BVBook Verdict
Essential Read

Tess of the d'Urbervilles

by Thomas Hardy · 1891

Classics · ranked #41 in category

Tess Durbeyfield, a peasant girl whose father discovers a dubious claim to noble descent, is sent to seek kinship with the d'Urbervilles and meets with catastrophe. Hardy's most devastating novel follows Tess through betrayal, hardship, murder and execution, asking whether any person can be truly 'pure' in a world that will not let her simply be herself.

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The verdict

Category
Classics
First published
1891 · 1890s
Author
Thomas Hardy
Standing
Essential Read

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