Thomas Hardy's final novel follows Jude Fawley, a working-class stonemason in 19th-century England who dreams of attending Oxford University but faces constant social and personal obstacles. This provocative work of Victorian fiction explores themes of class, religion, and marriage through Jude's struggles with his aspirations and his complicated relationship with his unconventional cousin Sue Bridehead.
The schoolmaster was leaving the village, and everybody seemed sorry. The miller at Cresscombe lent him the small white tilted cart and horse to carry his goods to the city of his destination, about twenty miles off, such a vehicle proving of quite sufficient size for the departing teacher’s effects. For the schoolhouse had been partly furnished by the managers, and the only cumbersome article possessed by the master, in addition to the packing-case of books, was a cottage piano that he had bought at an auction during the year in which he thought of learning instrumental music. But the enthusiasm having waned he had never acquired any skill in playing, and the purchased article had been a perpetual trouble to him ever since in moving house. The rector had gone away for the day, being a man who disliked the sight of changes. He did not mean to return till the evening, when the new school-…Continue reading →
A Victorian novelist and poet who captured rural English life with unflinching realism, this master storyteller (1840-1928) created tragic tales of individuals crushed by social conventions and fate. His novels like Tess of the d'Urbervilles and The Mayor of Casterbridge revealed the harsh realities beneath idealized country living, influencing modern literature's psychological depth. All works by Thomas Hardy →
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