A ne'er-do-well exploits his gentle daughter's beauty for social advancement in this masterpiece of tragic fiction. Hardy's 1891 novel defied convention to focus on the rural lower class for a frank treatment of sexuality and religion. Then and now, his sympathetic portrait of a victim of Victorian hypocrisy offers compelling reading
"The main portion of the...story appeared--with slight modifications--in the Graphic...Harper's bazar...the Fortnightly review and the National observer, as episodic sketches."--Explanatory note, p. [viii]