Tess of the Durbervilles

Tess of the d’Urbervilles

“Why didn’t you tell me there was
danger in men-folk?
Why didn’t you warn me?”
Tess Durbeyfield, the young, graceful and virtuous daughter of a poor peddler, falls prey to the unscrupulous desires of Alec d’Urberville, the rich and licentious heir of the d’Urberville estate where she is sent to work as a farmhand.
After giving birth to his son who dies in a few weeks, Tess joins a dairy farm outside the village, working as a milkmaid. Her life seems to change for good when she meets Angel Clare, the progressive son of a parson, who falls in love with her and wants to marry her.
But as their wedding date approaches, Tess finds herself on the horns of a dilemma, overshadowed by the bitter truth of her past. A victim of the nineteenth-century English social morality, what sort of future awaits Tess?
Received critically by the readers of his era, Thomas Hardy’s Tess of d’Urbervilles is a heart-rending tragedy. Listed among the best-loved novels of all time on The Big Read, a survey conducted by BBC, the novel has undergone numerous adaptations and continues to appeal to its readers.