Year of Publication: 1891
Length: 420 pages
Genre: Fiction
In the rural English county of Wessex in the 19th Century, Tess Durbeyfield is happy but poor, living with her younger siblings and loving but feckless parents. One day her father learns that they may actually be nobility, descended from the ancient "d'Urberville" family who were once powerful and wealthy but have fallen on hard times. Tess is pressured to approach the wealthy d'Urbervilles that live nearby and plead ties of kinship. However Tess unwittingly draws the attention of libertine Alec d'Urberville, who persuades her, against her better judgement, to accept employment on his estate. Alex persistently attempts to seduce Tess, who repeatedly rebuffs him, until late one night he overpowers her. Things go from bad to worse for Tess, as she becomes a social pariah. She spies the possibility of happiness through the love of free-thinking parson's son, Angel Clare, only to find that, while she is done with her past, it is far from done with her.
Like all of Thomas Hardy's major novels this is set in his semi-fictional county of Wessex in south-west England, in which all of the places are real, but given fictional names. This is a powerful, heartbreaking novel. Tess is slowly destroyed because she is raped by Alec d'Urberville, for which she is blamed by pretty much everyone she encounters. D'Urberville's attack is kind of ambiguous in the novel, it is hinted at after the fact, but not actually described. Thomas Hardy is scathing about society's double standards and how women such as Tess are treated, and it really shocked readers in the 1890s, but it is important to remember that the book is a product of the 1890s, and so it may not seem as forward thinking to modern readers as it did to contemporary readers. Tess is a wonderful main character who is sympathetic and engaging, and you feel so sorry for her, as Hardy seems to pile on every misery he can think of upon her. Angel Clare, our romantic hero, is actually kind of a dick. He marries Tess about halfway through the book, and confesses to her a sexual liaison he had with a woman in London, Tess tells him her story, and he basically dumps her even though he tells her that she is "more sinned against than sinning," before heading off to Brazil without her. The book is very well written and wrings out every kind of emotion. it is funny, heartbreaking, and will make you angry. The events of the narrative are set against the rhythms of 19th century rural life, and the book is this beautiful pastoral of the English countryside and farming life.
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