Book description
Jude Fawley is a young man who longs to better himself and go to
Christminster University. However, poverty forces him into a job as a
stonemason and an unhappy marriage. When his wife leaves him Jude
moves to Christminster determined to follow his dream. There he meets
and falls for his free-spirited cousin, Sue Bridehead. The couple
refuses to marry much to the disapproval of the society around them.
In this heartbreaking story Hardy shows the devastating effects of
social prejudice and oppression.
The novel caused outrage when it was published in 1895 and, as a
result, was the last novel Hardy ever wrote.
Thomas Hardy was born on 2 June 1840. His father was a stonemason. He
was brought up near Dorchester and trained as an architect. In 1868 his
work took him to St Juliot's church in Cornwall where he met his
wife-to-be, Emma. His first novel,
The Poor Man and the Lady
, was rejected by publishers but
Desperate Remedies
was published in 1871 and this was rapidly followed by
Under the
Greenwood Tree
(1872),
A Pair of Blue Eyes
(1873) and
Far from the Madding Crowd
(1874). He also wrote many other novels, poems and short stories.
Tess of the D'Urbervilles
was published in 1891. His final novel was
Jude the Obscure
(1895). Hardy was awarded the Order of Merit in 1920 and the gold medal
of the Royal Society of Literature in 1912. His wife died in 1912 and he
later married his secretary. Thomas Hardy died 11 January 1928.
