Book description
Jude Fawley, the stonemason excluded not by his wits but by poverty
from the world of Christminster privilege, finds fulfilment in his
relationship with Sue Bridehead. Both have left earlier marriages.
Ironically, when tragedy tests their union it is Sue, the modern
emancipated woman, who proves unequal to the challenge. Hardy's fearless
exploration of sexual and social relationships and his prophetic
critique of marriage scandalised the late Victorian establishment and
marked the end of his career as a novelist. 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.
