The Return of the Native

Return of the Native is one of Thomas Hardy’s most powerful works. Clym Yeobright, the returning native, comes home to the haunted Wessex moors after a cosmopolitan life in Paris. He then marries the proud, imperious and impetuous Eustacia Vye. However, their marriage is not a happy one. They are both caught amidst complicated circles of romantic desire and a series of events that arrive tragic ends. Hardy sixth published novel is full of compassion, melancholy, sympathy and, perhaps most importantly, gorgeous, lyrical prose that anticipates his later career as a poet.