by Thomas Hardy (Author)

Tess of the d'Urbervilles tells the story of a country girl descended from a noble line who is seduced and left pregnant. After her baby dies, she meets a man who abandons her on their wedding night when she confesses her past. Desperate, she returns to her seducer seeking revenge.

Tess of the d'Urbervilles is considered a major nineteenth-century English novel and possibly Hardy's masterpiece. Tess emerges as a powerful character because Hardy's feelings for her were strong, perhaps stronger than for any of his other invented personages.