Review: Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

 “Meanwhile, the trees were just as green as before; the birds sang and the sun shone as clearly now as ever. The familiar surroundings had not darkened because of her grief.”

Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This has been my favorite read of the year so far. IT IS SO GOOD. I went into my first Hardy not really knowing what to expect. As a general rule, I tend to enjoy books by female authors better than books by male authors (sexist? ?), so I had put off Hardy for years and years. Well. Tess of the d’Urbervilles is a beautiful, rich, vivid story of an innocent woman who gets pulled under the weight of her weakness. The prose is enchanting (descriptions of wheat fields and milkmaids and walks through the forest – everything my soul finds serene) and the characters are developed in such a way as to make them feel tangible and real. Poor Tess Durbeyfield’s story will resonate with everyone. 

Like my girl Edith Wharton, Hardy has a way of really capturing the common thread in human suffering. Don’t read this book if you’re wanting to read something happy right now, but DO read it at some point. And I suppose I should mention the plot twists ? Even after accidentally spoiling myself with some spoilery commentary when I was about a third of the way through, I still didn’t see the ending coming. Crazy.

I plan on binge reading Hardy over the next few weeks, and then you can certainly expect to see some Hardy artwork coming to the shop. 😀 

Shop for the book here.