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Ratings: ★★★★★ (4.8/5)
Genre: Classic Literature / Tragedy / Victorian Novel / Social Criticism

Book Review:
Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D'Urbervilles (1891) shocked Victorian readers when it was first published. The novel follows Tess Durbeyfield, a poor country girl whose family sends her to claim kinship with the wealthy D’Urbervilles. There, the predatory Alec D’Urberville seduces (or rapes) her. After her baby dies, Tess works as a milkmaid and falls in love with the gentle Angel Clare. On their wedding night, Tess confesses her past — but Angel, despite his own premarital affair, abandons her. Hardy subtitled the novel “A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented,” a defiant challenge to the sexual double standards of his age. Tragic, beautiful, and intensely moving. This Penguin Classics edition uses the original 1891 text and includes Hardy’s prefaces, censored episodes, and illustrations. Essential reading.