Tess of the D'Urbervilles: Thomas Hardy

The Penguin English Library Edition of Tess of the D`Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

"I would be content, ay, glad, to live with you as your servant, if I may not as your wife; so that I could only be near you, and get glimpses of you, and think of you as mine... I long for only one thing in heaven or earth or under the earth, to meet you, my own dear! Come to me - come to me, and save me from what threatens me!"

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.

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