About the Book

Tess of the d'Urbervilles
Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented is a novel by Thomas Hardy.

• It initially appeared in a censored and serialised version, published by the British illustrated newspaper The Graphic in 1891 and in book form in 1892. Though now considered a major nineteenth-century English novel and possibly Hardy's fictional masterpiece, Tess of the d'Urbervilles received mixed reviews when it first appeared, in part because it challenged the sexual morals of late Victorian England.First published serially in 1891 in "The Graphic", an illustrated British newspaper, "Tess of the d'Urbervilles" is one of the last novels written by Thomas Hardy.
• It is the titular story of Teresa "Tess" Durbeyfield, the oldest child of John and Joan Durbeyfield. The Durbeyfields are a poor family living in rural England who are led to believe by a local parson that they may actually be related to the d'Urbervilles, a noble Norman family. Trying to capitalize on this knowledge the Durbeyfields send a reluctant Tess to work at the d'Urberville's estate, a rural mansion in the nearby town of Trantridge.
• Tess is able to secure a position as a poultry keeper on the estate when she draws the interest of the family's libertine son, Alec. Tess dislikes Alec but endures his unwanted advances in order to help her family, a compromise that will ultimately lead to her ruin.
• Because it challenged the sexual morals of late Victorian England, "Tess of the d'Urbervilles" was harshly criticized following its initial publication, however since that time it has come be regarded by many as Thomas Hardy's fictional masterpiece.

1. Thomas Hardy OM (2 June 1840 - 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, especially William Wordsworth.He was highly critical of much in Victorian society, especially on the declining status of rural people in Britain, such as those from his native South West England.
2. While Hardy wrote poetry throughout his life and regarded himself primarily as a poet, his first collection was not published until 1898. Initially, therefore, he gained fame as the author of novels such as Far from the Madding Crowd (1874), The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886), Tess of the d'Urbervilles (1891), and Jude the Obscure (1895). During his lifetime, Hardy's poetry was acclaimed by younger poets (particularly the Georgians) who viewed him as a mentor. After his death his poems were lauded by Ezra Pound, W. H. Auden and Philip Larkin.

About the Author

• Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) is one of the few writers to succeed as both a major novelist and a poet. He is the author of The Return of the Native, The Mayor of Casterbridge, Tess of the D'Urbervilles, and Jude the Obscure. Several of his novels have been made into films, notably Far from the Madding Crowd (Schlesinger, 1967) and Tess (Polanski, 1979).

About the Author: Thomas Hardy OM (2 June 1840 - 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, especially William Wordsworth. He was highly critical of much in Victorian society, especially on the declining status of rural people in Britain, such as those from his native South West England. While Hardy wrote poetry throughout his life and regarded himself primarily as a poet, his first collection was not published until 1898. Initially, therefore, he gained fame as the author of such novels as Far from the Madding Crowd (1874), The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886), Tess of the d'Urbervilles (1891), and Jude the Obscure (1895). During his lifetime, Hardy's poetry was acclaimed by younger poets (particularly the Georgians) who viewed him as a mentor. After his death his poems were lauded by Ezra Pound, W. H. Auden and Philip Larkin. Many of his novels concern tragic characters struggling against their passions and social circumstances, and they are often set in the semi-fictional region of Wessex; initially based on the medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom, Hardy's Wessex eventually came to include the counties of Dorset, Wiltshire, Somerset, Devon, Hampshire and much of Berkshire, in southwest and south central England. Two of his novels, Tess of the d'Urbervilles and Far from the Madding Crowd, were listed in the top 50 on the BBC's survey The Big Read.