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Considered a major nineteenth-century English novel and possibly Hardy’s masterpiece the novel is set in impoverished rural England, Thomas Hardy’s fictional Wessex, during the 1870s. Tess is the oldest child of John and Joan Durbeyfield, uneducated peasants. However, John is given the impression by Parson Tringham that he may have noble blood, since “Durbeyfield” is a corruption of “D’Urberville”, the surname of a noble Norman family, then extinct. The news immediately goes to John’s head.
Against her better judgment, Tess agrees to visit Mrs D’Urberville, a rich widow who lives in the nearby town of Trantridge, and “claim kin”.
This is the start of a tragic story.
The novel is full of imagery, both of nature and of terrible foreboding of what is to come in the story. The characterisation and emotive language make it a great read.
Mrs. C. Beaumont
