Tess of the dUrbervilles. A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented

Thomas Hardy

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...

The Hand of Ethelberta. A Comedy in Chapters

Thomas Hardy

Hardys fifth novel, entitled "Comedy in Chapters." In a typical Hardy manner, the story is based on a love triangle. Ethelberta and her involuntary sister Picoti are in love with the same man, Christopher, who reciprocates Ethelbertas feelings. However, a happy result for them is out of the question, because it is poor.

The Mayor of Casterbridge. The Life and Death of a Man of Character

Thomas Hardy

The novel tells about a man with character and unusual fate. The life story of Michael Henchard, first a homeless worker, a haymaker, then the mayor of Casterbridge and a local rich man and again a farm laborer, involuntarily arouses interest in the intensity of events.

The Return of the Native

Thomas Hardy

Young beauty Eustace Way, passionate, self-willed, selfish and ambitious, eager to break out of the hateful rural outback into a different life, full of splendor, fun and pleasure. Meanwhile, after several years of service as a manager in a Paris jewelry salon, Clime Ibright returns to his Blooms End estate, who also wants to live a different life - to settle in his native land and open a school for the rural poor. Soon, Eustace and Klyme meet - and this meeting is destined to be fatal for both ...

The Trumpet-Major

Thomas Hardy

Hardys historical novel against the backdrop of the grandest Napoleonic wars tells about the love and sorrows of ordinary people who found themselves in unusual times. When the expected invasion brings several regiments to her small rural community, the young maid Anna Garland is looked after by three people in uniform: faithful trumpet major John Loveday, his sailor brother Bob, and the cowardly Festus Derriman of the cavalry of Yomanria.

The Well-Beloved. A Sketch of a Temperament

Thomas Hardy

"The Well-Beloved" complete the series of Hardys great novels, repeating his favorite themes of mans eternal pursuit of excellence both in love and in art, and the ensuing suffering, Jocelyn Pearston, a famous sculptor, tries to create the image of his ideal woman - his imagined Beloved - in stone, just as he tries to find her in the flesh. Powerful symbolism marks this romantic fantasy, which Hardy firmly substantiated in reality with a characteristic authentic display of the location, the Slinger Islands or Portland.

The Woodlanders

Thomas Hardy

The novel takes the reader to the very depths of rural England. The small village of Hintok, the scene of the novel, is so small that its even hard to find in the thicket of the forest, but this is where the tragedies of truly Sophocles greatness are played out. The reason for these tragedies is the clash of natural human characters preserved in the reserved wilderness of rural England.

Two on a Tower. A Romance

Thomas Hardy

The novel "Two on a Tower" is one of the most famous works of the author. An atmospheric, dynamic story throws the characters at the disposal of forces far beyond their control. Lady Viviet, violating all the rules of decency, falls in love with Cleve, who is not only below her in social status, but also the youngest by 10 years. In an ancient monument turned into an astronomical tower, the heroes create their own universe ...