Set in the English Midlands of farmers and village craftsmen at the turn of the eighteenth century, this book relates a story of seduction issuing in 'the inward suffering which is the worst form of Nemesis'.

Contains introduction and notes by Claire Seymour University of Kent at Canterbury. The central figure of this novel is the returning native , Clym Yeobright, and his love for the beautiful but capricious Eustacia Vye.

When Tess D'urbeyfield is driven by family poverty to claim kinship with the wealthy D'Urbervilles, meeting her 'cousin' Alec proves to be her downfall. Angel Clare, seems to offer her love, but Tess must choose whether to reveal her past or remain silent in the hope of a peaceful future. This is one of the most poetic of Hardy's novels.

In drunken anger, Michael Henchard sells his wife and baby at a country fair. Over the following years, he establishes himself as a pillar of society but his shameful secret is never to leave him. Featuring one of Hardy's most memorable characters, the novel portrays Victorian country life.

Repelled by her uneducated and sometimes violent husband, delicate Gertrude devotes her life to her children, especially to her sons, William and Paul - determined they will not follow their father into working down the coal mines. But conflict is evitable when Paul seeks to escape his mother's grasp through relationships with women his own age.

In this story the author recreates her own childhood through the story of the gifted Maggie Tulliver and her spoilt, selfish brother. Though tragic in its outcome, this comic novel combines vivid images of family life with a portrait of the heroine.