Tess of the D’Urbervilles

Socially critical and emotionally complex, Tess of the D’Urbervilles is Thomas Hardy’s masterpiece. It tells the story of Tess Durbeyfield, forced by her family’s poverty to claim kinship with the wealthy D’Urbervilles. Violated by the D’Urberville son Alec, Tess’ hopes of rebuilding her life with the gentle and bookish Angel Clare flounder when he learns of her past “impurity.” 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, one of the best-loved characters in English literature.