta was raised in humble circumstances but, through her work as a governess, married well at the age of eighteen. Her husband died two weeks after the wedding and, now twenty-one, Ethelberta lives with her mother-in-law, Lady Petherwin. In the three years that have elapsed since the deaths of both her husband and father-in-law, Ethelberta has been treated to foreign travel and further privilege by her benefactress, but restricted from seeing her poor family. The story reveals Ethelberta's career as a famous poet and storyteller as she struggles to support her family and conceal her secret—that her father is a butler. Beautiful, clever, and rational, she easily attracts four very persistent suitors (Mr. Julian, Mr. Neigh, Mr. Ladywell, and Lord Mountclere), but is reluctant to give her much-coveted hand.

The Hand of Ethelberta: A Comedy in Chapters is a novel by Thomas Hardy, published in 1876. It was written, in serial form, for the Cornhill Magazine, which was edited by Leslie Stephen, a friend and mentor of Hardy's. Unlike the majority of Hardy's fiction, the novel is a comedy, with both humour and a happy ending for the major characters and no suicides or tragic deaths. The late nineteenth century novelist George Gissing, who knew Hardy, considered it 'surely old Hardy's poorest book'

This edition incorporates an original introduction from Moorside Press, including a biography, a critical discussion of Hardy's place in the history of British Literature and a short contextual discussion of the book.Published in 1876 as a serial in the Cornhill Magazine, The Hand of Ethelberta was Hardy's fifth novel in print. The plot concerns the eponymous heroin and her choices for a second husband following the death of the first. That marriage left her well off and also in the comfortable position of having a benefactress – the elderly mother of the deceased – but now she is faced with four viable suitors and an independent streak that makes her choice all the more difficult.While noting the poor background of Ethelberta, the novel still marks something of a departure for Hardy in that it deals more with a higher stratum of social life than many of his other novels. That said, the essence of the narrative and the structure of the plot remain true to form.

This edition incorporates an original introduction from Moorside Press, including a biography, a critical discussion of Hardy's place in the history of British Literature and a short contextual discussion of the book.Published in 1876 as a serial in the Cornhill Magazine, The Hand of Ethelberta was Hardy's fifth novel in print. The plot concerns the eponymous heroin and her choices for a second husband following the death of the first. That marriage left her well off and also in the comfortable position of having a benefactress – the elderly mother of the deceased – but now she is faced with four viable suitors and an independent streak that makes her choice all the more difficult.While noting the poor background of Ethelberta, the novel still marks something of a departure for Hardy in that it deals more with a higher stratum of social life than many of his other novels. That said, the essence of the narrative and the structure of the plot remain true to form.

This edition incorporates an original introduction from Moorside Press, including a biography, a critical discussion of Hardy's place in the history of British Literature and a short contextual discussion of the book.Published in 1876 as a serial in the Cornhill Magazine, The Hand of Ethelberta was Hardy's fifth novel in print. The plot concerns the eponymous heroin and her choices for a second husband following the death of the first. That marriage left her well off and also in the comfortable position of having a benefactress – the elderly mother of the deceased – but now she is faced with four viable suitors and an independent streak that makes her choice all the more difficult.While noting the poor background of Ethelberta, the novel still marks something of a departure for Hardy in that it deals more with a higher stratum of social life than many of his other novels. That said, the essence of the narrative and the structure of the plot remain true to form.

This edition incorporates an original introduction from Moorside Press, including a biography, a critical discussion of Hardy's place in the history of British Literature and a short contextual discussion of the book.Published in 1876 as a serial in the Cornhill Magazine, The Hand of Ethelberta was Hardy's fifth novel in print. The plot concerns the eponymous heroin and her choices for a second husband following the death of the first. That marriage left her well off and also in the comfortable position of having a benefactress – the elderly mother of the deceased – but now she is faced with four viable suitors and an independent streak that makes her choice all the more difficult.While noting the poor background of Ethelberta, the novel still marks something of a departure for Hardy in that it deals more with a higher stratum of social life than many of his other novels. That said, the essence of the narrative and the structure of the plot remain true to form.

This edition incorporates an original introduction from Moorside Press, including a biography, a critical discussion of Hardy's place in the history of British Literature and a short contextual discussion of the book.Published in 1876 as a serial in the Cornhill Magazine, The Hand of Ethelberta was Hardy's fifth novel in print. The plot concerns the eponymous heroin and her choices for a second husband following the death of the first. That marriage left her well off and also in the comfortable position of having a benefactress – the elderly mother of the deceased – but now she is faced with four viable suitors and an independent streak that makes her choice all the more difficult.While noting the poor background of Ethelberta, the novel still marks something of a departure for Hardy in that it deals more with a higher stratum of social life than many of his other novels. That said, the essence of the narrative and the structure of the plot remain true to form.

This edition incorporates an original introduction from Moorside Press, including a biography, a critical discussion of Hardy's place in the history of British Literature and a short contextual discussion of the book.Published in 1876 as a serial in the Cornhill Magazine, The Hand of Ethelberta was Hardy's fifth novel in print. The plot concerns the eponymous heroin and her choices for a second husband following the death of the first. That marriage left her well off and also in the comfortable position of having a benefactress – the elderly mother of the deceased – but now she is faced with four viable suitors and an independent streak that makes her choice all the more difficult.While noting the poor background of Ethelberta, the novel still marks something of a departure for Hardy in that it deals more with a higher stratum of social life than many of his other novels. That said, the essence of the narrative and the structure of the plot remain true to form.

This edition incorporates an original introduction from Moorside Press, including a biography, a critical discussion of Hardy's place in the history of British Literature and a short contextual discussion of the book.Published in 1876 as a serial in the Cornhill Magazine, The Hand of Ethelberta was Hardy's fifth novel in print. The plot concerns the eponymous heroin and her choices for a second husband following the death of the first. That marriage left her well off and also in the comfortable position of having a benefactress – the elderly mother of the deceased – but now she is faced with four viable suitors and an independent streak that makes her choice all the more difficult.While noting the poor background of Ethelberta, the novel still marks something of a departure for Hardy in that it deals more with a higher stratum of social life than many of his other novels. That said, the essence of the narrative and the structure of the plot remain true to form.

This edition incorporates an original introduction from Moorside Press, including a biography, a critical discussion of Hardy's place in the history of British Literature and a short contextual discussion of the book.Published in 1876 as a serial in the Cornhill Magazine, The Hand of Ethelberta was Hardy's fifth novel in print. The plot concerns the eponymous heroin and her choices for a second husband following the death of the first. That marriage left her well off and also in the comfortable position of having a benefactress – the elderly mother of the deceased – but now she is faced with four viable suitors and an independent streak that makes her choice all the more difficult.While noting the poor background of Ethelberta, the novel still marks something of a departure for Hardy in that it deals more with a higher stratum of social life than many of his other novels. That said, the essence of the narrative and the structure of the plot remain true to form.

This edition incorporates an original introduction from Moorside Press, including a biography, a critical discussion of Hardy's place in the history of British Literature and a short contextual discussion of the book.Published in 1876 as a serial in the Cornhill Magazine, The Hand of Ethelberta was Hardy's fifth novel in print. The plot concerns the eponymous heroin and her choices for a second husband following the death of the first. That marriage left her well off and also in the comfortable position of having a benefactress – the elderly mother of the deceased – but now she is faced with four viable suitors and an independent streak that makes her choice all the more difficult.While noting the poor background of Ethelberta, the novel still marks something of a departure for Hardy in that it deals more with a higher stratum of social life than many of his other novels. That said, the essence of the narrative and the structure of the plot remain true to form.

This edition incorporates an original introduction from Moorside Press, including a biography, a critical discussion of Hardy's place in the history of British Literature and a short contextual discussion of the book.Published in 1876 as a serial in the Cornhill Magazine, The Hand of Ethelberta was Hardy's fifth novel in print. The plot concerns the eponymous heroin and her choices for a second husband following the death of the first. That marriage left her well off and also in the comfortable position of having a benefactress – the elderly mother of the deceased – but now she is faced with four viable suitors and an independent streak that makes her choice all the more difficult.While noting the poor background of Ethelberta, the novel still marks something of a departure for Hardy in that it deals more with a higher stratum of social life than many of his other novels. That said, the essence of the narrative and the structure of the plot remain true to form.