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Tess of the d'Urbervilles
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Tess of the d'Urbervilles Hardcover - 2009

by Thomas Hardy; Tim Dolin (Editor); Notes by Tim Dolin

Young Tess Durbeyfield attempts to restore her family's fortunes by claiming their connection with the aristocratic d'Urbervilles. But Alec d'Urberville is a rich wastrel who seduces her and makes her life miserable.


About this book

Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman, was first published as a censored and serialized version in the British illustrated newspaper, The Graphic in 1891. An intimate portrait of a woman, one of literature's most admirable and tragic heroines...Tess Durbeyfield knows what it is to work hard and expect little. But her life is about to veer from the path trod by her mother and grandmother. When her ne'er-do-well father learns that his family is the last of a long noble line, the d'Urbervilles, he sends Tess on a journey to meet her supposed kin—a journey that will see her victimized by lust, poverty, and hypocrisy. Shaped by an acute sense of social injustice and by a vision of human fate cosmic in scope, her story is a singular blending of harsh realism and poignant beauty. Thomas Hardy created in Tess not a standard Victorian heroine but a woman whose intense vitality shines against the bleak backdrop of a dying way of life. The novel shocked contemporary readers with its honesty and remains a timeless commentary on the human condition. -

Summary

When Tess Durbeyfield is driven by family poverty to claim kinship with the wealthy D'Urbervilles and seek a portion of their family fortune, meeting her 'cousin' Alec proves to be her downfall. A very different man, Angel Clare, seems to offer her love and salvation, but Tess must choose whether to reveal her past or remain silent in the hope of a peaceful future. With its sensitive depiction of the wronged Tess and powerful criticism of social convention, Tess of the D'Urbervilles is one of the most moving and poetic of Hardy's novels.

From the publisher

Part of Penguin's beautiful hardback Clothbound Classics series, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith, these delectable and collectible editions are bound in high-quality colourful, tactile cloth with foil stamped into the design. When Tess Durbeyfield is driven by family poverty to claim kinship with the wealthy D'Urbervilles and seek a portion of their family fortune, meeting her 'cousin' Alec proves to be her downfall. A very different man, Angel Clare, seems to offer her love and salvation, but Tess must choose whether to reveal her past or remain silent in the hope of a peaceful future. With its sensitive depiction of the wronged Tess and powerful criticism of social convention, Tess of the D'Urbervilles is one of the most moving and poetic of Hardy's novels.

First Edition Identification

First published in 1891 by James R Osgood, McIlvaine & Co, London, in three volumes. Publisher's original sand-colored cloth with vertical linear designs of honeysuckle blossom on the upper covers, gilt decorations and lettering designed by Charles Ricketts. 

Details

  • Title Tess of the d'Urbervilles
  • Author Thomas Hardy; Tim Dolin (Editor); Notes by Tim Dolin
  • Binding Hardcover
  • Pages 592
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Penguin Group, London
  • Date 2009-10-01
  • Illustrated Yes
  • ISBN 9780141040332 / 0141040335
  • Weight 1.6 lbs (0.73 kg)
  • Dimensions 7.9 x 5 x 1.9 in (20.07 x 12.70 x 4.83 cm)
  • Ages 18 to UP years
  • Grade levels 13 - UP
  • Themes
    • Chronological Period: 19th Century
    • Cultural Region: British
  • Library of Congress subjects Triangles (Interpersonal relations), Women murderers
  • Dewey Decimal Code FIC

Media reviews

Citations

  • Entertainment Weekly, 12/11/2009, Page 119

About the author

Thomas Hardy was born on 2 June 1840. He wrote novels and poetry, much of which is set in the semi-imaginary county of Wessex. His novels include Far From the Madding Crowd (1874), The Return of the Native (1878), The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886), Tess of the D'Urbervilles(1891) and Jude the Obscure (1895). He published his first volume of poetry, Wessex Poems, in 1898 and continued to publish collections of poems until his death on 11 January 1928. Tim Dolin teaches English at the University of Newcastle, New South Wales. Margaret R. Higonnet teaches English and Comparative Literature at the University of Connecticut.
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Tess of the D'Urbervilles

Tess of the D'Urbervilles

by Thomas Hardy

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Tess of the D'Urbervilles

Tess of the D'Urbervilles

by Thomas Hardy

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Tess of the D'Urbervilles (Penguin Clothbound Classics)

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Tess of the D'Urbervilles (Penguin Clothbound Classics)
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Tess of the D'Urbervilles (Penguin Clothbound Classics)

by Hardy, Thomas

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ISBN 13
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Tess of the D'Urbervilles (Penguin Clothbound Classics)

by Hardy, Thomas

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ISBN 13
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ISBN 10
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