THOMAS HARDY
Ser in Hardy's Wessex, Tess is a moving novel of hypocricy and double standards. Its challenging sub- title A Pure Woman infuriated critics when the book was first published in 1891, and it was condemned as immoral and pessimistic.
It tells of Tess Durbeyfield, the daughter of a poor and dissipated villager, who learns that she may be descended from the ancient family of d'Urberville. She encounters Alee d'Urberville who seduces her, and she bears his child which dies in infancy. Working as a dairymaid, she falls in love and marries Angel Clare, a clergyman's son. On their wedding night she confesses her seduction to Clare, who cruelly abandons her, and after many hardships, she returns reluctantly to Alee as his mistress. When the repentant C…