Tess of the D'Urbervilles
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4.4 • 5 Ratings
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- $5.99
Publisher Description
A young woman struggles against tradition and circumstance in this novel of love, class, and deceit from the author of Far from the Madding Crowd.
Convinced that his impoverished family has noble connections, John Durbeyfield implores his daughter, Tess, to visit the wealthy Mrs. D'Urberville and claim kin. Reluctantly, Tess agrees, but when she falls prey to the manipulations of Alec D'Urberville, the widow's dissolute son, her search for love and happiness takes a disastrous turn. An earnest suitor named Angel Clare offers hope for salvation, but Tess must decide whether to confess her sins to the minister's son—or bury them forever.
First published in 1891, Tess of the D'Urbervilles scandalized Victorian readers with its frank depictions of female sexuality and its impassioned criticism of social conventions. Now widely recognized as Thomas Hardy's masterpiece, this tragic story of virtue destroyed is one of the most moving and unforgettable novels in English literature.
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PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Anna Bentinck ratchets up the melodrama for this full-blooded reading of Hardy's classic a staple of high-school English classes everywhere. Students desperate to penetrate Hardy's notoriously slow masterpiece should turn to Bentinck, who gives it an intense emotional coloring. She makes Hardy sound like a brother to the Bront sisters: passionate and brooding. Bentinck alternates between a crisp, precise narrative voice that sounds like Helen Mirren, and Tess's own voice, quavering, shallow and meek. Bentinck retains her composure throughout, and her assured performance may be a welcome rescue for struggling 11th graders across the country.
